Exit 8

by Mike McGranaghan

A famous episode of Seinfeld found the characters lost in a parking garage, unable to remember where they parked their car. The scenario was played for laughs. Exit 8 has a similar premise, played for every ounce of its nightmarish possibilities. If you don’t already think being unable to find your way out of a building is scary, you will by the time the end credits start to roll.

“Lost Man” (Kazunari Ninomiya) gets off a subway train and starts making his way to the exit. The corridors of the station don’t appear to lead him anywhere, though. It’s like he’s going in circles. Then he discovers a sign with directions. If he sees an anomaly, he must turn back. If not, he can keep moving forward. This leads to a repeated puzzle situation in which he traverses the same hallways - two long ones and a short connector - trying to see if there are any differences each time he passes through.

During this process, Lost Man encounters two others: a “Walking Man” (Yamato Kochi) and a little boy (Naru Asanuma). Who they are and how they got there is part of the mystery.

Exit 8 is based on a video game, and part of what makes it interesting as a film is that Lost Man is forced to live by video game rules. Each exit represents a level. If he correctly identifies the anomaly, he advances to the next level. If he screws up, he goes back to level zero and has to start over. As with many video games, the poor guy is forced to do the same thing over and over again until he gets it right. That creates a sensation of madness that extends from Lost Man into the audience.

The production design is incredible. Everything occurs in liminal spaces, leading to a claustrophobic vibe. Digital trickery was certainly used to make it look like Lost Man is trapped in an endlessly repeating three-hallway loop. I don’t know specifically how that feat was accomplished, but it has a powerful impact. By the end of 90 minutes, I was sick of seeing the same walls and floor tiles. In many cases, that would be a deterrent to recommending a film; here, it achieves the specific impact of putting us in the same mindset as the people wandering those liminal spaces. We’re trapped there, too.

If the idea of spending an hour-and-a-half in a series of hallways sounds dull, rest assured that Exit 8 consistently tosses in new elements to keep things fresh. A couple of them are very horror-specific, offering creepy, squirm-inducing sights. There’s also a subplot about Lost Man and his pregnant girlfriend to provide an intermittent break from the looping. It isn't entirely satisfying, although a compelling theme does get added by its presence.

Director Genki Kawamura brings style and energy to Exit 8. He evolves the tone so that the desperation of being lost in this subway station grows steadily. The movie has no violence and no monster, yet it proves to be freaky anyway, thanks to the nonstop psychological tension.

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