Original Title: Doreiku: Boku to 23-nin no dorei
AKA: Me & 23 Slaves, Slave District
My rating: 7/10
This is a strange, though entertaining movie. The plot is a little silly and at times seems to be inconsistent, but everyone involved seems to have fun with it. The characters, not so much. A brother and sister take part in a game involving semi-secret, new technology that can turn other users into personal slaves. Other than an order to kill themselves, anything goes. Failure to comply results in permanent brain injury.
In order to enslave others the user simply needs to get them to agree to a challenge and then defeat them. Just like the freedom to do anything with your slaves, the challenges can be anything you want as well. This sort of freedom offers some creativity in the type of challenges and the freedom to dictate the rules and integrity (or lack thereof) of these same challenges. Scenes range from good fun to predictably horrible (more so the latter) in short order.
The darker side of human nature which drives the plot is not fully explored, but the film flirts with ideas of obsession, Stockholm syndrome and reckless thrill seeking if only in a superficial way. The characters all come across as oddly believable even when they are over the top. Despite the dark subject matter, it feels more of a sci-fi/adventure than the mystery as it's currently labeled on IMDb.
It's admittedly a trifle juvenile in concept and tone, but it's still interesting. It doesn't rely on gore because it doesn't have to. The film finds other ways to disturb you. It's worth a watch, just be prepared for a good B-movie; it doesn't appear to have had much of a budget. Sometimes a novel idea can go a long way.
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