When I was choosing moments from the film to share on this blog, this scene stuck out for me as both incredibly spooky and a brilliant use of the 3D format. Shock Labyrinth throws every J-Horror trick it can at you to ratchet up the fear…
Shock Labyrinth 3D (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Chelsea Films on 31st January 2011.
Shock Labyrinth director Takashi Shimizu is also behind the hugely successful Grudge movies, both in their original Japanese form and US remakes. Check out the playlist below, it’s packed with his work, including some really bizarre looking horror TV shows that I wish they’d import over here.
It’s nearly time to enter the SHOCK LABYRINTH and here’s a great clip to get you in the mood.
The movie uses 3D to really creepy effect and, as this is a spooky, atmospheric Japanese horror film as opposed to a simple slasher, you can expect the format to showcase nightmare visions rather than bloody tools and flying body parts.
Here’s the first clip, an the vivid reds and sickly green tones create a perfect background to build a jumpy atmosphere…
3D has a long history in horror as the genre has always thrived on fantastical visions and the spectacular. There’s a host of classic 50s and 60s B-Movies that used the format as a gimmick in a marketplace full of hucksters ready to give out sick bags and place ambulances outside cinemas to talk up the terror of their movies. Having your man in a rubber suit reach out of the screen at the drive-in audience helped to bring in thrillseeking kids.
3D came to rescue again in the 80s, helping to give the emerging horror franchises a shot in the arm. Jaws, Amityville, Friday the 13th and NightMare on Elm Street all went out to theatres with an extra dimension, even if, on occasion, the 3D felt bolted on, with actors picking up objects and almost waving them at the camera.
The current explosion of 3D movies have hopefully learned a few lessons in using the format more effectively and, in the case of Shock Labyrinth, the technology is seemlessly intergrated into the story-telling. Spooky haunted yarns are perhaps one the best type of movies to use 3D because when there are ghosts about everything floats…
Check out the OFFICIAL SITE for links to some classic 3D Horror…
