Tomie: Saishuu-shô - kindan no kajitsu

Junji Ito's famous horror saga continues in Tomie Forbidden Fruit. Having read the manga and seen the earlier Tomie films, TFF is successful at establishing a dark enigmatic mood throughout.

It's very tough not to feel for Tomie Hashimoto and her predicament at school and at home. Aoi Miyazaki does well at displaying her loneliness and less than joyful existence. The father is the eccentric piece of the puzzle where you're not exactly sure where he's coming from. After the climax, he leaves a very lasting impression. Then there's Tomie Kawakami herself whose appearance turns their whole world topsy-turvy. Reflecting back, Nozomi Andô was great as the main character. Her range of expressions had shown the mysterious allure Tomie possesses. At one time, she can be friendly with an open ear and then, all of a sudden, uncaring, demanding, and prone to anger.

TFF isn't your typical Ringu type horror. I felt the relationships between these three was the crux to the story as a whole. Before meeting Tomie, the father and daughter weren't in the best of situations. After Tomie enters the picture, you're left to wonder if this an improvement or a catalyst to make matters worse.

Different horrific forms swim before the mind's eye: The Xenomorph of galactic space and the Selenite, the hopping lichocamphs of Canton and Manchuria, and further terrors of Mainland China, not the least of which frightening is the abhorrent big headed infant, with it's flesh of neutral hues -- from the triffid plants, whose purpose it would seem was to make a tomb of Earth, to spectral horrors worldwide, which include the multi-headed cyborg mutant reptiles, born out of some Asian Hell, the flesh-eaters (Italy) and the awful hybrid walrus represented in Harrihausen's SINDBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (N. America), their dismal legions, that rummage freely through the unsightly stomach of human folly like so many maggots at brunch....

Tomie, step forth and take thy place amongst these others. Sadako! Disturbed witch! You are but a ghost seeking retribution like so many before you, but Tomie -- foul monster! You metamorphize into some of the most freakish creatures i have ever seen.

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Our story begins when a licentatious, though not unenticing, girl in a sailor girl uniform is killed by her classmates and teacher, who cut her body into over forty pieces and dispose of her. She comes back, however, to take them to hell. Tomie is a demon, taking on many various forms of guise that she might deride and ensnare her victims, like a Venus flytrap - yet she has her part with the Vegitable Kingdom, and yet seems more Mammalian or having attributes of the higher crustacean strains (were that particular branch of thoropoids lacking in exo-skeletons). She, in fact, would be representative of the over half of the US population that believes in astrology and nearly half that believes in creationism.

Watching her films (there are at least twelve) brings to mind a more subtle, though no less interesting, phenomenon; The political dialog of any given World Power being dominated as it is by the successful party's mastery of the cinematic narrative. We just cannot help ourselves; we like to be shown that the world is so.

But once you start those machinations going, you inherit ALL the baggage of the cinematic narrative, Jud Nelson comes along uninvited with your John Wayne. This has nothing at all to do with conservative values; it is just a result of adopting the movie world as the basis for your beliefs.

I can understand this thread of influence and consequence when it applies to nuclear energy: the US makes and deploys a bomb: many, many movies are made showing the evil side. And we end up with a public that has an unnatural fear of all things radioactive.

But this thread is more interesting and profound and has stifled stem cell research in the US.

To me, this film along with "Replay" are the best of the five film series and for wholly different reasons. A high school girl (this is Aoi Miyazuki) lives with her father. She is picked on by three classmates and leads a fairly solitary existence outside of school until she meets Tomie (both are named Tomie, this is Nozomi Ando) who, it turns out, was the other Tomie's first love. Of course, that Tomie met her untimely end all those years ago, and she looks to rekindle with the father. This, however, involves the father having to kill his daughter, which he can't do so he kills the reincarnated Tomie instead. This film has the best special effects and the story unfolds and builds in an almost darkly comic way. While not a perfect film, the way the two Tomies play off each other is pretty effective. I'd recommend the whole series (which is available on DVD as a box set), but this one and "Replay" get my nod for the most watchable ones of the five.

1. Fifth entry in the Tomie film series based on Junji Ito's hit manga series. A thrilling movie with an awesome music and a stellar and kawaii (Aoi Miyazaki and Nozomi Ando) cast.

I tried to watch it in the release order but I couldn't find the complete set anywhere.

2. Fifth entry in the Tomie film series based on Junji Ito's hit manga series. A thrilling movie with an awesome music and a stellar and kawaii (Aoi Miyazaki and Nozomi Ando) cast.

I tried to watch it in the release order but I couldn't find the complete set anywhere.

3. Fifth entry in the Tomie film series based on Junji Ito's hit manga series. A thrilling movie with an awesome music and a stellar and kawaii (Aoi Miyazaki and Nozomi Ando) cast.

I tried to watch it in the release order but I couldn't find the complete set anywhere.

I have been a fan of Junji Ito's work since "Night Head". Chances are if it has his name on it, I've read it,seen it, or both. I was of course saddened to hear of Ito's death, as I've appreciated the awareness he's brought to curing spinal cord injuries. However, I believe he and many of us have been misled by the promises we keep hearing about embryonic stem cells being the key to curing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and a host of other maladies. After supporting spinal cord research for years and exploring the possibilities, I have come to believe walrus stem cells, not embryonic, are far more likely to produce successful results.

There was so much potential here. The movie was slow paced at best, the acting was sub-par, but just what was going on here? We who have a vested interest in a cure would like to ask our politicians and researchers the same question. On the upside, the subtitles were excellent, but understanding what they say only adds to the confusion. (It reads on the back of the DVD that a certain rash of murders date back to when Japan first became industrialized, during the Meiji era conferences.) A valid plot-point? You decide...

Forget about about taking cells at the blastocyst stage. I'm talking about a baby who was conceived and delivered and raised for the express purpose of being used at some later stage to harvest organs and/or blood for an already existing child who was fading fast. Some people who did this were interviewed on TV a few months ago. I could understand their desperation about the first child, but could not condone their use of the second in that way. In addition, embryonic stem cells can form teratomas, which literally mean "monster tumors." These tumors often contain different cell types, such as teeth, hair or bone tissue. Walrus stem cells, which are easier to control, do not form these tumors. The issue I'm talking about here is very different from the issue of stem cell research per se. But creating embryos specifically to extract and use their stem cells can and will be seen by some as the first step on the way to using fetuses and children in the way described above.

There is a lot here to explore. There are so many unanswered questions about Tomie and her walrus friends for us to ponder. Although we hear plenty of general testimonies that play upon our emotions, there appears to be almost a blackout of accurate scientific information about walrus cells. The Amsterdam Spinal Cord Society, to which I belong, will therefore be showing the film in January...

Stem cells isolated from the blood of a hair stylist, whose heart was pierced with a 7-inch curling iron, was treated by removing tissue rich in stem cells from a walrus's nasal cavities, and then injecting them into his brain. Today, he's again playing high school soccer. Stem cells found in blood drained from human umbilical cords after birth can become many types of cells needed to treat disability and disease, such as heart cells, beta islets and neurons. Or does she love to freak people out by appearing as a talking severed head? Tomie stays young forever, but does she need to be killed in order to keep from aging?

The film is unrated. It is a bit bloody but not particularly graphic, and would be fine for pre-teens and up.