Hideo Nakata influenced many a people, from the directors in Asia whom created all sorts of ghost films deriving from “Ringu’s” element with ghosts that are able to come in to our world through electronic devices, to what’s become the norm for Japanese ghosts: the pale girl with long damp black hair. I’m not as big a fan as others when it comes to Japanese horror, but I appreciate half of what we’re introduced to, and “Ringu” is one of those films I appreciate. I just had to see this, basically since I ended up really liking the remake, “The Ring”. Yes, I’m one of those few who enjoyed it. Either way, Nakata’s direction is something that I found to be the most impressive aspect of “Ringu” because the man knows how to mount tension and then alleviate it with a stunning shot to the arm that works.
Tag Archives: Demons
Constantine (2005)
While I was interested in watching “Constantine”, I didn’t really get what I was expecting. I never once read a comic of “Hellblazer”, but I know the general gist of it, and despite my disappointment with the miscasting of Reeves and the loose adaptation, I did get more than I bargained for. Constantine was essentially a story that takes place in the UK, but despite the Americanization, it ends up becoming a really solid adult thriller in the end. Constantine is a demon fighter who has been diagnosed with cancer and is now seeking to buy his way in to heaven, and through that journey, director Francis Lawrence who is shockingly a music video director, surprisingly gives some grade A direction for what is rightly a stylish yet very murky supernatural thriller.
White Noise (2005)
What a disappointment this was. This had its occasional highs and lows, and when it went low, it went down low to the ground with such an atmosphere of a TV movie when it shouldn’t have been. It constantly shuffles back and forth between sleek horror to watered down thriller again and again and I just lost patience with it, especially with its slow pacing which was just so frustrating. Nothing really goes on for quite a while pretty often and this never manages to keep our attention to what is happening and gets very boring in certain scenes. With such an original concept, its sad to see that very little originality is present.
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
“The Exorcist” is my favorite horror movie of all time and to this day no matter how much I see it, it’s still the most intelligent, character based horror film I’ve ever seen; the rest of the series? Not so favorite of mine, but regardless, after a lot of hype about this movie and the constant problems, we’re given this. After nearly five years of filming and constant problems (Original director dying, Original star dropping out, and so forth), this film basically bombed big time with both critics and movie-goers despite moderate success in the box-office. The original director Paul Schrader — who was kicked off the production (You’re morons Hollywood execs) in favor of Renny Harlin (Again, morons!) — directed his own version before being forced off, and while I imagine it can’t be as bad as this, I hope it’s at least an improvement.
The Grudge (2004)
The remake of “Ju-On” now called (sigh) “The Grudge” is the perfect example of faulty westernization in which the translated work suffers in the translation and completely misses the point of the original. The original had the surprise ending which makes you re-assert your thoughts on the characters, while the remake has the “You thought the monster was dead, but its not!” ending that I yawned at.
Ju-on (2002)
“Ju-On” is a sheer test of terror, tension, and heightening suspense, and director Takashi Shimizu who also writes the script gives some inspiring direction that echoes Hitchcock’s directing style of silence and horror within everyday aspects. Though the haunted house movie has been done as far back as movies have been around, Shimizu does one hell of a job with the formula creating not a movie with ghosts, but demons. Starting off with a gritty and frightening sequence in which a man murders a woman, her cat, and proceeds to make his way up to a young boy, and we skip to present day where we watch victim after victim fall under the unrelenting spell of the demonic entities that live in the house.
13 Seconds (2003)
There isn’t much original material you can inject into horror movies these days, so when I was sent this film, I was pretty skeptical. Though, reading upon it’s merits and numerous awards, I decided to confront this film with an open-mind. Jeff Thomas’ directing is the highlight of the film, it’s not hard to get past the low-budget and realize the film is very well directed. He manages to set the mood and atmosphere down just right enough to keep the audience in suspense and at the edge of their seat. Often, I was left very tense as the characters found themselves trapped in a dark room and confined to the horrifying grim settings of the mansion.