Showing posts with label Horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horror. Show all posts

Loner: Horror of Hikikomori

Posted by admin | 2:31 PM | | 0 comments »



Product Description
This movie highlights the horror that can be lurking inside even a tiny and lonely room. Su-na, once a bright and adorable girl, locks herself alone in her room after her best friend's suicide. She starts to talk and behave as if someone else exists in her room, but never opens the door to anyone. Finally, her uncle brings his fiance, Yun-mi, a psychologist specializing in hikikomori (people who isolate themselves from society), and she finds Su-na's trouble has something to do with the family's secret history...

Sinopsis
Hikikomori or The loner is a Korean horror film which tells the story of Su-na, a teenage girl cheerful and pleasant, with a close friend of Jung Ha, who are victims of oppression of their classmates. Not bear abused, Ha Jung then turned into hikikomori and suicide.

Su-na, then beaten and became upset, because the left Ha Jung. In the middle of confiuse, he realized there was a sad and painful secret from his family masalalu. Su-na and then began to show signs hikikomori. Su-na acted like someone else dikamarnya, and never opened his door again.

Hikikomori itself is a Japanese term that means "pulling away", and began to attract media attention since the 1999-2000s because quite phenomenal. Allegedly there are about 2 million teenagers (because it strikes at the age of 13-20s) that Japan had "disease" is. The most obvious syndrome of hikikomori is never out of the room (or home). Even noted there people who do not want to come out of his room (except waste water kali ya?) For 10 years.

80% of perpetrators are male and the hikikomori phenomenon is frequently encountered in developed countries, but only in Japan, hikikomori is considered a social phenomenon, and much talk on TV .Most of the public in the media blamed the loss factor of fatherless families (because of excessive work into the night), mothers who are too spoiled child (perhaps because of the small number of children), academic pressures at school, harassment at school (school bullying), and video games in Japan tempting extraordinary.

The pressure on schools to some extent contribute to the hikikomori. Most abused because they are too fat, thin, tall or exceed the capabilities of others in any case. There was a hikikomori with more than usual ability in basketball and abused - which does not get a chance to play real time in the school team. Like the Japanese saying goes, the nail that stands out will be hammered to be uniform.

Face (2004)

Posted by admin | 9:14 AM | | 0 comments »


Starring: Yun-ah Song, Hyeon-jun Shin Director: Sang-Gon Yoo
# Language: Japanese, Korean
# Subtitles: English, Spanish
# Studio: Tartan Video
# DVD Release Date: September 27, 2005
# Run Time: 88 minutes

Product Description
Hot on the trail of a serial killer who uses acid on his victims leaving behind only the bones, the police turn to Hyun-min, a former forensic sculptor adept in reconstructing faces by examining and interpreting skulls. With the victims' bones in his house, Hyun-min's daughter experiences disturbing visions of a long-haired woman in a white robe, a woman whom she may know. As he races against time to find the answers before the visions overtake his daughter, the deadly truth behind these victims reveals a sinister conspiracy that threatens everyone involved.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Complicating matters is the repeatedly unstable condition of his sickly daughter -- who had undergone a very dangerous & difficult heart transplant surgery that required a very rare type of "organ donor match" in order for the surgical procedure to have even the slightest chances of success (a "MacGuffin" referred to in the movie as "Beta Alergic"). "Inspired," if you will, by a thread of ghostly apparitions and other related inexplicable sights & sensations, the specialist becomes convinced that the spirit connected to the latest skull in his possession will not rest quietly until it has been given its face back. During this process he gradually becomes convinced that his daughter had become the recipient of the heart of the skull/ghost in question and that the circumstances under which it was acquired may be highly (and frighteningly) suspect. Et cetera and so-forth.

So the real question becomes, Can I recommend this title for purchase? At it's currently listed price, I'd say no -- especially if you're so fed up with the "A-Horror" cliches of recent years that you'd feel insulted that a movie would make such deliberate use of them for no other purpose than simply to capitalize on that market. Should the price come down on it, however-- say, somewhere in the neighborhood of $14.95 & under --then I'd say go ahead and give it a look-see, it wouldn't hurt much of anything then, if you did.


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The Uninvited

Posted by admin | 10:24 AM | | 0 comments »


Starring:
Shin-yang Park, Gianna Jun Director: Su-yeon Lee


Product Description

This intrernationally acclaimed thriller is a character driven throwback to the groundbreaking horror films of the 1970's. This modern horror masterpiece shares as much in common with The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby as with The Ring or The Grudge. Riveting performances from the two leads porovide a powerful, unforgetable plunge into the deepest fathoms of psychological terror, and once you see what lies beyond the veil of reality, there is not escaping its apocalyptic curse.

• Behind-The-Scenes: The Making of The Uninvited Documentary Featurette
• English and Spanish Audio Commentaries
• Trailers
• Posters and Sill Garries
• Production Notes, Essays & Bios
• Essay on Korean Horror by Art Black (Asian Cult Cinema, Psychotronic Video Guide)
• Optional English and Spanish Subtitles
• Seperate Bilingual Menus in English and Spanish
• Collectible Sticker

There are movies that go heavy on the blood and others than go heavy on the Drama; The Uninvited falls in the latter, just like other movies like Dark Water or Two Sisters. The movie is about a man named Jung-won who is an Interior designer. One day he falls asleep in the subway and he must hurry out before the doors close, but outside he notices that the two kids are still on the train, and he does nothing. The next day he hears on the radio that the 2 children were dead and suddenly he starts seen the kids sitting at his dinner table.

He ignores what is happening to him, probably thinking is the shock of watching the children dead in the train until the day he meets a woman named Yun who suffers from narcolepsy, so he takes her to his home when she loses conscious in his car, and just when she is leaving she tell him to put his kids in bed, so now Jung-won is not the only one seeing the dead kids.
From there Yun helps Jung-won find the gruesome secrets buried in his past, but he is not the only one with a dark past.

The movie has some very shocking scenes that play very well. Both lead actors, Shin-yang Park and Ji-hyun Jun (most known for her part in the romantic comedy (My Sassy Girl") did a fantastic job playing these troubled characters. The cinematography is superb, there were some scenes were I was very impressed.

Nightmare Detective

Posted by admin | 2:29 PM | | 0 comments »


Product Description

Japanese detective Keiko Kirishima discovers that two suicide cases were in fact murders after the evidence reveals that both victims were attacked in their dreams. This supernatural thriller follows Keiko as she tries to enlist the help of the NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE her only hope against a paranormal serial killer.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER UPC: 796019810128 Manufacturer No: 81012

Reviews

Reviews By Woopak "The THRILL" (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell)

NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE (a.k.a. Akumu Tantei, 2006) is the handiwork of renowned Japanese director/actor Shinya Tsukamoto who is also responsible for acclaimed hits such as TETSUO 1 & 2 and A Snake of June. I like this director's style, this film may have the largest budget bestowed him, but this director stands by his art, never for a moment does he give in to the pressure of making a studio-approved/influenced film. Tsukamoto just has a bigger budget to give mainstream viewers another shot of the bizarre and macabre. Would you believe that the director of this film also plays the main antagonist? Well, he does, and rightfully so. (Tsukamoto also played the lead in "Marebito", which I will review later)

A beautiful and competent detective named Keiko Kirishima (J-pop star Reiko Hitomi) is summoned to investigate supposedly two separate suicide cases. The supposed "suicides" have a common denominator; the victims dialed the same number on their cell phones just minutes before their demise. When one of the victim's wife makes a statement that she saw her husband cutting himself to pieces while he is asleep, it starts to feel more like a "serial" murder. Keiko and her partner, Wakamiya (Masanobu Ando) decides to enlist the aid of Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda, Izo), a so-called psychic who can enter the dreams of another individual. The mysterious individual on the receiving end of the cell phone calls; "O" be the man behind the bloody incidents? Somehow, "O" holds the same mysterious power that Kagenuma wields.

At first glance, "Nightmare Detective" may feel like a rethread of Miike's "One Missed Call" mixed in with the horror elements of "Dreamscape" and "A Nightmare at Elm Street". However, the film sidesteps those boundaries and while its premise may hold similarities to other films, it plays like the comic book "Hellblazer" with a mixture of dark fantasy and mythology as the factors behind multi-dimensional connections. Water is used to symbolize one's immersion into "deep sleep" or a descent into the abyss and as a conduit to the dream world. "Constantine", anyone? (well, without the action and reliance to visual effects) I was rather a little disappointed that the usual J-horror gimmicks as the film does use a technological device as a link between the victims and the antagonist at first, but thankfully, the claustrophobic and atmospheric feel of the proceedings made me overlook the usual J-horror trappings.

Those who are familiar with Tsukamoto's work such as "Tetsuo" and "A Snake of June"; know that his work often relies on the creative visual manipulations of this director. There is a lot of bleakness in the proceedings, the "grainy" transfer of the film is done on purpose at times in order to allow the viewer to differentiate reality from the dream world. (Although, there are a few times it wasn't used to confuse the viewer). There are also a lot of themes and Christian motifs that involve birth and baptism, rebirth and redemption, damnation to hell and eternal suffering. While these complicated thematic style may be its strength, it may also frustrate those looking for the usual scary thrills. There are quite a lot of intense and disturbing images but somehow I did feel like the surface has only been scratched and further development of its plot still have to be finalized, it feels like a set-up for a bigger film. Well, I've read that "Nightmare Detective 2" is in production, so maybe, as with "Tetsuo 2: Body Hammer", the sequel will hold more answers and close this series more effectively.

Aside from the film's thematic affair that aroused my curiosity, the performances actually do save the film. I rather thought for a first-time performance, very sexy J-pop starlet REIKO HITOMI did a fairly good job. She plays her character with a bit of an edgy, unsettling feel. It was such a grand effort not to be taken by her sheer good looks. Ryuhei Matsuda is an actor that usually has the same style of acting, but he does give an unbalanced depth to his character. I was very impressed with Shinya Tsukamoto's performance. Boy, this director can indeed act with a very creepy charisma. As the main antagonist, Shinya steals the show; his movement and dynamic presence fits his character with an unnervingly, insane portrayal.

Overall, "Nightmare Detective" is a film with modest intentions and I really didn't find that many faults about it. Viewers looking for a fast-paced horror thriller may find their interest beginning to wane after the dream world begins to take center stage. The final encounter has that very surreal feeling that doesn't really reach a finality of closure that may prove to contain the potential to become multiple climaxes. Thankfully, the effort in adding dimensions to its back-story and character depth does succeed that I was rooting for the protagonists all the way. I'm very intrigued to see what this awesome actor/director has next up his sleeve. I'm sold to see "Nightmare Detective 2".

Recommended! For fans of Japanese fantasy/horror films. [3 ½ stars]

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