This movie was really pretty dreadful. It seems as though as the popularity of Japanese (and other Asian) horror films increases, more and more of these barrel-scrapers are appearing in my local video emporium. Two teens spend the night in a spooky, dilapidated mansion. Incredibly slow scenes of non-suspense follow, as we watch the teens... wander through the house. Slowly. The action, such as it is, is punctuated by completely unrelated scenes, apparently comic in intent, of some more teens, these ones game developers. The story creeps towards a ludicrous, lurid climax, which is followed by a really bad denouement.
All in all, a badly thought out movie executed without any particular skill. There are a few saving graces, though, which saved this movie from getting an even lower score from me.
1. The atmospherics are actually fairly good, although the pacing is slow. The mansion is creepy, and an unsettled feeling overtakes the viewer as the characters dawdle their way through it. The addition of creepy paintings heightens the effect.
2. There was one film technique that I thought was pretty cool, where the camera zooms in on the viewfinder of a camcorder, and the viewfinder expands to become the frame of the movie as a whole. Other reviews here have praised the film technique as "stylish" and "interesting", but I'm afraid I can't agree, except for this one shot. The rest of the movie has a lot of jittery, ripping-off-the-Blair-Witch-Project hand-held shots and a lot of garish, unnecessary coloring.
Overall, a great film to avoid.
All in all, a badly thought out movie executed without any particular skill. There are a few saving graces, though, which saved this movie from getting an even lower score from me.
1. The atmospherics are actually fairly good, although the pacing is slow. The mansion is creepy, and an unsettled feeling overtakes the viewer as the characters dawdle their way through it. The addition of creepy paintings heightens the effect.
2. There was one film technique that I thought was pretty cool, where the camera zooms in on the viewfinder of a camcorder, and the viewfinder expands to become the frame of the movie as a whole. Other reviews here have praised the film technique as "stylish" and "interesting", but I'm afraid I can't agree, except for this one shot. The rest of the movie has a lot of jittery, ripping-off-the-Blair-Witch-Project hand-held shots and a lot of garish, unnecessary coloring.
Overall, a great film to avoid.