Edit: I still find myself thinking about this a LOT. One of the most memorable movies I've ever seen, I can see myself still remembering this in decades. Probably the most impactful movie I've ever watched. It refuses to leave my mind, but I can't bring myself to give it 5 stars.

A good movie with some really great moments bogged down by an overreliance on shock value which cheapens some scenes. Compared to some of Sono's other movies, I found that some of the shocking scenes didn't have as much artistic merit and it detracted from the experience.

Absolutely insane performances from everybody, the two leads being the standouts. Denden's Yukio Murata was well acted and terrifying but Kippei Shiina's Joe Murata was the better Murata imo. Mitsuru Fukikoshi's Shamoto was an interesting character and very well acted. Some scenes were genuinely chilling. The visuals were also nice in general and the soundtrack was also well used. The Skater's Waltz can be really scary (⓿_⓿).

Really uncomfortable and unnerving watch which I found more fucked than The Forest of Love. I think the reason I prefer The Forest of Love is because it was done with more sense and more tastefully, as tastefully as intense gore can be I guess. It felt like things had purpose and a meaning. I guess the point of this is it felt like it didn't have purpose or meaning. Interested to watch more Sono, he is an interesting director. If you can't stomach gore, absolutely do not watch this. This is definitely something that will linger with me for a long time.