someguy
11-05-2006, 01:58 PM
http://www.cinemacomrapadura.com.br/filmes/img/2909-2006-08-16-11:13:23_8.jpg
(This is going to be a part of the '8 films 2 die 4' festival in 2 weeks for those who do not know)
Reincarnation is the next movie Takashi Shimizu has made since 2000 that does not involve a house occupied by ghosts Kayako and Toshio (his last one was the HP Lovecraft type tale Marebito). I'll say that Shimizu is an incredibly busy person. Including this, he's made 7 theatrical movies and 3 TV movies since 2000 )plus he has another Grudge film coming out next year in Japan!). Sure, it's not Miike numbers but that's still a lot of movies to make in 6 years. Reincarnation, the third movie in a J-horror trilogy (Premonition and Infection are the other two) is pretty much what you would expect from Takashi Shimizu now, but I'm not complaining about it one bit.
The movie starts off with different people encountering ghosts, but giving no explanation on it. After the opening it switches to a horror movie being made about a tragedy that happened decades ago. The movie being filmed is about a man who killed around 11 people at a hotel one night before committing suicide. Sugiura, an up and coming actress, auditions for the film and gets the part of the killer's daughter in the film (the most important part according to the director since she dies last). As all of this is happening, Sugiura begins seeing weird visions around her and soon finds out that they have to do with the tragedy that the movie is being based on.
I believe that right now J-horror is a dead genre. It's been milked out, and now it has a very faint pulse. I believe I heard the director say that after making Ju-On 3 he will leave the Grudge series behind and I'm sure it's because he too realizes that the long haired ghost women have had their time to shine. Reincarnation and Marebito are slowly showing what path his films are going to take, and from the looks of it they will be in the psychological/mind fuck territory. There's a lot of messing around going on in the psyche with this movie, and while he still has that J-horror feeling it's slowly starting to shed for a different kind of horror film. I really can't wait to see when he finally gets rid of the Grudge burden and starts going into these kinds of movies.
Another thing that's easy to notice is the meshing of American and Japanese horror styles. Some parts of the movie feel very western, and while it is pretty interesting to see the combination of styles it doesn't really change much. Excluding a few scenes they don't really end up as good as I thought putting the two together would be. It's too bad, because I always thought that with the right mixture a really terrifying film could be made from it.
What I really did like was the film's story. It moved along very fast, never dragged and shared a lot of cool ideas. I loved how they made everything slowly piece together at the end for the viewer to realize what was going on. The little revelation near the end was kind of far fetched for a moment, but I enjoyed it. The big 'reveal' at the end with the ghost will either disturb you or make you laugh like crazy. For me it was just really fucked up, and I'd like to see how it would be in theatres (damn Lions Gate for not playing this horror weekend near me).
There are a few surprises in Rinne, but it still has the footprints of the Grudge movies on it. It's hard to fault Shimizu for it, they've been his main source of income for the last 6 years. There are plenty of new directions he's going though, and it really shows in the movie. I've read some reviews that say it comes off like a transitional movie, and I hope that it is. If the things I saw in Rinne are going to be a sign of what's to come, it could solidify Takashi Shimizu as a well known name in horror.
6.5/10
(This is going to be a part of the '8 films 2 die 4' festival in 2 weeks for those who do not know)
Reincarnation is the next movie Takashi Shimizu has made since 2000 that does not involve a house occupied by ghosts Kayako and Toshio (his last one was the HP Lovecraft type tale Marebito). I'll say that Shimizu is an incredibly busy person. Including this, he's made 7 theatrical movies and 3 TV movies since 2000 )plus he has another Grudge film coming out next year in Japan!). Sure, it's not Miike numbers but that's still a lot of movies to make in 6 years. Reincarnation, the third movie in a J-horror trilogy (Premonition and Infection are the other two) is pretty much what you would expect from Takashi Shimizu now, but I'm not complaining about it one bit.
The movie starts off with different people encountering ghosts, but giving no explanation on it. After the opening it switches to a horror movie being made about a tragedy that happened decades ago. The movie being filmed is about a man who killed around 11 people at a hotel one night before committing suicide. Sugiura, an up and coming actress, auditions for the film and gets the part of the killer's daughter in the film (the most important part according to the director since she dies last). As all of this is happening, Sugiura begins seeing weird visions around her and soon finds out that they have to do with the tragedy that the movie is being based on.
I believe that right now J-horror is a dead genre. It's been milked out, and now it has a very faint pulse. I believe I heard the director say that after making Ju-On 3 he will leave the Grudge series behind and I'm sure it's because he too realizes that the long haired ghost women have had their time to shine. Reincarnation and Marebito are slowly showing what path his films are going to take, and from the looks of it they will be in the psychological/mind fuck territory. There's a lot of messing around going on in the psyche with this movie, and while he still has that J-horror feeling it's slowly starting to shed for a different kind of horror film. I really can't wait to see when he finally gets rid of the Grudge burden and starts going into these kinds of movies.
Another thing that's easy to notice is the meshing of American and Japanese horror styles. Some parts of the movie feel very western, and while it is pretty interesting to see the combination of styles it doesn't really change much. Excluding a few scenes they don't really end up as good as I thought putting the two together would be. It's too bad, because I always thought that with the right mixture a really terrifying film could be made from it.
What I really did like was the film's story. It moved along very fast, never dragged and shared a lot of cool ideas. I loved how they made everything slowly piece together at the end for the viewer to realize what was going on. The little revelation near the end was kind of far fetched for a moment, but I enjoyed it. The big 'reveal' at the end with the ghost will either disturb you or make you laugh like crazy. For me it was just really fucked up, and I'd like to see how it would be in theatres (damn Lions Gate for not playing this horror weekend near me).
There are a few surprises in Rinne, but it still has the footprints of the Grudge movies on it. It's hard to fault Shimizu for it, they've been his main source of income for the last 6 years. There are plenty of new directions he's going though, and it really shows in the movie. I've read some reviews that say it comes off like a transitional movie, and I hope that it is. If the things I saw in Rinne are going to be a sign of what's to come, it could solidify Takashi Shimizu as a well known name in horror.
6.5/10