Gozu
Pathfinder Pictures | Release Date: July 30, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatJeremy Knox
Gozu is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a cow's head. If you think that this last statement doesn't make any sense, just watch the movie. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The film is less violent and bloody than much of the director's work, but the absurdity level is sky high. Takashi Miike is at the top of his game, loving every minute of his surreal visit to the twilight zone. Read full review
80
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Splendidly entertaining. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The latest and most creatively unhinged film from director Takashi Miike. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Although most definitely an acquired taste, the David Lynchian Gozu delivers the goods in dripping, gooey gobs. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
Unclassifiable cult figure Takashi Miike's films invariably have their share of weirdness and perversity, but Gozu arguably outweirds all previous efforts in the prolific Japanese director's eclectic canon. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The film unfolds as if it were a dream in which taboo subconscious urges surface symbolically as in a Dali painting, yet everything takes place in everyday settings. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It somehow feels richly, hilariously real, even -- at its most bizarre -- familiar. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Gozu is prime evidence in the argument that gonzo gangster movie maverick Takashi Miike is a major director goofing on minor works. Read full review
60
EmpireWill Lawrence
If "Ichi The Killer" stressed the extreme natureof Takashi Miike's cinematic sensibility, Gozu hammers it home… with a blood-spattered mallet. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Mr. Miike is best known in the United States for horror films like "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer." Gozu, for all its extremity, is a more relaxed, less disturbing picture. Its dreamy disconnection is reminiscent of David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," but it is, if anything, even more hermetic and dissociated. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
There are some genuinely funny moments amid the gore, but who knew this famously edgy director would find bathroom humor to be such a knee-slapper? Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Not until the last 20 minutes does Gozu come fully alive. A man has sex with a seductive beauty, who then gives birth to...well, let's just say it's a sight that may take time to fight its way out of your head. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute
The various disruptions Miike visits upon his stories, and upon his audience, serve mainly to focus attention on the manipulating intelligence behind the scenes. They're a fancy way of yelling, "Look at me!" Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Miike's film is a cunning little comedy of manners gone mad. Even when you feel you have to turn away from the screen or lose your lunch, Miike has something interesting to say. I'm not entirely sure what it is but his lips are moving and something horrific is definitely coming out. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Miike's fans, those used to his strange ways, will certainly find Gozu an amusing addition to the oeuvre. All others will be bewildered beyond expression. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Miike has served up some of the most dumbfounding images in contemporary cinema. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The homoerotic twists and gender-shifting turns are fun, but they can't hide the fact that the film is little more than a tedious shaggy-dog story with oblique mythological references. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
Stay far, far away. Read full review
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