Back to trending
Alive

Alive

Action · Science Fiction · Horror · 2003

Tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death for murdering the men who raped his girlfriend. However, he manages to survive his execution and is presented with an option: face another execution attempt or subject himself to their bizarre and dangerous experiments.

Movie details

Alive

“A life worse than death.”

2003 Action · Science Fiction · Horror 1h 59m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

5.5 / 10

1.5K votes

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Tenshu is imprisoned and sentenced to death for murdering the men who raped his girlfriend. However, he manages to survive his execution and is presented with an option: face another execution attempt or subject himself to their bizarre and dangerous experiments.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Alive?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Samurai Reincarnation

Samurai Reincarnation

Action · 1981

After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend

Animation · 1989

Legend has it that the human race is not the only dominant civilization living on Earth. Two other races exist in this world: the Makai (a demon race) and the Jujinkai (a half-man, half-beast race). Once every 3,000 years, a supreme being known as the Choujin (Overfiend) will emerge and bring balance to all three realms on Earth. In present-day Japan, after 300 years of endless searching, a Jujinkai named Amano Jyaku has discovered the presence of the Choujin inside high school slacker Tatsuo Nagumo. But now, Amano, along with his sister Megumi and their sidekick Kuroko, must protect Nagumo and his new girlfriend Akemi Ito from the Makai, who believe that Nagumo is not the Choujin, but an evil entity bent on destroying all living beings on Earth.

Daylight's End

Daylight's End

Action · 2016

Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.

Ninja III: The Domination

Ninja III: The Domination

Action · 1984

An aerobics instructor becomes a ruthless assassin after being possessed by a slain ninja's spirit, leading to a showdown with a martial arts expert.

The Resurrected

The Resurrected

Horror · 1991

Charles Dexter Ward, a wealthy scientist, uses an ancient diary and human remains to begin a terrifying and bloody pursuit for immortality.

Resident Evil: Extinction

Resident Evil: Extinction

Horror · 2007

Years after the Racoon City catastrophe, survivors travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against hordes of zombies and the evil Umbrella Corp.

Ichi the Killer

Ichi the Killer

Action · 2001

As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.

Death Machine

Death Machine

Action · 1995

Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine. So far, the Hardman project has been unreliable and has killed a number of innocent people. The genius behind this project is Jack who lives in a world of models, toys and magazines. When he is fired by Cale for killing a few corporate officers, he unleashes the ultimate killing machine called the 'Warbeast' against Cale and those who would help her.

The Kindred

The Kindred

Horror · 1987

Amanda's deathbed request to her son, John, was for him to destroy all the lab notes etc. from her last experiment. She also blurts out he had a brother. At the funeral John meets Melissa, who claims to be his mother's biggest fan. Together with some of John's friends they go to Amanda's house, but none are prepared for what they find there.

Books of Blood

Books of Blood

Horror · 2020

A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ryuhei Kitamura

Written by

Ryuhei Kitamura · Yudai Yamaguchi · Isao Kiriyama

Hideo Sakaki

Hideo Sakaki

Tenshu Yashiro

Ryo

Ryo

Yurika Saegusa

Koyuki

Koyuki

Asuka Saegusa

Shun Sugata

Shun Sugata

Matsuda

Erika Oda

Erika Oda

Misako Hara

Tak Sakaguchi

Tak Sakaguchi

Zeros

Jun Kunimura

Jun Kunimura

Kojima

Court is in session

Put Alive on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.