Marebito (2004)

A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman (Shinya Tsukamoto) investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writers:

Chiaki Konaka (novel), Chiaki Konaka (screenplay)

Stars:

Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Tomomi Miyashita, Kazuhiro Nakahara

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Shin'ya Tsukamoto	...	Masuoka
Tomomi Miyashita	...	F
Kazuhiro Nakahara	...	Arei Furoki
Miho Ninagawa	...	Aya Fukumoto
Shun Sugata	...	MIB
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Junko Amagi
Masayoshi Haneda
Ayumu Saitô

Storyline

In Tokyo, the freelance cameraman Takuyoshi Masuoka is obsessed investigating the fear sensation near death. When he photographs a man stabbing himself in the eye in the access to the subway, he seeks what the suicidal man might have seen to experiment the same sense of horror the man felt when he died. He finds a passage to the Tokyo underground where he meets a mysterious naked woman that does not speak, who he calls her F. He brings F to his place and he tries to feed her, until he discovers that she drinks blood. Masuika becomes a serial killer draining the blood of his victims to nurse F.

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Plot Keywords:

fear | schizophrenia | h.p. lovecraft | snuff film | vhs tape | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some nudity

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

Marebito

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,852, 11 December 2005

Gross USA:

$13,893, 12 March 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Adness K.K.,AtEntertainment K.K.,Culture Publishers (CP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the movie's key scenes takes place 'At the Mountains of Madness', an obvious nod to H.P. Lovecraft's novella of the same name.

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Quotes

Masuoka: They didn't see something that terrified them. They saw something because they were terrified.

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Connections

Featured in Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2009)

User Reviews

Marebito

I highly suggest seeing this film if you are a fan of Shimizu's works. Apparently it was filmed before Ju-On, in only eight days. This shows what a master filmmaker can do in such a short time. This movie will make you feel very uncomfortable and extremely disturbed. It is about a camera man who wants nothing more than to feel the most extreme fear. He than finds a subterranean lair filled with eerie creatures called Deros, and he finds a girl (or a creature much like a girl) chained to a rock and takes her home to care for her. He attempts to feed her but he finds that the only thing that she'll eat is blood. The only problems I had with it were the shaky camera moves (Blair-Witch style)but since he only made it in eight days...he has an excuse, and it will go to a normal camera to give your eyes a break. Overall a masterpiece in psycho-horror.