The Eye 10 (aka The Eye Infinity, Jian gui 10, 2005)

The Eye 10 is the third movie of The Eye series and stars a cast of relatively unknowns; which strangely reminds me of every other "I Know What You Did Last Summer"-like line-up ever employed and immortalized in one movie or another.

A group of Thai friends get together, most from Bangkok, travel to a rural Thai village to meet another friend who sort of leads them on a sight-seeing trip through the Thai countryside. On the return trip, they hop a bus that passes by an accident on the roadside. They witness, and one of them films, a dead body lying under a blanket, surrounded by police who are reconstructing the scene and directing traffic. Later that night, they gather in the living-room of their host, Tak, and begin telling ghost stories. No one is having any luck with their stories, so Tak introduces an ancient storybook called "10 Ways to See a Ghost". In it, are 10 methods to conjure a ghost's presence. After some reluctance, they agree to begin exploring them one by one, to varying degrees of success.

The central theme of the movie takes off after they've tried a few, and move on to a game of hide-and-seek; played at midnight, while the 'seeker' hunts for the rest of the group while carrying a black cat. This method is the most effective so far and one of the group, namely Ko Fai, vanishes, without a trace. The police are brought in, but to no avail. They'll have to rely on the remaining methods in the book and Tak's mother's expertise as a kind of spiritual adviser to find Ko Fai.

The first thing that I will say, is that The Eye 10 isn't very good at all. What it is, is mildly entertaining. Well, there's no way to get around it. Somewhat because of the Pang Brother's cheesy brand of humor, but mainly because of the infusion of Thai folklore/mythology. In particular, a scene in a Bangkok apartment building where a possessed young man provokes a break-dancing showdown with two local punks in an upper hallway. I laughed so hard, but I've never felt so ashamed for doing so. Now for the bad. For starters, the story is barely believable, and the 10 methods from the book are a tad wacky and, in terms of the film's layout, they're told in a heavily disjointed and episodic manner. The folklore angle does puts a nice shine on them though. As far as the story-line, it was linear, but came across as jumbled or on-the-fly. No weight to it. So much so, that I wouldn't have been surprised to see a Carrot Top cameo or a 'Thriller-like' choreographed number. Not the way I like my horror.

Eye 10 isn't so much the second sequel to The Eye as it's a spin-off, in my opinion. I have a feeling it took some finessing to manage a germane link the audience would buy. Other than the title of course. In the end, there are some eerily effective scenes, (as short-lived as they are), and two or three genuine shocks. I wouldn't turn to The Eye 10 for a horror fix though. In that regard, it's wholly disappoints and comically underachieves.

The Locker (Shibuya Kaidan, 2005)

* spoilers ahead *

Kei Horie's Shibuya Kaidan, a.k.a. "The Locker", is decidedly a new run with the flavors of a few old favorites of Asian Horror; built around the premise of a small bank of public pay lockers in Shibuya District, which hold a horrific secret. Just south of famed Harijuku, Shibuya is a perfect locale for our clique of callow friend's that return from a weekend camping trip and visit that bank of lockers. The girls in the group routinely store books and clothing in them, as it's proximity to home and campus make for lighter travel between the two points.

While in the country, the six friends (3 ladies, 3 gents) consume a beer or two and attempt to tell ghost stories, which fall completely flat and digress into roaring laughter . It's quite the light-hearted night with friends. (And I laughed also because I could identify; I think we all can.) Things get going when one of the group, Keitarou (Yuge Tomohisa), takes the opportunity to scare the hell out of the group with a stone infants head he finds when our protagonist, Reika (Mizukawa Asami; grown-up Ikuko in Dark Water), had just heard faint crying near the adjacent lake. But she was the only one. Reika pleads with the group to listen for the cries, and as they concentrate, Keitarou produces the stone head which sends the group into screams. Even Keitarou couldn't believe his fortune on this prank. The next morning, on the return trip, another of the group suddenly hears those same faint cries, and upon their return (and subsequent visit to Shibuya), he and another girl disappear. A week later, they're found... but it's not pretty. Soon, the haunting escalates and the entire group faces a disturbing, and sometimes wacky, fate. But those wacky moments pass fairly quickly. Reason being, the characters themselves don't seem to be affected by them.

After two more of the group are killed or missing, the remaining trio of friend's make the association between the deaths, the locker in Shibuya and a certain sacred site that one or more of them had unknowingly desecrated. Just as they prepare an attempt to satisfy the spirit's wrath, their friend is found slumped over in a playground by a very young boy and she's taken to a hospital to recover. The police and doctors monitor her for any signs of improvement, so as to collect information about how and why she came to rest, comatose, in a city park. This is where it gets quite a bit better and makes up ground from the previous half, in terms of genuine scares. A major factor is the spine-cringing sound effects and to maybe an equal extent, a nice bit of editing near the end. The direction as a whole takes a huge step up here also. The camera work goes back & forth between Blair Witch-esque handy-cam to full-on classic Asian Horror style, but at all the right moments. And by this point, it settles into a nice groove. The remaining members of the group face their own fates. One of the group follows the trail back to the Shibuya Locker.

The things that work for this movie is the B-movie feel, the way it doesn't pound us over the head with intensity (it's really not that type of film), and the genuine urban-folklore angle. Similar to a famed, particular bathroom stall haunted by a young woman, this lore has enough weight to carry the movie. Those, and a couple wicked-nice scares and one pretty freaky scene midway through. What worked against it? Several aspects. In particular, a laundry list of familiar elements that quite a few other Asian Horror classics gave birth to and often suffering from being wholly unoriginal altogether. I'm also pretty sure the producers choice to go direct-to-video was partly due to the 'imitation factor'. In the end though, I found it entirely entertaining as a whole. The Locker is a film that has to be appreciated as a "sum of it's parts" type movie. As Herman Yau's Dating Death ('04) has to be. It has a little of everything, and as a viewer, I was kept on my toes and never bored and it's put together well. I couldn't ask for much more. I'll also relay my disappointed at the distribution company's choice for it's original release DVD cover. I think it spoils the movie a little. The Region 1 cover makes amends though. So finally, my score is probably one or two points higher than it should be, but there it is. Have fun with this movie, and you'll be fine.

Ringu 2 (Ring 2, 1999)

Reiko and her son Yoichi are back in Ringu 2, but after more of her family succumbs to the cursed tape she left with her father, they find themselves under suspicion and wanted for questioning by the police. Reiko decides to go into hiding to save her son. Mai Takano (Miki Nakatani; Ringu, Chaos) returns, as the film's lead, to investigate the her boss' death in conjunction with Reiko's disappearance. She meets a local television reporter Okazaki (played by the somewhat nondescript Yanagi Yuurei) who discovers the cursed VHS continues to be circulated, begins tracking it's use and the deaths that surround it. The joint mission becomes first to find Reiko and her son and next to find the solution to end Sadako's Curse.

The trouble I have with the film, (and I honestly tried to not immediately cut into it), is that during, and as I revisit the movie, my takes tend to manifest as direct comparisons to Ringu. It's inescapable, and I apologize in advance. We have people watching the VHS. They pass it on in an attempt to save themselves. We have some purposefully watching it, and we have some accidentally seeing it. Warnings are given about it's content. We have an investigation. And again, someone returns to Sadako's home for a finale. Sound familiar? Add in a visit to a mental institution to interview a survivor of "the tape", where the Mai & Okazaki meet a doctor who seems to have an inside track on solving Sadako's Curse, and you have your sequel in a nutshell. I won't say it's a predictable movie by any means. I can say however, that with few exceptions, surprise will not be the order of the day. If an extra 20 minutes were added to Ringu, this film might be rendered unnecessary. Or better yet, I would be satisfied that the complete story was told.

The better portions of Ringu 2 are definitely the scenes concerning the VHS and it's history. There is nothing more chilling than watching the grainy, stuttering flashes just before "The Well" appears! And we all know what happens after that... The remainder, I'm afraid, succumbs to Nakata's hurried screenplay; which, is saddled with forced material. (Let's not mention the failed first attempt at a sequel; "Rasen"). Which is unfortunate. The oft written about pressure to follow Ringu with a rock solid and timely sequel is most assuredly spot on.

Ringu 2 isn't as bad as all that, if only for the simple fact that it's visually magnificent and sports a monster soundtrack. My sub-woofer was working overtime on the deep effects during those creepy Sadako scenes and those shots of the VHS sent chills down my spine! Again, the scariest moments surround the tape and the short visit to Sadako history, once Mai travels back to the Yamamura home. In the end though, it's barely a sequel that needed to be made. It's also a sequel I wouldn't spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down. At the very least, make sure you've seen it's infinitely better predecessor.

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.

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

For better or for worse, Oak Street Cinema (nestled on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota) is one of only five theaters in the United States showing the Stanley Nelson directed "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple". Upon entering the theater, overheard was a fellow patron inquiring of the girl tearing tickets, "...so how's the movie?"; to wit she replied, "I haven't watched it, but I hear it's depressing.". Her information was accurate indeed.

Skipping ahead because there is without doubt a general cognizance about Jim Jones and the eventual mass suicide at the "jungle utopia" in Guyana, I can only add I wasn't fully prepared for what the film had to add to the story. The never-before-seen film footage and audio was orthodox for a Jonestown chronicle, not that I'm well versed in Jonestown lore, only it ran rather vanilla in terms of new information on the subject. It was the cumulative effect of the footage, audio, pictures, and testimony from former Peoples Temple members which gave me a sick feeling as the conclusion unfolded. Example: the little known visit by an entourage of United States officials and media including U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan. Ryan initiated this visit under the pretext that family of Temple members were being held against their will; a secondary reason was tax evasion charges stemming from Jim Jones' affiliation with the San Francisco Democratic Party, who appointed Jones as San Fransisco's Housing Commissioner due to his (supposed) instrumental help in "getting out the vote" for the eventual winning mayoral candidate. Ryan's arrival to Jonestown created a tempered intensity inside the town as several members slipped notes to the small contingent of accompanying press saying they wanted out — these notes were soon discovered and delivered to Jones. Audio directly from that fated afternoon is tough to listen to and the events immediately following, as recounted by the only two survivors of Ryan's entourage, prompting a type of brutality that seems irreal.

Of course, it's the surviving members (and deceased, for that matter) that make this film. As a loose point of reference, Christopher Lasch's book "Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations", recounts a former Weatherman member who, upon her (inevitable) disenchantment with the the group's leadership to which she had fundamentally surrendered to, remarked that she 'didn't care what the group did, only that she was bathed in attention, ...[she] felt omnipotent when surrounded by the group leaders.'. This insight, for me, added to the films narrative of how people were sucked into Jones' visions of utopia and how a perfected world should work. But in the end, it's just a control freak named Jim Jones preying, patronizing, then forcing his will and his own brand of sadism on vulnerable men, women, and children.

"You don't need to worship me.  All I want from you is to do right.  Feed my children — Do something about the misery around you — Take care of the animals.  I don't care whether you like me, call me Jim Jones, call me asshole ... if you want to call me God, then I'm God.  I don't care what you call me.  Call me Father.  Call me mother.  Call me hermaphrodite.  Call me queer — call me whatever you want, ... just do what's right.
Do what's right."

- Jim Jones, transcribed Jonestown Audiotapes.

I think that excerpt speaks for itself. Jones preached community, love, and commitment to his followers — with himself as the source and foundation — only his was a one-way street of sorts that required absolute and rigorous obedience; a dichotomy which members realized much too late, or alas, not at all. To open the film a former member declares: "Nobody joins a cult; nobody joins something they think is going to hurt them.", and it's difficult to sit and watch that very thing happen.

Tell Me Something (Telmisseomding, 1999)

Tell Me Something gets off the starting block with a series of grizzly discoveries. Dismembered bodies are being dropped off around Seoul on a rainy night. When Detective Jo (Han Suk-kyu) and his partner Detective Oh (Jang Han-seong) are called in to handle the case, they can hardly imagine what they're stepping into. Shortly after meeting with the Medical Examiner, the detectives discover that the body parts found do not belong to one particular corpse. In short order, another round of corpses turn up (in some pretty strange places) and Detectives Jo and Ho put together a special team, on order from the police commissioner, to catch this serial killer, who's victims seem to be connected to the daughter of a famous Korean artist. Her name is Chae Su-yeon (Shim Eun-ha). Su-yeon and her roommate Seungmin (Jung-ah Yum; H, Tale of Two Sisters) are soon under the protection & watchful eye of the police, with Su-yeon being taken into protective custody when a new boyfriend is (partially) found after a night out with Su-yeon. Things get more complicated when Detective Jo finds himself developing feelings for Su-yeon. Her quiet, guarded manner forces Detective Jo to comb through her entire life, and make Su-yeon relive a past she would rather forget, to find connections with people she has known and the murders. Su-yeon soon tires of the interviewing and questioning and refuses to talk anymore. She returns to her home. The list of suspects grows... The murderer gets aggressive...

Firstly, I want to address/refute the plot hole factor. There is a fairly obvious jump that needs to be made concerning Detective Ho and an integral part of the investigation. Something that was most likely cut for continuity reasons or time constraints concerning Detective Ho making the connection between the killer and a certain apartment, is more or less overblown. By itself, it may stick out, but due to the film's complex story-line and fully realized characters it's an easy jump to make, even after a few viewings. I'll wager that it goes unnoticed, even after multiple viewings.

There's also said to be "motivation issues" with a character or two, but again, any reasonable viewer can make the connections, as they're deftly handled through a short flashback sequence near the end and an overall impressive screenplay. Besides, it's not like Tell Me Something is a docudrama. The film's revelation stands firm with what precedes it, no question in my mind. The fact that Tell Me Something can lay everything on the table and allow us to participate, makes the ending more dynamic and powerful. Yet it challenges us to choose our suspect and work it out for ourselves as we watch, speaks volumes. The obvious choice is most certainly the right one, veteran crime & mystery fans will know what's what right away. Good 'ol Occam's Razor.

Although this slow-burner (a healthy runtime of 118 minutes) is essentially a movie that tells you something and then tries to dissuade you with oh so much powerful gore and an intense dramatic elements. It's definitely made in a Hollywood-esque way and was a smash hit for S. Korean Film in 1999. Killer cinematography adds whole new dimensions to the film; bright, airy days & damp, inky nights. Add the powerful, ethereal humming from Enya's "Boadicea" as well as tunes from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Placebo (who's album cover makes its way into the film), and Yoon-Hyun Chang's mysterious, murderous world comes alive. On the inside it's a gruesome, brutal crime-thriller. On the outside, it's a stylish, bizarre, almost arty film noir. A must see in any event.

Grizzly Man (2005)

Let me start by admitting that the film's fascination factor is very high, in general. But don't get me wrong, its content is harrowing, gripping, and sad, yet can be described and both mondo and functionally educational. Werner Herzog himself narrates the epic travels of grizzly bear activist Timothy Treadwell, along with his friend and companion Amie Huguenard, as they spend months at a time in the Alaskan wilderness themselves documenting the plight, and their fascination with, the Alaskan grizzly. Rather than re-recount what happens, here's my take:

I don't tend to dismiss or minimize Treadwell's passion for "his" bears, in fact, it's something to be celebrated on a certain level. A passion his friends and acquaintances will readily and profusely corroborate, and one that comes through in his own words and video diaries. It's quite obvious he felt deeply for those bears — however misplaced those feelings were. As Herzog himself points out on multiple occasions, Treadwell lost the ability to differentiate between humans and the animals he spent time and was infinitely fascinated with. One thing that bothered me about Treadwell's video confessions was the characterization of his presence as "research". Now I have no doubt he believed his observations were genuinely professional, but the reality was that he was simply a layman. An actual expert based on Kodiak Island put this into glaring perspective. His sobering analysis couldn't be more at odds with Treadwell's cavalier behavior. On top of this, even Herzog himself provides a chilling commentary late in the film concerning the very bear that probably killed Treadwell which provides an insight that most would be aware of but Treadwell seemed to miss completely. Or one he ignored.

His attitude also flew in the face of the reality in which he was living; one that manifested into the worst of all possible conclusions. He was pompous and arrogant at times toward the very environment he claimed to hold in the highest regard. Treadwell was clearly manic-depressive, if not a touch insane. Fascination turned to empathy, which morphed into a sort of pity. Treadwell's outbursts toward the Department of Wildlife and his friends and colleagues only fed his mania. Was he someone who never grew up mentally and/or emotionally? Lost in his own world? A daydream believer? There's nothing wrong with having ideals, but hubris can lead to grave mistakes

"No one knows where I am. Even I don't know where I am." – T. Treadwell

I have no doubt that audiences took Treadwell at his word when he declared he would rather die in the wilderness than return to the world he once knew, — those being his time in California — a definitive and self-fulfilling prophecy. In the end though, both his own and Huguenard's death can only be described as tragic. This film has the gravitas to teach as well as mystify, and really should be experienced if you're not faint of heart. The film's final scenes are particularly poignant and sobering. Honestly, I sort of wanted Treadwell's friend and confidante Jewel Palovak to make the audio tape available to Herzog (accompanied by a warning no doubt) but at the same time it's probably best it wasn't. The film stands as a masterwork nonetheless.