Haze (2005)

Directed by: Shinya Tsukamoto | 49 minutes | horror, short film | Actors: Shinya Tsukamoto, Kahori Fujii, Takahiro Kandaka, Takahiro Murase, Mao Saito, Masato Tsujioka

Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto made his breakthrough in 1989 with ‘Tetsuo’, a film about a man whose body slowly turns into metal. That’s right, the movie about the man with the well-crafted jackhammer! The surreal atmosphere that made Tsukamoto’s horror film a cult classic is also present in his short film ‘Haze’ from 2005. The story is reminiscent of ‘Cube’: two people wake up in an unfamiliar space and try to escape before dying in one of the ubiquitous booby traps. This is where the comparison with Vincenzo Natali’s SciFi film ends. ‘Cube’ was a puzzle full of intellectual cleverness and observations about group dynamics, ‘Haze’ is an astonishing work about pain, love and human consciousness. A film that you don’t have to solve, but just experience.

Tsukamoto is not generous with information. ‘Haze’ has no clearly identifiable punch line and does not provide ready-made answers. Even the dialogues are sparse and confusing. What relationship do the man and the woman have? Do they know each other? What exactly happened to them? At the beginning of the film you don’t know anything and after seeing the enigmatic ending you can only speculate about the true facts. Frustrating for those in need of a clear denouement, but a treat for cinephiles who enjoy philosophizing about the meaning of a film. The fact is that the images grab you by the guts. They are nightmarish and sometimes oddly beautiful, culminating in a chilling scene that will give even the most seasoned horror fan a toothache.

Tsukamoto plays on deep-seated fears: the fear of the dark, of small spaces, of loneliness, pain and death. The means he uses to shape his nightmare are simple, but effective. The director saved on actor costs by taking on the leading role himself and made use of a limited number of simply designed sets. Most of the film is set in a claustrophobic system of corridors, which in practice consisted of little more than plywood sheets nailed together with a gray paint layer. Yet the setting does not look cheap due to the intimate camera work and the dimly lit images. ‘Haze’ is so bleak and oppressive that, like the main characters, you only want one thing: escape as quickly as possible. You have been warned