Shadow of the Wraith (Ikisudama, 2001)

Ikisudama (a.k.a. Shadow of the Wraith) is a pair of supernatural thrillers told in two parts. Part One takes place in one of the many fine Japanese schools that Asian horror fans have come to recognize, and by now, may be able to recognize on sight. It begins as Ryoji and Mariko, a pair of high school 'lovers' get to know each other in a vacant gymnasium. When, during class, another student, Asaji, mistakes an act of kindness from Ryoji as as some sort of declaration of love and begins to follow/stalk Ryoji around school. Asaji's behavior quickly extends beyond the walls of their school. Ryoji becomes suspicious of Asaji's intentions and it doesn't take very much longer for Mariko (Ryoji's girlfriend) to join that club. But as they say, two's company and three's a crowd, but Asaji is not the type to take a hint.

The second story is a loose continuation of the first story involving Ryoji's brother and band-mate Kazuhiko, who moves into their older sister and husband's apartment. Someone else is also moving into Kazuhiko's building; a young girl named Naoko. They briefly meet outside the building as he is in the courtyard taking photos. She and Kazuhiko find themselves in the same school and the same class where she tells her class the story of her old neighborhood where a curse had consumed family after family on her street, and Kazuhiko warns her that there are similar event taking place in apartments that share the number 5. Naoko has moved into Apartment 505.

Shadow of the Wraith takes place in two parts; Part One: Shadow of the Wraith, and Part Two: The Hollow Stone. The director obviously favored a two-part system rather than integrating the stories into a single story. Why? Only he may know. The stories might have been more compelling as one. There's seemingly little or no time issues to prevent this other than they needed a separate story for the other "star". The juxtaposition of the two story-lines would have most assuredly held my interest better.

Ikisudama plays like the candy-coated thrillers of yesterday such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and so many other tame MTV-style suspense films. Style over substance. With a partial reprieve for The Hollow Stone 'episode', as it was the more actualized and convincing of the two. Part One plays more like a Twilight Zone episode, but not a classic Rod Serling episode; more like one of the new Forest Whittaker hosted, remade, regurgitated episodes with today's "stars". Or more precisely, like Fatal Attraction. I think I rolled my eyes so many times that it must have looked as if I just hopped off of The Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags! Low budget special effects, manufactured and transparent suspense aside, the final nail in the coffin for Part 1 was the cheesy pop song that robbed the music from 'I Only Want To Be With You' as we get a look at the band Marshall Law, which in real life is an actual brother-brother duo known as Doggy Bag. Who by the way, get top billing in the end credits and individual, widely spaced mentions. Something their agent(s) probably insisted on.

This movie was clearly a vehicle for the duo. There's very little positive about Ikisudama other than one short, tense scene in Part One and the premise in Part Two is interesting but not fulfilling. Horror fans will want to see it just to see it, but they shouldn't expect anything new or exciting. Or maybe just pass on it all together.

Dating Death (2004)

Dating Death is certainly a throwback to the early days of slasher who-done-its. It has that relentless attack on a viewers' senses that early 80's classics like April Fool's Day and Return To Horror High treat us to. People are dying left & right, nobody can get a grip on what's happening to them and yet the fact remains that there's a killer among them! Sensibilities are discarded and rational judgment is throw out the window. In Dating Death, people are thrown out the window with after it.

A group of long-time friends are partying together and someone has the clever idea of playing Truth or Dare. Immediately, someone shouts "truth" and volunteers another to answer the question "Who do you admire?" (As the English translation is a little sketchy, I assume a more literal translation is a playful and coy, 'Who do you have a crush on?') Around the room they go and each of the five guys choose Sophie, a wealthy girl whom everyone of the group trips over themselves in a vain attempt to get her to "notice" them. This doesn't sit well with Lily, Sophie's friend, because one of the five is her secret lover Ken. Ken reluctantly, out of respect, proclaims that he adores Sophie as well, but only after Sophie had called Ken's name earlier in the game. This really rubs Lily the wrong way and she storms off. The other four guys who are gunning for the affections of Sophie don't take this well either (for some odd reason). Later, the guys head downstairs to shoot pool and one of them disappears...and the game begins.

** spoilers **

In the morning the group waits in the lobby to catch the boat back home from the island resort, but one of the group, namely Ken, is still missing. A quick search of the hotel yields nothing and they head to Ken's room but are shocked to find a river of blood leading from the window to the bed and a severed hand at the foot of the bed. No sign of Ken anywhere. A year later, the group reunites at a dinner party hosted by Sophie at a posh restaurant, but competition for Sophie's attention hasn't subsided in the least. The guys spend the entire dinner shouting at each other and posturing. As the dinner ends and the friend's disperse, each of them find a mysterious invitation slipped in their pockets and purses calling them back to the island resort. And of course, they go.

The group arrive at the resort, the boat leaves and there's no way off the resort island until their boat is scheduled return days later (how convenient!), they curiously head to Ken's room and find a black hand print on the ceiling. Sophie's uncle, the caretaker, has tried to remove it with dozens of methods but to no avail. The group is left wondering who left the mysterious palm print, and soon suspicions of one another resurface and of the whereabouts of Ken.

** end spoilers **

One by one they received an invitation, one by one they stepped off the boat, one by one they they entered the building and one by one they'll die.

The simple, calculated premise of Dating Death is what makes this movie work. It's the classic 'Don't go in there!' or 'Don't open that door!' that draws us into the film. As if we're put in the position of participants in the film. Quite refreshing if you ask me. Dating Death has the elements of the classic blood & guts slasher and the suspense of even earlier classic films like 'And Then There Were None' from which it borrows the formula, I'm sure. Each disappearance more disturbing than the last, each more tense and suspicious than the last, and when you've got it figured out, you'll be wrong. Dating Death hold out until the very end. Other than a cheesy farewell sequence, it's a totally engrossing and more importantly, fun movie as far as slashers go.

Sure it's low budget, formulaic (to a point) and a tad campy. But for crying out loud, it is called Dating Death! If it sound like I'm defending it, it's because I am. Not many seem to get this movie and feel the need to hold it to unreasonably high standards or take it much too seriously. That's my humble opinion. The only bug I have with it is the DVD's subtitles. The English subtitles, to be specific, on the Mandarin Films release. They get the the point across well enough, but the studio might benefit from a better translator or simply to clarify the dialogue. In the end though, it's a horribly good movie.