Cold Fish review

Gory and blackly comic horror at the pet shop...

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Like Fight Club with added dismemberment, Shion Sono’s (Love Exposure) horror smuggles blackly witty satirical stabs at masculinity into its shrill shock assaults.

Timid fish-store owner Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) gets no respect from his daughter or wife until he meets Murata (Denden), a lusty fellow fish proprietor and, it turns out, psycho-killer. Will Shamoto follow his lead?

Gallows humour and character twists offer welcome reprieve from the largely hysterical acting and rivers of viscera.

It’s a long haul, though, and nervous viewers should beware the “It’s a weenie” scene.

Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at 12DOVE.