I should go into movies with no hope whatsoever every chance that I get. It pays off more often than not for me, when I almost dread watching a movie. I have owned Ryûhei Kitamura’s No One Lives for a few months now and had never had the urge to give it the respect it deserved, until last night.
This movie is pretty fantastic for what it is, and it is a gorefest. I’m pretty big into films in the vein of The Most Dangerous Game and this takes that concept, mixes it with some Silence Of The Lambs-esque madness and the pace of a slasher film.
When a couple pack up and move, the last thing that they expected was to be kidnapped by a gang of ruthless bikers. The tides turn once the bikers discover a caged girl in the trunk of the couple’s car. Who are they and just what are they capable of?
No One Lives is far from perfect, but is such an entertaining bloodbath that most flaws can be forgiven, mainly being character development. The “baddies” in the film never really become more than cannon fodder with zero personality, which makes it tough to sympathize, but if you’re a slasher fan, you’re probably too busy cheering on the gore and creative kills to go, “wait, what was that guys story…?” Instead you’ll be screaming for more and laughing out loud as these “tough bikers” make poor decision after poor decision, until they are ultimately dispatched in a nasty fashion.
Kitamura’s style is fast and slick, as seen in his previous well-known films Midnight Meat Train and Versus. He has a flair for the ultra-violent and brings a unique style to a film that could have been otherwise mundane.
This one is pretty rad, people. You should probably give it a bit of your time and let me know if you dug it as much as I did.
I give this film 2.5 unusual names out of 5.
