(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.
(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.
(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.
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