I recently pulled this out of the collection because I saw that this was based on a story by Satoshi Kon, director of Paprika, Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers. I had originally picked up because it was the first live action film by Katsuhiro Ôtomo, the director of Akira and Steamboy. Watching the film again for the first time in probably a decade I was struck by how unremarkable the film is. Don't get me wrong, its a good little film, but its nothing special.
The plot concerns a yakuza soldier who's sent to clear out a small apartment house of the immigrants who live there. The bosses need them driven out because unlike Japanese residents they can't be paid to leave. Once there our hero finds that his predecessor has disappeared and that the tenants are rather friendly. He also finds that there is an evil spirit with a dislike for the Japanese living in the building.
Not really scary, the humor often undercuts the scares, the film is a good but unremarkable little thriller (though I do have to say that watching the film again for the first time in 10 years I was shocked at how much of the film stayed with me). I think I probably would have liked it more had it not had the word horror in the title since its not really a horror movie (except that it has ghosts in it). Its been suggested here and elsewhere that the film can be seen as an allegory for the attitudes of the Japanese (or other countries for that matter) towards immigrants and its probably true, but I'd like the films main story to be more compelling than its subtext.
In the end the film is worth seeing. I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10. Its worth a look if you come upon it, however its not worth searching high and low for (as I did originally) since its a film more interesting for the people connected with it making rather than the film itself.
The plot concerns a yakuza soldier who's sent to clear out a small apartment house of the immigrants who live there. The bosses need them driven out because unlike Japanese residents they can't be paid to leave. Once there our hero finds that his predecessor has disappeared and that the tenants are rather friendly. He also finds that there is an evil spirit with a dislike for the Japanese living in the building.
Not really scary, the humor often undercuts the scares, the film is a good but unremarkable little thriller (though I do have to say that watching the film again for the first time in 10 years I was shocked at how much of the film stayed with me). I think I probably would have liked it more had it not had the word horror in the title since its not really a horror movie (except that it has ghosts in it). Its been suggested here and elsewhere that the film can be seen as an allegory for the attitudes of the Japanese (or other countries for that matter) towards immigrants and its probably true, but I'd like the films main story to be more compelling than its subtext.
In the end the film is worth seeing. I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10. Its worth a look if you come upon it, however its not worth searching high and low for (as I did originally) since its a film more interesting for the people connected with it making rather than the film itself.