Koji Shiraishi is back with one of the most difficult films of his I've yet seen. I've been familiar with this film for a few years, now, and the deeper I analyze it the more confused I become about what this film's goal is.
It is accepted that this is a found-footage horror film but while watching this I ask myself what exactly makes this horror? I know it's largely a subjective matter but aside from a couple of things (which I will get to later) I found myself laughing more often than being spooked, among other things.
I discovered this film though being a fan of the idol group featured in it. I've read some reviews in the past where people actually complained that they thought the girls' scared reactions were over-acting, but as it is revealed during the credits, it wasn't the case. The girls, bar one, were all convinced that everything they were told, experiencing, and going to do was all real and all of the screaming and crying that takes place is, for the most part real. Despite the nature of idols being self-referential being their main selling-point, I don't think fans took to this film very nicely and I can't blame them. There's something almost exploitational about it and it comes off more like a mean-spirited prank. But if it was a prank at all, then shouldn't it be funny?
That's the biggest issue with this film. Shiraishi has a talent for making really good found-footage mockumentary horror films, Noroi being a prime example of that. But I can't help but feel like the idea for this film wasn't given enough time to be developed. This film feels a lot like if you were to take Shiraishi's Noroi and Cult and combine them exactly 50/50. You take the horror and mockumentary style of Noroi, and mix it with the campy spiritualistic elements of Cult.
I still can't understand what makes this a horror film other than in its narration. The only creepy parts of this film, I can make a short, exhaustive list of. The creepy, atmospheric soundtrack that plays at the film's text crawl in the beginning and the chanting at the beginning of the credits actually do such a good job at setting a creepy atmosphere for the film that I feel like they were wasted, in a way. There is also a really effectively used crashing sound effect that's used when the story teller mentions someone falling to their death. It isn't a jump scare, just something that I found chilling and effectively used. The last thing is the part where there is a night vision camera set up to watch the girls sleep and Akari (the one in on the joke) creepily raises one of her arms into the air and keeps it there for an uncomfortably long time to make it look like she's reaching for a ghost before quickly pulling her arm back. Even though you can tell, by that point, that she's already in on the joke, when I first watched it, there was still part of me that suspended my disbelief for long enough to think that something so mundane could look so unsettling. In fact, it probably would have been more so if the ghost effect didn't appear on screen at all.
Speaking of the ghost effects in this film, this film is incredibly low-budget. I think even the girls are using handheld camcorders that record to tape. It's probably to help make it seem like found-footage, real and gritty, but it is still a low-budget horror film. If you're not already familiar with Shiraishi's portrayal of ghosts/spirits/demons, he has a very unique portrayal of them. In this film those portrayals make their appearance and I don't even think for 2011 they looked all that great. The effects themselves aren't convincing and never looked convincing to me even when I first saw them. They look like corny post-production effects and, to be completely honest, take away from the horror element of the film even more. While I do think his portrayal of supernatural spirits have translated well in his other films- like Cult for instance- I don't think they work very well here.
My favorite parts of this film had nothing to do with horror and were either me laughing at it or enjoying the "calm" moments before the scares set in again. Note that I said I was laughing at it, and not with it- as I don't think this film was made to be laughed along with. Most of that came from the performance given by the storyteller. He really gave this film his all and he was fantastic. I'm willing to bet that if the girls were to see him appear on a talk show with them now, they'd still feel the urge to run away from him in fear just because of how shifty an aura he has about him. There's also a scene at the end of the film where it shows the girls performing one of their songs at a concert and there are a few guys in the front row of the audience convulsing because they are possessed, I presume? It's never expanded on, it just shows them once and never does anything with them. And the last part where I laughed at it was the big "stinger" at the end. This film has a post credits scene that tries so hard to end on a question mark but falls flat because of how absurd the journey getting to that point was.
The genuine strongest points in this film were when the girls were interacting with each other. All six of them are extremely likable and funny when they are allowed to be themselves and talk about whatever without something happening making them scream and cry. It's a shame that Shiraishi couldn't see that strength in them and try to center the film around that rather than constantly finding ways to make them think they are all going to die some horrible way.
You'll probably get a feel for whether or not you'll like the film after the first 15 minutes or so after the first big scare scene. Luckily the film isn't extremely long and is generally well-paced. I think the part where they are actually walking around the ruins is a bit slow, visually monotonous, and frankly feels like padding. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that the film was something the director shot over the course of a couple days, slapped the footage together and sold it a couple months later. But who wants to buy it other than hardcore fans of the director and/or Momoiro Clover?
I can't see how this film would be enjoyable to anyone who doesn't already know either the director or the girls in some capacity. It isn't really that scary, the "joke" itself isn't very funny, and the post credit scene is ridiculous. This film doesn't seem to have an audience. Even fans of Momoiro Clover- some of them- would rather not watch this themselves because of how hard it can be to watch them in distress the way they are so frequently. And knowing it's because they think it's real kind of makes it worse. Again, I can't blame them.
I don't know who I would recommend this film to. You have to be in a certain mood for it, I suppose. Personally, I don't find it extremely offensive and if nothing else, I can admire Akari's performance since she does do a really good job at acting like she's scared like the others despite being in on the whole thing. Enter at your own risk- don't expect to be scared.
It is accepted that this is a found-footage horror film but while watching this I ask myself what exactly makes this horror? I know it's largely a subjective matter but aside from a couple of things (which I will get to later) I found myself laughing more often than being spooked, among other things.
I discovered this film though being a fan of the idol group featured in it. I've read some reviews in the past where people actually complained that they thought the girls' scared reactions were over-acting, but as it is revealed during the credits, it wasn't the case. The girls, bar one, were all convinced that everything they were told, experiencing, and going to do was all real and all of the screaming and crying that takes place is, for the most part real. Despite the nature of idols being self-referential being their main selling-point, I don't think fans took to this film very nicely and I can't blame them. There's something almost exploitational about it and it comes off more like a mean-spirited prank. But if it was a prank at all, then shouldn't it be funny?
That's the biggest issue with this film. Shiraishi has a talent for making really good found-footage mockumentary horror films, Noroi being a prime example of that. But I can't help but feel like the idea for this film wasn't given enough time to be developed. This film feels a lot like if you were to take Shiraishi's Noroi and Cult and combine them exactly 50/50. You take the horror and mockumentary style of Noroi, and mix it with the campy spiritualistic elements of Cult.
I still can't understand what makes this a horror film other than in its narration. The only creepy parts of this film, I can make a short, exhaustive list of. The creepy, atmospheric soundtrack that plays at the film's text crawl in the beginning and the chanting at the beginning of the credits actually do such a good job at setting a creepy atmosphere for the film that I feel like they were wasted, in a way. There is also a really effectively used crashing sound effect that's used when the story teller mentions someone falling to their death. It isn't a jump scare, just something that I found chilling and effectively used. The last thing is the part where there is a night vision camera set up to watch the girls sleep and Akari (the one in on the joke) creepily raises one of her arms into the air and keeps it there for an uncomfortably long time to make it look like she's reaching for a ghost before quickly pulling her arm back. Even though you can tell, by that point, that she's already in on the joke, when I first watched it, there was still part of me that suspended my disbelief for long enough to think that something so mundane could look so unsettling. In fact, it probably would have been more so if the ghost effect didn't appear on screen at all.
Speaking of the ghost effects in this film, this film is incredibly low-budget. I think even the girls are using handheld camcorders that record to tape. It's probably to help make it seem like found-footage, real and gritty, but it is still a low-budget horror film. If you're not already familiar with Shiraishi's portrayal of ghosts/spirits/demons, he has a very unique portrayal of them. In this film those portrayals make their appearance and I don't even think for 2011 they looked all that great. The effects themselves aren't convincing and never looked convincing to me even when I first saw them. They look like corny post-production effects and, to be completely honest, take away from the horror element of the film even more. While I do think his portrayal of supernatural spirits have translated well in his other films- like Cult for instance- I don't think they work very well here.
My favorite parts of this film had nothing to do with horror and were either me laughing at it or enjoying the "calm" moments before the scares set in again. Note that I said I was laughing at it, and not with it- as I don't think this film was made to be laughed along with. Most of that came from the performance given by the storyteller. He really gave this film his all and he was fantastic. I'm willing to bet that if the girls were to see him appear on a talk show with them now, they'd still feel the urge to run away from him in fear just because of how shifty an aura he has about him. There's also a scene at the end of the film where it shows the girls performing one of their songs at a concert and there are a few guys in the front row of the audience convulsing because they are possessed, I presume? It's never expanded on, it just shows them once and never does anything with them. And the last part where I laughed at it was the big "stinger" at the end. This film has a post credits scene that tries so hard to end on a question mark but falls flat because of how absurd the journey getting to that point was.
The genuine strongest points in this film were when the girls were interacting with each other. All six of them are extremely likable and funny when they are allowed to be themselves and talk about whatever without something happening making them scream and cry. It's a shame that Shiraishi couldn't see that strength in them and try to center the film around that rather than constantly finding ways to make them think they are all going to die some horrible way.
You'll probably get a feel for whether or not you'll like the film after the first 15 minutes or so after the first big scare scene. Luckily the film isn't extremely long and is generally well-paced. I think the part where they are actually walking around the ruins is a bit slow, visually monotonous, and frankly feels like padding. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that the film was something the director shot over the course of a couple days, slapped the footage together and sold it a couple months later. But who wants to buy it other than hardcore fans of the director and/or Momoiro Clover?
I can't see how this film would be enjoyable to anyone who doesn't already know either the director or the girls in some capacity. It isn't really that scary, the "joke" itself isn't very funny, and the post credit scene is ridiculous. This film doesn't seem to have an audience. Even fans of Momoiro Clover- some of them- would rather not watch this themselves because of how hard it can be to watch them in distress the way they are so frequently. And knowing it's because they think it's real kind of makes it worse. Again, I can't blame them.
I don't know who I would recommend this film to. You have to be in a certain mood for it, I suppose. Personally, I don't find it extremely offensive and if nothing else, I can admire Akari's performance since she does do a really good job at acting like she's scared like the others despite being in on the whole thing. Enter at your own risk- don't expect to be scared.