Kiyoshi Kurosawa Horror Part Two

LOFT

(2005)

Overall: MEH

Though it is beautifully photographed, has a handful of noiselessly eerie moments, and largely evokes the identical, lethargic mood that all of his horror films utilize, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Loft makes some puzzling choices along the way.  Speaking of the filmmaker's deliberate, tried and true pace, the near two-hour running time is less forgiving here.  This is due to a script that is both barren in large parts, then silly and incomprehensible in others.  The first two acts are largely void of narrative movement and the third becomes monotonously confusing.  In this regard, a good twenty to even thirty minutes of screen time seems like it could have been removed to streamline everything.  Especially in the finale, it becomes curious as to whether or not Kurosawa was even going for some kind of avant-garde humor, which obviously clashes with the rest of the meditative, dour tone.  Ultimately, the story is not that interesting and when romantic music sweeps in and characters start talking like they are reciting Hallmark greeting cards, it is all a bit head-scratching as to what the takeaway is supposed to be.

 

RETRIBUTION

(2006)

Overall: GOOD

 

In 2006, Kiyoshi Kurosawa provided his entry into producer Takashige Ichise's J-Horror Theater series with Retribution, (Sakebi).  Actor Kōji Yakusho is in all of Kurosawa's supernatural tales and he is quite effective here as a psychologically stressed Tokyo detective who is unraveling before our eyes.  Speaking of eyes, the lovely Riona Hazuki makes an effectively haunting presence as well.  Kurosawa generally takes his leisurely time with not only the scares but the story as a whole and this is a textbook example.  Cliches are regularly bypassed as well, with specters ignoring the rules and showing up in the daylight, sticking around to have meaningful, (be it still cryptic), conversations, and usually having no stock, creepy music accompanying their appearances.  Even when utilizing such things as jump scares and electricity not working though, the tranquil tone remains unchallenged.  The director's ability to equally convey dread and thought provoking ambiguity by the film's end is on par here as much as ever, making this one of his many triumphs.

CREEPY

(2016)

Overall: GOOD

 

The domestic thriller Creepy, (Kurīpī: Itsuwari no Rinjin), sees filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa returning after ten years to his horror aesthetics even if the movie technically does not fit into said genre in a conventional sense.  Based off of the novel of the same name by Yutaka Maekawa, Kurosawa spins the common, "disturbing neighbor" motif in his always singular way, utilizing long takes and sparring incidental music to create his usual understated tone.  Though the entire cast is quite good, the film largely hinges on Teruyuki Kagawa's performance as a mysteriously disturbed eccentric who manages to be aloof, charming, terrifying, and pathetic often within the course of a single scene.  There are a few curious plotting moments where plausibility is stretched; character's not explaining concerning behavior to each other, police not catching on to the bad guy far sooner, a silly monologue near the end, etc.  Yet just when it seems like such issues will undue the otherwise tightly controlled presentation, interesting surprises spring up that seem to set things back on track.  It is still an odd story to be sure, but it is also one that is  ideally suited for Kurosawa's abilities behind the lens

DAGUERROTYPE

(2016)

Overall: GOOD

As the first non-Japanese speaking, (or cast), film from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Daguerrotype is an unmistakable change of locale for the filmmaker yet it attains many of his hallmarks.  The mood is persistently understated and the pacing is as deliberate as ever.  Thankfully as well, Kurosawa's penchant for staging his select yet impactful, supernatural moments in broad daylight and without the use of virtually any derivative horror cliches is just as unwavering and strong.  The tone still carries the bulk of the weight, but the material allows for Kurosawa to indulge in far more contemplative and romantic ideas than usual.  With the feel of a period piece, (even though it is set in the modern day), and a narrative that seems like it was based off of a novel, (even though it is solely from Kurosawa's own pen), it showcases a boldness that is quite admirable to say the least.  Performance wise, it could not be better with the almost entirely French cast fitting effortlessly into the director's well-honed aesthetics.  There are some plot points that may seem a bit too sparse, yet the film's ambiguity appears to be intentional so in this regard, it is an effectively challenging end product.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa Horror Part One

SWEET HOME

(1988)

Overall: MEH

Released simultaneously with a video game of the same name which later inspired Resident Evil, the film Sweet Home, (Suwīto hōmu, The Mamiya House), not only bares absolutely zero similarities with the zombie survival series, but it also shares none of the hallmarks of its director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's subdued future work.  On the one hand, it is a standard, "ghost out for revenge in a cursed, abandoned mansion" story, but the tone is primarily goofy.  Horrendously terrible, sappy synth music interrupts random scenes and slap stick or just plain quirky humor is attempted at times.  This occasionally jives oddly with moments that are gory and dark, as it never goes fully into something akin to Sam Raimi Looney Tunes mode even though it seems like it wants to.  Several set pieces are gleefully absurd though, like a guy turning into a melting skeleton and a woman getting her skull split open by an unnecessarily large ax.  The practical effects are also solid, particularly with a giant, animatronic ghost monster during the finale.  Things crawl a bit too much at regular intervals though and the movie is ultimately more ridiculous than interesting.

THE GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND

(1992)

Overall: MEH

 

If one was to imagine Javier Bardem's character from No Country from Old Men as a seven-foot tall ex-sumo wrestler who decides to murder everyone in a high-rise office building for no reason, than this would at least give you an on-paper idea of what Kiyoshi Kurosawa's The Guard from Underground, (Jigoku no Keibiin, The Guard from Hell, The Security Guard from Hell), is.  The title maniac here just calmly tells people that they do not understand that there are people like him in the world, which is the only answer he ever gives in smashing them to death.  Anyone expecting some profound meaning behind any of this will be gravely disappointed though.  While Kurosawa was beginning to experiment with subdued atmosphere at this point, (letting a large number of moments play out to no music and very little if any action), the plotting seems to have been bypassed in the process.  Taking place at one location, it is detrimentally monotonous during its first two acts especially.  Almost nothing of any interest transpires well into the movie and once Japanese Lurch cuts the power off to start meandering around on his murder spree, even more boring slasher motifs are brought into the proceedings.  It is a skippable entry from top to bottom.

CURE

(1997)

Overall: GREAT

For the first time in his directorial career, Kiyoshi Kurosawa was able to match his sobering tone with a story that was perfectly suited for it in Cure, (Kyua).  Said story is enormously puzzling and the fact that the main character, (played exceptionally well by Kōji Hashimoto who would go on to appear in a number of Kurosawa's films), grows violently frustrated with just how puzzling it is, allows him to act as a perfect stand-in for the audience.  Some could argue that the approach here crosses over into style over substance as the material is certainly obtuse enough to discredit as pretentious.  Amazingly though, the ethereal atmosphere is so rich that even after the refreshing shock of how void of genre-pandering the film is has run its course, layers can be theorized as to why the material was tackled in such a patient manner.  Few movies of any kind manage to portray the fascinatingly curious concept of hypnotism in such a creepy way.  "Creepy" in the sense of being impenetrably unknown.  The film could be as deep or as void of heaviness as one can surmise yet in either event, it captures a strange, unsettling mood that is wonderfully difficult to shake off.

SÉANCE

(2001)

Overall: GOOD

Kiyoshi Kurosawa returned to supernatural terrain with the television film Séance, which is another triumph for the director.  Kurosawa was approached by Kansai Telecasting Corporation to adapt Mark McShane's novel Seance on a Wet Afternoon which had also been the basis for a 1964 British film of the same name by Bryan Forbes.  Being a Japanese movie, the setting is obviously changed while the story still focuses on a doomed, unassuming couple who are haunted by the unfortunate decisions that they make.  Story-wise, it is an examination of how well-meaning people can so easily panic, followed by the guilt that inadvertently consumes them after a calamity occurs by their unwilling hands.  The material gels ideally with Kurosawa's fully realized, consistently restrained style and the TV presentation does not hurt the end result in the slightest.  Quite the contrary actually as it further allows for the filmmaker to calmly undersell the frightening bits without the use of an overt violence or gimmicky shocks.  The characters only occasionally even raise their voices and it stays very haunting as well as almost oddly soothing in its mood.  This is hardly a feel-good product mind you, but for a sombre tragedy with ghosts in it, it is rather exceptional.