NYC Theatrical Premiere, One Week Only!

*** $1 Sake shots during 15-minute intermission ***

"(CRITICS' PICK!) Deliciously warped... Brilliantly edited... Propelled by slaughterhouse levels of gore and wickedly absurdist humor, the film mitigates its brutality with committed acting and a script that smartly plumbs the relationship between the cramped Japanese home — the lack of windows, the shrunken appliances — and familial violence."
- Jeannette Catsoulis, NEW YORK TIMES (August 4, 2011)

"As the maniacal killer, the actor Denden brings a loopy charisma and offbeat intensity, scary and goofy at the same time. COLD FISH is wild, head-turning, stomach-churning stuff, and it makes for a bracing addition to the overstuffed canon of serial-killer cinema."
- Mark Olsen, VILLAGE VOICE (August 3, 2011)

"Sono's film illustrates, in always exacting, alternatively hot and cold detail, the ways in which frustrated masculinity tends to burst forth in desperate bursts of aggression, how a passive moral cowardice becomes an active moral turpitude... COLD FISH clearly understands the fear of emasculation (both literal and figurative) as the driving force behind the increasingly desperate acts of brutality it depicts."
- Andrew Schenker, THE L MAGAZINE (August 3, 2011)

"A hilarious, harrowing experience! This is a director who has his finger on the pulse of his country's problems -- and has decided to open up the vein beneath said digit. The results are remarkable."
- Bill Gibron, AMC FILMCRITIC (August 4, 2011)

"One of the most powerful, punishing works to come out of Japan this year."
- Todd Brown, TWITCH

"Extraordinary! Sono orchestrates his tale with a skill that allows irony to match the horror and realism to dampen down the melodrama. Altogether, it's quite a feat."
- Derek Malcolm, LONDON EVENING STANDARD

WATCH THE TRAILER:
youtube.com/watch?v=ieTAZUXrBD0

COLD FISH is an outrageously black-humored suspense drama of madness and murder from cult Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, SUICIDE CLUB). Inspired by the true story of a Sweeney Todd-like serial killer, the wicked hit of Toronto, Venice, Pusan and Fantastic Fest makes its New York theatrical premiere with a week-long run, August 5 - 11.

Quiet and meek, Shamoto (Mitsuru Fukikoshi) has been beaten into submission by the mundane demands of everyday life. He's in an awkward relationship with his beautiful but shy second wife, who still hasn't been accepted by his rebellious teenage daughter Mitsuko. Shamoto's one remaining joy is running a small tropical fish store. When Mitsuko is caught shoplifting, the gregarious Murata (Denden) helps her distraught parents by settling things with the manager. Murata, who also owns an aquarium store, immediately forms a bond with Shamoto and offers to help his wayward daughter, giving her a job that comes conveniently with room and board.

Shamoto is drawn into business with the outgoing Murata, unaware that behind his friendly demeanor lurks a dangerous sociopath. Murata and his wife have a history of fraud and murder, disposing of their prey in an elaborate, ritualistic and grisly manner. Taken in by his easygoing charm, Shamoto realizes his new partner's true nature too late and becomes implicated in the madman's twisted crimes.

144 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles. Presented in Blu-ray. Unrated. A Bloody Disgusting Selects and The Collective release.

SHOWTIMES (includes 15-minute intermission):
FRIDAY, August 5 (9pm)
SATURDAY, August 6 (1pm)
SUNDAY, August 7 (1pm)
MONDAY, August 8 (9pm)
TUESDAY, August 9 (9pm)
WEDNESDAY, August 10 (9pm)
THURSDAY, August 11 (9pm)