Black Kiss (2004)

Asuka is an aspiring model who moves to Tokyo to pursue her career. She moves into a small apartment with a friend of a friend, Kasumi. A bizarre murder occurs in the hotel across the ... See full summary »

Director:

Macoto Tezuka

Writer:

Macoto Tezuka

Stars:

Reika Hashimoto, Kaori Kawamura, Shunsuke Matsuoka

Cast

Credited cast:
Reika Hashimoto	...	Asuka Hoshino
Kaori Kawamura	...	Kasumi
Shunsuke Matsuoka	...	Yusuke Shiraki
Masanobu Andô	...	Tatsuo Sorayama
Hijiri Kojima	...	Aoi
Seri Iwahori	...	Aika
Angie	...	Mary Ayabe
Joe Odagiri	...	Joker Jono
Masao Kusakari	...	Ryusei Yozan
Eiji Okuda	...	Inspector Minezaki
Shinzen Okada	...	Isamu Kimura
Sawaco	...	Mayumi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gô Ayano
Shoichi Honda
Kikuo Kaneuchi

Storyline

Asuka is an aspiring model who moves to Tokyo to pursue her career. She moves into a small apartment with a friend of a friend, Kasumi. A bizarre murder occurs in the hotel across the street. The body was mutilated and repositioned into a lurid work of art. After this, a string of murders start happening all around the two girls, as if some crazed serial killer was following them. At the scene of each crime, the perpetrator leaves a black lip print, and is subsequently dubbed "The Black Kiss."

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Plot Keywords:

deception | mysterious murderer | psychopath | psycho murderer | serial murder | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

28 January 2006 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Black Kiss

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Neontetra

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Overall a thrilling experience!! .. but the solution? not quite ;)

This film was both a huge surprise and a slight disappointment at the very same time. I was stunned by the sustained suspense, the fascinating photography and some interesting elements of the editing, the ingenious sound/soundtrack, the solid acting, the art-style, characters and the story, which has kind of a B-movie vibe to it. I was simply amazed by this tense atmosphere! A perfect example how to stage such a thriller full of uncertainty, fear and suspicion.

So, why then disappointment? Well, the horrible thing is that within the storyline, at the very end, weakness is concealed.

Of course there are few other slight negatives, like some rare awkward moments when the acting felt kind of enforced. And also when the editing was really strange, when the plot jumped in an incomprehensible way to a total different place, so the story-flow felt kind of broken. But in contrary i have to say that there were sometimes ingenious moments of the editing when only few seconds were cut out; this had an interesting staccato effect.

I wouldn't say that the story itself is that bad because throughout the film the storyline makes perfectly sense and is, combined with the masterly crafted atmosphere, very compelling. The only problem is that the ending feels rushed and the explanation was to me way too incomplete. I was just a bit dissatisfied after the long yet amazing buildup. I don't want to spoil anything, so i will keep my mouth shut about the precise fact why this solution was so insipid to me. But maybe other people won't be that bothered by it; it is still only my opinion.

I just want to say that you should definitely watch this film if you already have an interest in it. Do not hesitate! You will definitely enjoy it! In many aspects i would even call it a masterpiece!! .. but .. it is just simply that .. damn solution!! ;)