Shirome (2010) User Reviews

A Difficult Film...

[Raptorclaw155 · 4/10 · 5 October 2019]

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.

Good attempt, but doesn't touch the brilliance of Noroi

[Chaosmetal69 · 6/10 · 5 October 2011]

Shirome is about a group of girls that are in a pop group and their manager decides for more publicity that they should film them going to a school that supposedly has evil spirits and has killed numerous people who have visited there.

The documentary side of this is great however I was honestly a bit let down by some of the scares, however it does have a lot of tense moments where you're wondering what will happen next. No issues with the acting either it was all great as well.

Those coming to this title after witnessing the magnificence of Noroi however will be strongly disappointed like I was. I can't really recommend this to anyone for that reason because the scare scenes are honestly kind of weak and the film stinks of low budget which isn't a bad thing but not a good thing in the case of this film.

This is only worth watching if you're a hardcore hand-camera horror type person or staged documentary types. To the average horror movie watcher you will probably hate this movie. I won't watch it again but i'll recommend it to others who love the genre cause maybe they will find something they like in it.

An Evil Ghost Who Grants Wishes

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 10 June 2023]

This film essentially begins with an all-female pop group known as "Momoiro Clover" agreeing to appear in a documentary that requires them to visit to a haunted building in exchange for an opportunity to perform at an extremely well-known Japanese music show. Just prior to heading out, however, they are told that a specific ghost by the name of "Shirome" resides in this building and that it has the power to grant wishes to those who dare to petition him. The problem is that the person making the wish has to have a pure motive--otherwise their soul will be immediately sent to hell. In addition to that, the girls in the band are then informed that several people have recently died in this building as a result. And to make matters even more stressful for them, the group is then lectured by several authorities in the occult--to the point that they quickly become terrified about actually entering the building. Yet having said all of that, the girls are all determined to appear on this special musical show and they set out on their journey. What they don't realize, however, is that there is one person among them who is not only aware that the whole setup is a farce--but she has also agreed with those making the documentary--to secretly build up her colleague's stress levels in order to make a more successful final product. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, from what I understand, all of the members of the band were totally unaware that they were being setup, and as a result their reactions were quite genuine. That's the good part. The bad part is that, aside from the terror these young girls were subjected to, the director's by-the-numbers approach greatly limited the overall effect. So, there really wasn't much horror or suspense to be found here. That being said, while I don't consider this to be bad film necessarily, it wasn't something that really captured my attention either, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Good, but not Great

[Caractacus23 · 7/10 · 2 October 2011]

(Spoilers contained herein are quite mild, and should not interfere significantly with one's enjoyment of this film, but as a courtesy I am noting there is some slight potential for spoilage, for those who want to go into this film without knowing anything about it...in which case, you should probably eschew reading its reviews altogether, LOL.) Anyhoo, this 2010 release is Koji Shiraishi's third "found footage"/mockumentary-style horror film (after the phenomenal 2005 feature, "Noroi: The Curse," and the lesser-but-still-excellent "Occult," from 2009), and while its the least of the the three, its still a perfectly adequate and entirely enjoyable film.

A very peculiar (and highly clever & original) aspect of this film's production is that the principal stars ie., the members of the Japanese "Idol"-type band called "Momoiro Clover," think they are appearing on an episode of a haunted house-themed "reality"-TV show, rather than an actual horror film. These very characteristically feminine (indeed, to an extent that is a bit silly at times, to Western eyes), Japanese teenage girls are, shall we say, very fertile soil indeed in which to plant the seeds of fear (I think it would be fair to say this movie contains too much screaming, but the fact the screams are the product of their clearly delicate emotional natures, rather than acting, makes it more tolerable than would otherwise be the case).

Anyhoo, as you can well imagine, the poor little girls are totally unaware that there is a cinematic special effects team working its (low-budget) magic out of sight, and thus their visit to the "Shirome" shrine, at an abandoned school, winds up being a much more frightening experience than they had doubtless bargained for, ROFL! There is one scene, at the very end of the film, where one of the girls (you should have very little difficulty ascertaining which one) is in on Mr. Shiraishi's big joke (he plays himself, as ostensibly the director of an episode of a "reality" television program), and terrifies her band mates, as the film's somewhat dark finale draws to a close.

All in all, I'd say this is a good movie, and if you enjoy "found footage"-type horror films (as I do), or are more generally interested in Japanese horror (or perhaps the specific works of Koji Shiraishi), then you should make it a point to seek this out.

Misunderstood brilliance!

[sadistdave · 10/10 · 21 November 2020]

This film is completely misunderstood. The movie is a hot mess, and to be fair you really need to have a pretty high tolerance for squealing Japanese Jr. High school girls to get through parts of Shirome. But the most important thing about Shirome is that it really isn't a horror movie, and to understand that you have to understand the films principle actresses, Momoiro Clover.

Momoiro Clover is part of Stardust Promotions, and some of the girls in the group have been in the industry since age 7. Idol's lives pretty much consist of work and group activities. These girls all went to a school for entertainers that was filled with other children who had no concept of the real world. Children in Idol groups are very good at just going along with things. A Japanese Idol has only one job, and that is to make the fans like them. They are in a constant state of fan maintenance, whether it's taking pictures for social media while they're eating lunch or participating is bizarre promotional gimmicks. So, they tend to just go along with anything, as long as they can look cute doing it.

On top of this, there is the cultural aspect of Japanese spirituality. Most Japanese follow the Shinto religion, and there is an incredibly rich cultural heritage that worships local deities and demons of all types. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 shrines in Japan, and all Japanese people respect and revere these shrines regardless of their actual religion.

Add in a director who has a bit of a sadistic side, and these are, quite literally, the perfect conditions to convince 6 girls that a local deity that may help a budding girl group on their path to stardom actually exists. Well, I should say 5 girls. But I'll get to that in a moment...

Shirome is often described as a found footage film. What it really is, is the documentary of one of the greatest practical jokes ever perpetrated on a Japanese Idol group. There is no script because the only acting consisted of not letting the cat out of the bag. In fact, the director was discouraged from making the girls act by the groups manager.

Hayami Akari was the only girl in the group with any real acting ability. She was brought in on the secret just before the scene where the girls spend the night together in the studio. They needed her to increase the drama for the rest of the girls and to keep them focused. The director also wanted something to add special effects to later. Later, Hayami was asked to collapse in the scene after the concert for the same reason.

Other than that, the film is genuine MomoClo through and through. Even the scene in the car ride is genuine. Self-introductions are a part of Idol culture and is considered to be very important for people new to the industry. The reactions to the storyteller, except for Hayami's, are genuine. Their belief (or at least their willingness to believe) that a supernatural entity would either help them or destroy them is real. The girls obvious distress in the abandoned school was real. The concert they were asking for Shirome's blessing for was a real concert.

If the story behind Shirome seems a bit cruel, I suggest watching a few Japanese game shows. Pranks are part and parcel of the Idol industry. Shirome simply documents the most elaborate example. By the standards of the usual practical jokes played on Idols for the sake of their fans, Shirome is pure genius!