10 years ago, when five kids were sneaking into a haunted house at an
amusement park, they killed a girl. Sure it was an accident, but the
girl's spirit is a bit miffed nevertheless. So now, when the five kides,
now grownups, meet again, the spirit scares one of them, Iko, shitless so that
she falls down a stairwell - and when the others take her to hospital,
they first find the place deserted, then find themselves in the haunted
house from 10 years ago ... and what's worse, the situation from 10 years
ago plays itself out again and again, and more and more, the five friends
become part of the past story - especially Iko, who actually becomes the
girl killed in the past story ... so it's her spirit who has set it all
up, I suppose, and she proceeds to injure the others in the most gruesome
ways, all but Kentaro, who as kid could have saved her life if he hadn't hesitated
one moment too long ... and now she has chosen Kentaro to remain unharmed,
to explain everything to the police - and take the blame for it. A
pretty boring piece of J-horror: The story is overly clichéed, all the
plottwists lack in the surprise department, and the resolution is
predictable from early on in the film. At least there are some atmospheric
scenes (even if atmospheric in a very conventional way),
but too often these scenes are destroyed by the use of 3D effects that add
nothing to the film, and CGI sequences that seem oddly out of place. Having
said that, Shock Labyrinth is not the worst film I've ever seen,
it's ok if you want to kill an hour and a half and have nothing better to
watch, it just has a conveyor belt feel to it that pretty much takes any
life out of it.
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