This is an odd little movie, obviously a B quickie. I'm not going to write a novel about it, but since there are no reviews or description at all at the time I write this, a little commentary might prove useful to someone.
So, we start with the premise that three C-list actresses (level-headed Yuu, delicate Mari, and attractive-but-bubbleheaded Mayuko, all playing stereotyped versions of themselves) are being pushed by their management company into doing a reality-TV project where they tag along with a traditional exorcist who's tasked with cleansing evil spirits from a house newly purchased by Tomoe Kaneda and her daughter Miho. The whole film is presented reality-TV style with a mix of footage from "hidden cameras" and and from the trio's one-woman camera crew. Unsurprisngly, you learn almost at once that the evil spirits are real. And presented to us in low-budget CG.
But I'm not one to shy away from low budget: Some of my very favorite horror films have had tiny budgets. And the movie has three things going for it: First, all three of our actresses turn in quite respectable performances, as does Mari Hayashida as Tomoe. Second, you don't often see either in jHorror films, or "Paranormal Activity" genre films, that priests and exorcists are treated as having abilities as real as those of the evil spirits. Third...
(Warning, minor spoilers from here on, no major ones)
Third, you even less often see a movie that portrays the priests/exorcists as knowing stronger/more skilled people to call when they're over their heads.
And you certainly get that here, as what begins as one junior exorcist trying to clean a house for the sake of one middle-school girl widens out into a larger struggle.
Unfortunately, there's even more not to love. First, from the moment it starts, there's the "cinematography" (if that isn't too grand a word for the combination of camera, scenery and lighting work) on display here. It's as if they took the concept of "shoot it like a reality show" to mean that they should simply point the camera and hope for the best. All of the backgrounds, for example, are well-lit and dull, and in the rare instances where they have some telling detail, they actually -- no kidding -- freeze frame and zoom in on it. Then, we see that not a single one of the male actors bring anything. And, in fact, as the movie goes along, the male performances get steadily worse. On top of that, the script is, well, thin. What it adds up to, I think, is that there's just not a single scary or creepy moment. Not the loveliness of chills down your back, nor tension in your breathing, nor even the short shock of unpleasant surprise.
Finally, the ending might as well be a fade out on the words "We have irrational hopes for a sequel!"
In all, I'm not angry at having spent the time to watch, but honestly, if you ask me in three months, I imagine I'll be hard-put to remember this movie.
So, we start with the premise that three C-list actresses (level-headed Yuu, delicate Mari, and attractive-but-bubbleheaded Mayuko, all playing stereotyped versions of themselves) are being pushed by their management company into doing a reality-TV project where they tag along with a traditional exorcist who's tasked with cleansing evil spirits from a house newly purchased by Tomoe Kaneda and her daughter Miho. The whole film is presented reality-TV style with a mix of footage from "hidden cameras" and and from the trio's one-woman camera crew. Unsurprisngly, you learn almost at once that the evil spirits are real. And presented to us in low-budget CG.
But I'm not one to shy away from low budget: Some of my very favorite horror films have had tiny budgets. And the movie has three things going for it: First, all three of our actresses turn in quite respectable performances, as does Mari Hayashida as Tomoe. Second, you don't often see either in jHorror films, or "Paranormal Activity" genre films, that priests and exorcists are treated as having abilities as real as those of the evil spirits. Third...
(Warning, minor spoilers from here on, no major ones)
Third, you even less often see a movie that portrays the priests/exorcists as knowing stronger/more skilled people to call when they're over their heads.
And you certainly get that here, as what begins as one junior exorcist trying to clean a house for the sake of one middle-school girl widens out into a larger struggle.
Unfortunately, there's even more not to love. First, from the moment it starts, there's the "cinematography" (if that isn't too grand a word for the combination of camera, scenery and lighting work) on display here. It's as if they took the concept of "shoot it like a reality show" to mean that they should simply point the camera and hope for the best. All of the backgrounds, for example, are well-lit and dull, and in the rare instances where they have some telling detail, they actually -- no kidding -- freeze frame and zoom in on it. Then, we see that not a single one of the male actors bring anything. And, in fact, as the movie goes along, the male performances get steadily worse. On top of that, the script is, well, thin. What it adds up to, I think, is that there's just not a single scary or creepy moment. Not the loveliness of chills down your back, nor tension in your breathing, nor even the short shock of unpleasant surprise.
Finally, the ending might as well be a fade out on the words "We have irrational hopes for a sequel!"
In all, I'm not angry at having spent the time to watch, but honestly, if you ask me in three months, I imagine I'll be hard-put to remember this movie.
