Directed by Banmei Takahashi
Yasuko, a housewife, lives in an urban high-rise apartment with her husband Satoru and her son Takuto. Annoyed by spam calls and door-to-door salesmen, Yasuko slams the door on a salesman’s hand when he tries to squeeze a flyer through the apartment's chained front door. He leaves, but the next day, her nightmare starts.
Doa, ドア, Dver', ＤＯＯＲ, 门1988, 门, DOOR, 도어, ДВЕРІ, 門
Japan Tokyo International Film Festival (Digitally Remastered Version) 
South Korea15 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 
USA Fantastic Fest 
Colombia Fantasmagoría - Festival de Cine Fantástico y de Terror de Medellín 
Finland Night Visions Film Festival Japan Colombia Finland Japan South Korea USA 
Oh man, Door is such a weird, weird film. It could easily be written off as a basic home invasion film, but it takes such an idiosyncratic approach to its execution. First, there's the film's basic structure. It is deceptively simple. It gives us dry, simple scenes and builds tension very quietly as the film's antagonist, an angry door-to-door salesman, starts to force his way into a very 80s housewife's life. It's almost Haneke-esque. But then the film fucking explodes in its final act, going to slapstick levels of violence. I shouted with shock and glee a few times at the screen. As strange as the film is, there's a real sense of truth to the themes wrapped around its…
Stone cold classic Yuppie Thriller, in which a well-to-do housewife is stalked by a door-to-door salesman she accidentally angered. Writer/Director Banmei Takahashi plays it pretty close to the vest at first, with a psychological siege of lewd phone calls, stalking, and police officers who don't care, but he keeps things fresh with tons of little stylistic touches (like the protagonist only hearing men's voices coming through a phone line, even if they're right in front of her), before unleashing a gory BOOD SIMPLE-style finale. Keiko Takahashi carries it on her shoulders, fluctuating through so many emotional registers, in what could have easily been the story of a victim being terrified through most of the running time.
she fucked him up
Felt like Chantal Akerman doing REPULSION.
There’s a sequence towards the end that was cinematically dazzling.
#SlasherSaturday
Really well done home invasion, stalker/thriller. Feels like a thinly veiled jab at telemarketers and door-to-door salesman. I simultaneously really liked and hated the ending. On one hand the chase through the apartment with the overhead POV panning from room to room was a really awesome shot. On the other hand, typical frustrating character decisions stretch believability. Like, how is your first action after exiting the bathroom not to call the cops. I ain’t tucking my son gently into bed until I know 1000% where Rapey McRaperson is. Maybe that’s just me though. Solid thriller, even though it’s light on the slashing.
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 3
1. Keiko Takahashi and Hideo Murota in Lake of Illusions
2. Hideo Murota and Diane Lane in The Setting Sun
3. Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon in My Dog Skip
One thing to note about this film's articulation of affluent domesticity in 1980s Japan is its roots in 1960s economic growth. Prime Minister Ikeda proposed his "double the national income plan"; there was an increase in western-styled condo/apt complex (団地） development; and the ideological slogan of "my-home-ism" (マイホーム主義）that defined national affluence around that time ultimately led to the proliferation of this new domestic milieu.
The private, nuclear-family became a kind of postwar inheritance that engendered not only the supposed notions of freedom and liberty in a new domestic identity, but also socio-economic alienation that further impacted a notably gendered isolation within the home.
The apt complex as a setting wasn't particularly new at this time. Pink film/Roman Porno have used…
Door is an unsettling home invasion film that taps into various urban fears: the apathy of neighbors, intrusive door-to-door salespeople, phone marketers, and even voyeurism. These themes all blend into a tense and chilling narrative, making it a hidden gem of the genre.
The film has some visually striking scenes, particularly during the intense chase sequences inside the house. One of the standout elements is the music—so catchy and haunting that it continues to play in your head long after the credits roll.
What’s fascinating is that Door was once considered a lost film, making its availability today all the more special. It’s definitely worth checking out for fans of home invasion thrillers and hidden horror gem.
🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪
Wow..this was terrifying, sleazy, and beautifully shot. I really enjoy the small details in movies, and one thing I adored the most was how green this was!!!! There was a neon green pay phone, vacuum, and chainsaw!!!!! Most of the apartment was green as well. The gory finale was actually one of the best i’ve seen in awhile. A must see home invasion flick, it instantly went on my favorites list.
Also, the score was soooo bizarre, but I loved it. It was just the one theme replaying in different ways throughout the movie and the slowed down version was my favorite. It sounded like music from a Final Fantasy game.
the music: 🌸✨🌈
the movie: 🔪🩸💀
PS- best obscene phone call since Black Christmas
A remnant of the 80s home invasion panic era and a hidden gem of a Japanese tradwife domestic terror. It's as if Good Housekeeping and Harlequin romance novels collaborated on a thriller for neglected homemakers and horny SAHMs.
That score of mainly on-hold music though...not sure if it cheapens or elevates it. It's mostly the same track over and over again.
Wait, this is taking a turn... Is it making good on rape fantasies or actually memory-repressive rape? Did that actually happen, or what happened?
Luckily this isn't Tetsuo and most sexual violence is off-screen, so no serious trigger warning needed. Also it may have been entirely in someone's head... His or hers, I dunno.
I'm just going to…
1st Banmei Takahashi
Collab with Irene!
The pressure cooker is about to explode somewhere in urban Japan. Something in that regimented world has turned a doorstepper of a salesman into a homicidal maniac, endlessly kicking a woman's door while clutching his bruised hand in a manner equally baffling and ferocious. Door's strange mixing of tones reaches its peak in a bizarre chainsaw riff on The Shining: Takahashi plays this out with no music. The result is a sparse symphony of metal on metal and metal on pasteboard, a weirdly rhythmic moment that cuts all tension but maximises the strangeness of this situation. Just how did we get to a man having a meat fork poked through his cheek? Or sperm tissues being put in the letterbox? We never quite know, despite the cause and effect nature of the plot. Somewhere a spring snapped, and all hell has broken loose.
The tension is rising constantly in this low budget Japanese Stalker/Home Invasion Thriller. It’s almost uncomfortable at times. Direction, cinematography, music and performances are all strong. In short, a very effective little Thriller with a killer final act and a must watch for Japanese Genre fans. Out now on Blu-ray in the UK from Third Window Films as part of the Director's Company Edition. Along with its sequel, "Door 2" which I’m about to watch next.
Even 80’s Japan hated spam calls and spam mail
I like most people had never heard of this until it played at a film festival in Brooklyn back two years ago. The circumstances of how it was feared “lost” then it was “found” again are unknown to me; nevertheless, Screambox has the movie available to stream on a variety of different platforms.
Some have described it as “a psychological thriller”; the differences between that genre and horror are a road I’d rather not go down. A film where a vulnerable woman is harassed by a creepy dude will be terrifying to some. In this case, Yasuko lives in a Tokyo apartment w/ a work-weary husband and a high-spirited young son.…
