(2001)
Dir - Takashi Shimizu
Overall: MEH
In between two of his Ju-On movies, director Takashi Shimizu took a crack at the Tomie franchise with Tomie: Re-Birth; the most anti-climactic one yet in the series. The first credited screenplay from Yoshinobu Fujioka, (who would also write the following Tomie: Forbidden Fruit), this one utilizes elements from the "Painter" and "Hair" segments found in Junji Ito's manga source material. It is the same ole, already tired shtick though of a new actor portraying the title character, (Miki Sakai in this case who is as acceptable as any of the other on-screen incarnations); a title character that once again refuses to die no matter how many times any part of her physical body is destroyed. She is less of a malevolent force than just a steadfast annoyance here, popping back up over and over again to obnoxiously giggle and be rude to a small handful of people, some of which are temporarily smitten with her and others who waste no time at all by just murdering her at the first opportunity. Anyone venturing in that is unfamiliar with the established framework will be confused at the very least, but even with some memorably strange attributes here or there, the story is both too redundant and repetitive to benefit from Shimizu's lethargic, would-be creepy tone.
(2002)
Dir - Shun Nakahara
Overall: MEH
Yet another entry in the Tomie series sees things going in a more low-key route with Tomie: Forbidden Fruit, (Tomie: The Final Chapter - Forbidden Fruit, Tomie: Saishuu-shô - kindan no kajitsu). Director Shun Nakahara came from a pornography background, which is interesting in that his work here has only mild lesbian elements and no nudity or overt sexuality. It is also problematically paced, at least during the first act which establishes an aloof atmosphere where most of the characters seem to be sleepwalking through their performances. This stylistic choice is not necessary a poor one, but it does lend itself to a sluggish start that introduces the title succubus in a nonchalant way where she manipulates a sheepish girl, (who is also named Tomie because her father was obsessed with the demon version in his younger years), into being her only "friend". Eventually though, things move into the darkly comedic and heavily bizarre, even if the mood is still set in a cumbersome, ethereal haze. Here, Nozomi Andō's version of Tomie gets repeatedly murdered and even dismembered, growing an insect-like baby body from her severed head at one point as well. So on that note, at least its weird AF.
(2005)
Dir - Ataru Oikawa
Overall: MEH
The sixth Tomie film Tomie: Beginning was the first to come after a break, with the previous five emerging once per year since 1998. Writer/director Ataru Oikawa returns, (who was behind the lens on the first in the series as well as the following Tomie: Revenge which was released a week after this one), and it has a cheaper, shot-on-digital-video aesthetic as opposed to some of the more polished ones that came before. This is not a distracting issue besides one or two unintentionally goofy looking shots like a plastic severed ear that crawls away like a bug. It is low on weirdness and a more meandering affair, which is thankfully kept to a brisk seventy-four minutes. Rio Matsumoto plays the title character this time in prequel form, showing up as a mysterious high school student who immediately bewitches her classmates and teachers, turning the boys into hopelessly smitten love puppies and the women into jealous bitches. Things progress as one who is familiar with the franchise would expect, (i.e everyone goes crazy while Tomie smiles adorably at them), but anyone hoping for a fleshed-out backstory will be disappointed. She mentions something about being experimented on "unspeakably" by doctors and her regenerating powers are compared to that of a flatworm, but that is about it. Still, prequels that are centered around mysterious supernatural entities are fundamentally a bad idea in the first place, so this one fares no better or worse in that regard.
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