[Editor's Note: HorrorYearbook.com was very green in the gills when After Dark launched. So to try and catch us up, our writer Tyler Shainline has gave us his take on the ones we missed.]
Read Andrew Walsh’s Review of “Unrest” Here.
Read Molly Celaschi’s Review of “The Hamiltons” Here.
Molly’s “Gravedancers Review
Read Dr. Royce Clemen’s Review of “The Abandoned” Here.
With the commercial and critical success of the films “Ringu” and “Ju-on” at the turn of this century, Japanese horror films, or J-Horror, became the newest subgenre of horror to gain worldwide attention. While most Americans are more familiar with their American remakes “The Ring” and “The Grudge” respectively, the style and tone of films by J-Horror creators Takashi Shimizu and Hideo Nakata alone have influenced a great number or recent films. While a generous portion of the population has become entranced by these Japanese films, I for one have not been able to enjoy them. With the exception of Shimizu’s stateside remake of his own film “Ju-on,” I haven’t been able to pay attention or even stay awake through most of the J-Horror films I’ve sat through.
Intent on figuring out what the big deal was, I took anyone’s recommendation for what was supposed to be “the best J-Horror ever.” I sat through both “Ringus,” “Kaosu,” most of the “Tomies,” “Honogurai mizu no soko kara,” “Kairo,” and many more. While most were better than their often horrible American remakes, none of them interested me in even the mildest sense. They all relied way too heavily on the supposedly creepy effects of modern communications and evil, pale, longhaired girls crawling on all fours. So when “Rinne,” or “Reincarnation” as it’s know outside of Japan, was announced as part of the eight-film After Dark Horrorfest, I was not excited in the least. But while “Reincarnation” didn’t necessarily change my views on the state of Japanese horror, it was definitely better than I had imagined…at least the final twenty minutes, anyway.
Thirty-five years ago a professor researching the idea of reincarnation lost his mind and slaughtered eleven people, including his own family, inside a hotel. In the present, a film director has returned to the site of the original killings with a new project in mind. He wants to tell the story of the hotel’s inhabitants, to give a voice to the murdered masses by recreating the gruesome killings on film. As he and his cast and crew arrive at the hotel, they begin to have eerie visions and terrifying nightmares. Once shooting commences, the cast members begin to drop like flies, all in the exact same manner of the victims they’re portraying.
While “Reincarnation” is well shot, well acted, and well directed, it can’t fight the fact that the first seventy minutes of its ninety-six-minute running time is a complete snooze. With the exception of an incredibly effective scene revolving around the lead actress looking through a door’s peephole, almost nothing happens. Back story is laid out and characters are introduced, but with little interest for the viewer. There isn’t even the faintest sense of terror or dread that was prevalent in director Shimizu’s earlier films. It’s just shot after shot of Japanese women widening their eyes in terror at nothing. Oh and, of course, a creepy little girl. That’s required in the film by a statute introduced into Japanese law in 2001.
I was so completely ready to write this film off as another waste of yen that after the third time my brain had attempted to put me to sleep, I gave in. After all, there was only twenty more minutes left; what could I miss? I awoke to my girlfriend (who actually enjoys J-Horror) proclaiming what a great film it was and how the final twenty minutes were amazing. Damn. Luckily, the DVD arrived a few short months after the Horrorfest played in select theaters around the country. While the first seventy minutes of the movie still failed to elicit more than the occasional yawn, the final twenty kicked my ass. The third act plays out like a reward; it’s almost as if the film says, “Hey, thanks for putting up with me lately; I know I’ve been a real bore, so here’s twenty minutes of a good movie.” I would almost recommend “Reincarnation” based on the idea that one fast-forwards through the film until the cast and crew arrive at the hotel, since everything that occurs before that is almost inconsequential to enjoying the final twenty minutes.
While it didn’t completely change my feelings on the boring plodding pace of J-Horror in general, “Reincarnation” did give me hope for the future. “Reincarnation” will surely be remade by some hotshot music-video director for a stateside release in the near future, featuring Lindsey Lohan, Hillary Duff, or one of their siblings. So be sure to check out the striking end to this film before it’s diluted with unnecessary gore, belly shirts, and above-the-butt tribal tattoos.
6 out of 10 Japanese actresses that all look alike
Read all of Tyler Shainline’s articles and reviews in his Archives
