Tubi Thursday: Black Rat (2010)

 Black History Month is here, so let me cover some Black Cinema.

Let's begin with...this 2010 Film from Japan...

A group of High School Students- sure they are! - are called to the School by someone they think is each other.

A masked person in a skirt and rat mask confronts them. 

They say that it is 'time for vengeance' and reveals the wounded body of one of their classmates (who we saw stalked in the Cold Open) covered in blood and seemingly dead.

They, understandably flee as the masked figure has a bat and a strong swing.

As they get separated and put in some light Saw-style tests, we get flashbacks...

These seem to happen at random times, so enjoy.

The key thing- their friend Asuka killed herself and they were all kind of terrible to her in the lead-up.

The rat-masked killer uses such evil devices as...a bat and some wires to kill them.

Okay, it's more about personal intent and less about Reverse Bear Traps.

Is this really Asuka's Ghost?  I mean, this is Japan, after all.

If it's not, then who is it?

The Film didn't bother to introduce anyone else before, so your guess is as good as mine.

Who will survive the worst Lock In ever?

To find out, stream the Film now.

A solid premise, but a very weird execution.  Some of it can be chocked up to 'Because Japan...' of course, but there's more to it than that.

The Film has this odd approach where they give you only a little bit of the story at the beginning and give you chunks of it as the killing commences.  I'm not going to say that it is a terrible idea, but it's not one that I recommend using.

When it comes right down to it, they aren't being 'creative' or 'different'- they are just cheating.  You can't guess the twists and turns because you don't get the pertinent information to do so.

That aside, there's some enjoyment to be had, but the overall generic nature of it makes it easy to zone out at times.

Is it terrible?  Not really.  Is it easy to understand, digest and enjoy?  Not so much, which is a shame.

What else do you get when you Google 'Black Rat 2010,' by the way?  This guy...

Black Rat is an interesting Film- in theory.  In execution, it's muddled and kind of 'meh' overall.