‘Labyrinth’ Review: ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’ Director Ryuhei Kitamura Delivers a Mildly Satisfying ‘Saw’ Replica [FrightFest]

Director Ryuhei Kitamura, who is known for Versus, Aragami, Godzilla: Final Wars (an underrated masterpiece), and the Clive Barker adaptation The Midnight Meat Train, has now delivered the Saw-inspired Labyrinth, which was arguably the goriest film to be screened at FrightFest this year.

After an endless prologue before the opening title in which several unconnected strangers are abducted, the story then cuts to a mysterious, maze-like facility, where they all wake up with no recollection of how they got there. They are then instructed by an onscreen announcer that they need to complete a series of obstacles in order to be released, with the gruesome tests being tailored to the horrific sins of the pasts of the participants, which gradually come to light. Yep, Labyrinth closely follows the Saw formula, wearing its influences on its sleeve. Therefore, Saw fans will no doubt enjoy Labyrinth, especially since it arguably surpasses some of the weaker Saw entries in terms of quality.

The gore in Labyrinth is as strong as you would expect from a Saw knockoff (just calling it what it is), and the fact that a wide US theatrical release was not planned means that the filmmakers never needed to worry about cutting anything to secure an R-rating. People are torn to pieces in every way you could think of, and since most of them deserve it because of their past crimes, the death sequences are all the more satisfying.

The cast all deliver strong performances as the mismatched characters who find themselves navigating the maze, with standouts including Mekhi Phifer as the de facto leader of the group, Shane West as a deranged psycho who torments the other members, and Alexxis Lemire as a police officer with her own ideas of justice. The script could have used more polish, but the gore and fast pacing mean you probably won’t care much about the writing issues.

Labyrinth runs for just ninety minutes, meaning that it needs to hurdle through its paces before reaching its conclusion, explaining why it felt rushed at times. And, without going into spoilers, some of the plot threads are hard to follow, especially since supernatural elements are introduced toward the end. It seems almost like the supernatural angle was introduced as a last-minute addition to help differentiate from the franchise, and it seemed like a questionable element to introduce at such a late interval into the story. Also, with the runtime being short, it seems odd for the opening sequence before the title card to have gone on for so long, especially since nowhere near as much time was needed simply to show the characters being abducted.