2000's Asian Horror Part Two

DARK TALES OF JAPAN
(2004)
Dir - Yoshihiro Nakamura/Norio Tsuruta/Kōji Shiraishi/Takashi Shimizu/Masayuki Ochiai
Overall: MEH
 
The made-for-TV anthology collection Dark Tales of Japan, (Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru), was originally broadcast on a TBS program and is of interest for featuring some notable J-horror directors behind the lens.  While none of the segments are memorable and the television presentation neuters any gore or otherwise explicit content let alone any intense scare tactics, the collection runs an agreeable ninety-minutes and has a couple of oddball ideas to work with.  Yoshihiro Nakamura's wrap-around bit with an old lady persistently asking people on a buss if they want to hear a scary tale is pointless, but his opening "The Spiderwoman" is a fun urban legend romp with a ridiculous monster creature that shows up.  Norio Tsuruta's "Crevices", Kōji Shiraishi's "The Sacrifice", and Takashi Shimizu's "Blonde Kwaidan" all fail to capitalize on their otherworldly premises, but at least Shiraishi's entry has a giant disembodied head that inexplicably shows up for effective "WTF" purposes.   The closing "Presentment" by Masayuki Ochiai is the most predictable and straight-forward, but it has a nice frantic performance from Teruyuki Kagawa as an embezzling office worker who gets trapped in an elevator with some unwanted guests.

KAIDAN

(2007)

Dir - Hideo Nakata

Overall: GOOD

 

The only J-Horror Theater entry to be a period piece, Hideo Nakata's Kaidan was based on the ghost story "Shinkei Kasanegafuchi" by Enchou Sanyutei, which was also adapted in the 1957 film Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi.  Set in feudal Japan and largely adhering to a more tranquil, traditional Japanese horror tone that harkens back to paramount works such as Ugetsu and Kwaidan, the vengeful spirit story still lends itself fittingly to the filmmaker who brought us the Ring.  As one of J-horror's most prominent voices, Nakata still manages to utilized a number of modern day scare tactics and visuals.  Sadly these include enormously poor CGI snakes and blood splatters, though thankfully such things infrequently appear.  Though it runs for two hours and presents a relentlessly dour chain of events, the film never feels too laboriously long or monotonous.  This is due to a well-maintained atmosphere which is benefited by effectively haunting music and well-grounded performances.  The movie is not particularly scary and the plot follows a rather foreseeable, tragic ghost story logic, but it is an effective, quasi-throwback all the same.

 

YOGA HAKWON
(2009)
Dir - Yoon Jae-yeon
Overall: MEH

The to-date second of only two films from writer/director Yoon Jae-yeon, Yoga Hakwon, (Yoga, Yoga School, Yoga Academy, Yoga Class, Yoga Institute), is well-shot and pulls no punches with some viscerally unsettling set pieces, yet it also fails to properly string its narrative components together.  Delving into the disturbing lengths that pressured women will go to in order to achieve empowerment and elongated beauty, (which the latter can be seen as an essential component to the former here), it mostly takes place at a mysterious yoga sanctuary where a small handful of students are taken on at a time in order to train under an even more mysterious former actor who may very well be immortal via supernaturally dubious means.  It plays in a similar league to Dario Argento's Suspiria, yet it is visually more grimy and contemporary even if it has its own fairy tale allusions that help permeate an otherworldly tone.  Highlighted by wonderful cinematography and solid performances, unfortunately the third act shits the bed by abandoning a side arc all together and indulging in monotonous, sluggish mood setting that leads to a messy payoff.  Lumbering instead of suspenseful, it is therefor only partially successful as a whole, yet genre fans may enjoy the diabolical effort all the same.

2014 Horror Part Two

THE CANAL
Dir - Ivan Kavanagh
Overall: GOOD 

Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh's The Canal is a mostly enjoyable, contemporary spookfest.  Opening rather undramatically with the line "Who wants to see ghosts?", the grounded yet unnerving tone is set pretty directly from the outset.  The soundtrack is a strong point, with low, droning hums and completely unmelodic ambience conveying the right atmosphere.  The standard dream sequences are marvelously done as well, (a particular scene in a rather filthy, public toilet is quite memorable).  Another strong component is the performances and as opposed to the same year's The Babadook, youngster Calum Heath's Billy is a remarkably pleasant and well behaved movie kid.  For a ghost story, it is nice for once that "imaginary friend" tropes are not attributed to him as he pretty much never encounters any of the bumps in the night as children in horror films almost 100% seem required to do.  Considering that the material is rather conventional on paper, Kavanagh's approach is noticeably fresh.  This nicely elevates it from hoards of other more by-the-books, supernatural horror movies.

KRISTY
Dir - Oliver Blackburn
Overall: WOOF

Opening with long set up and even a fun montage to become familiar with the lead protagonist, Olly Blackburn's Kristy eventually becomes an obnoxious checklist of illogical and over-used slasher movie nonsense.  By being so generic in structure as well as execution, there is zero that happens which is unique in anyway shape or form.  Nearly every move is predictable, every character does stupid things, the laws of physics are ignored, the lights are all off, cell phones do not work, the villains wear masks and tilt their heads like a pug while the soundtrack makes banging noises, blatant foreshadowing stinks up the joint, and, well, you get the idea.  For those familiar with the concept of a pretty girl left all alone while a bunch of maniacs chase her around, then you likewise know all the rhythms and cliches which this film misses not a one.  Haley Bennett's performance is fine and the movie looks OK so there are no problems there.  Everything else though is a different story.  As an extra negative, the final line of dialogue and the post credit scene are both terrible in a cringe-worthy manner.  The same can truly be said about the whole movie really.

TUSK
Dir - Kevin Smith
Overall:  GOOD

Well this is certainly...a movie.  From the SModcast episode where Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier both conceived of the film in real time, to the Twitter post by Smith to ask his fans if they wanted him to make this insanity a reality, to the updates on filming and casting and the eventual release of the trailer, the final unveiling of Tusk certainly delivers on its ludicrous promise.  This movie walks an incredibly tricky line.  The concept, (on paper and screen), is absolutely ridiculous and obviously Smith is well aware of this considering the well-documented, marijuana-influenced circumstances of its origins.  Johnny Deep's entire character as well as a handful of other scenes throughout definitely reek favorably of Smith's laugh-out-loud sense of humor.  On the other hand, the majority of it is played very straight.  When things gets real, they get very real in an intentionally unpleasant way.  Michael Parks steals the film and is astounding here, turning in a Vincent Price worthy performance that sees him taking the camp level to an utterly believable place, making the absurdity of it so very disturbing.  It is equally one of the most preposterous major-released horror movies out there yet also one of the most balls-out unsettling.

2014 Horror Part One

THE BABADOOK
Dir - Jennifer Kent
Overall: MEH

There is a very long, strong tradition of horror films that do not know how to end themselves.  The Babadook, (the full-length debut from Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent), fits securely into such a mold.  Kent establishes some early creepiness, with the title character being teased while making some skin-crawling noises.  The theme of motherhood stress manifesting itself supernaturally is unmistakable, but the presentation is marred by one distracting annoyance after the other.  Speaking of cinematic traditions, doe-eyed Samuel, (Noah Wiseman), follows yet another well established trope of unbearably bratty kids in movies and such a characterization is absolutely ruining here.  He and Essie Davis' dysfunctional dynamic goes beyond being relatable, beyond being comical, and is simply balls-out aggravating to endure.  Following a stock horror movie structure and wrapping everything up with a ridiculous, Home Alone-style set piece, the film becomes equal parts completely unsatisfying, completely maddening, and completely insulting in the process.

HOUSEBOUND
Dir - Gerard Johnstone
Overall: MEH

As the debut from New Zealand-based writer/director Gerard Johnstone, Housebound is an occasionally funny yet often obnoxiously nasty horror comedy.  The opening scene is certainly amusing enough, at least in a "crack a smile while watching it" kind of way.  More intentionally ridiculous things consistently happen and the film never goes over the top, though it teeters very close to the edge at times with some far-fetched plot elements that would have otherwise ruined a purely serious affair.  Issues arise with the main protagonist Kylie, (Morgana O'Reily), who is incredibly unlikeable.  Though this is part of the point to be fair, it pushes things too far since in order for her arc to work, it requires more sympathy from the audience than is possible to gain under the circumstances.  There are also so many twists and reveals thrown at us from an early stage that it becomes a numbing exercise in red herrings.  Teasing to pull the rug out so many times for most of the duration, the end reveal almost unavoidably comes off rather dull.  Flaws and all, Housebound was certainly well made in parts as the laughs were often subtle, they hit their mark, and the action scenes were very well staged.

ABCS OF DEATH 2
Dir - multiple
Overall: MEH

Both The ABCs of Death and its inevitable follow-up ABCs of Death 2 drop the ball for identical and predictable reasons.  Whereas the first one had some terrible segments but also some excellent ones, this one has nothing terrible or excellent.  Instead, it is about as so-so as an anthology horror film can get.  Featuring another batch of twenty-six short movies each based on a different letter of the alphabet and each from a different director or filmmaking team, a plus side is that the shorts in this go around are on a whole far less disgusting than the previous collection.  The C, E, F, and P segments are quite awful though, H and N are just boring, L is just weird, and D is also weird though quite enjoyable coming from the surreal, stop motion animator Robert Morgan.  I, J, K, and O were pretty clever and/or creepy, J probably ranking as the best one.  Again though, nothing here jumped out and significantly, but nothing is all that remarkable either.  As the end credit's proclaim, yet another ABCs may be on the way, so here is hoping a worthy improvement is finally made within the now established formula.