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Released By: Cinema Epoch
Released On: 02/15/2011
Director: Fukuda Youhei
Cast: Naomi Inoue, Satoshi Sakurai, Kawatsura Akihiro
The Film:
Just when you thought that it was safe to go back into the cyber world of realtime broadcast murder, those fuzzy, homicidal teddy bears are back online in Death Tube 2. If you haven't seen the first Death Tube movie, you're missing out on a good time. What appears to have started off as a ripoff of the popular Saw films, Death Tube's low budget and Japanese flavour evolved the idea into something much more.
Fortunately for fans of the first film, Death Tube 2 pretty much picks up where the last film left off. A new group of contestants wake up to find themselves locked in a room with a webcam-equipped laptop and a television monitor broadcasting the animated face of a talking bear. Once again, the comments of the rabid online fans float across the screen, wondering who will be the first to die. The talking bear gives them their objective; they must find the hidden door in the room that they're in. The challenge is solved fairly quickly, being that it's difficult to hide a door in a room that's less than 60 square feet, but not before one of the contestants gets the bright idea to charge through the main, unhidden door to the room, and receives a fake-looking wrecking ball in the face for her lack of creativity. With one down and many to go, the contestants rush on to their next challenge; musical chairs.
That's right, you won't find any of the fancy works of engineering from the Saw films in Death Tube 2. True to the original, which featured such financially limited challenges as eating donuts off of a string and chugging a glass of water, this second instalment challenges contestants with Sudoku-like games and multiple choice quizzes, which they must pass to avoid being executed by the sadistic teddies. And while some of the scenes blatantly defy any kind of logic, the filmmakers have added a few new twists, some good, some bad, to keep it interesting. How do you top the Speedo Bear rape scene from Death Tube? Choreograph multiple bears to dance to a bad Thriller rip-off, of course..
One of the major advantages that Death Tube 2 has over the first film is the actors. Whereas the last cast fell a little flat outside of the main characters, the writers have given each of these characters a little more of a unique personality. The lead character of Nozomy Shindo is especially likable, and should appeal to the anime freaks who like to see girls in school uniforms kick ass. The number one flaw in this film, however, is the pacing. Whereas Death Tube kept moving along at a good clip, Death Tube 2 has a few sequences that seem to drag on for a very long time. With the running time at an hour and forty-three minutes, it could've easily been trimmed down to the standard ninety-minutes and tightened up the pace.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Cinema Epoch presents Death Tube 2 in a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer with a Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The picture is decent, but suffers from some artifacts and interlacing issues here and there, and looks very soft for the most part. The 5.1 audio track sounds good and well-balanced with clear dialogue and subtle use of the surrounds. The subtitles are easy to read for the most part, but sometimes get lost on the screen when the user comments are scrolling across.
There are 2 Extra Features included with the disc. First up is a Still Gallery with 20 Production Stills from the film. A six and-a-half minute clip is also included, showcasing the cover art from other Cinema Epoch films.
The Final Word:
Death Tube 2 is not a great film by any means, but it is entertaining and enjoyable, and that's more than can be said for a lot of films. For those who enjoyed the original Death Tube, this is a must-buy.
