XX (ekusu kurosu): makyô densetsu

I almost feel bad about not liking X Cross all that much. Its not that its an impeccably crafted film that I simply don't enjoy, no sense of guilt here, but for a film feted by most reviewers as great fun and pretty righteous stuff, it had little impact on me. Two girls head to a remote mountain village for hot springs and relaxation, one has recently suffered a bad breakup and her more free-wheeling friend is with her to help cheer her up. Unfortunately the village is home to a crazed cult with bad things in mind… It's a nifty set-up and for the first half hour or so the film looks as if it'll power up into a neat little suspenseful chase film, but this never quite materialises. The big problem is that while the film handles its build up well, the townsfolk are never menacing and their appearances or scenes of pursuit are never well directed. What should be pulse pounding stuff is simply a big fat meh, and excitement is mostly provided by a subplot involving a very angry lady with over-sized scissors and a grudge against the heroines friend. These scenes are a lot of fun and have all the action and dynamism that seems absent from the cult encounters. Fortunately, though director Kenta Fukasaku may be flawed in this respect, he does seem to have inherited some of his dads playful style and flair for intrigue. There are perspective shifts a-plenty, fast rewinds and intertitles, plus shifting loyalties and twisting character motivations, which combined with the fast pace give the film a fairly compelling grip that works beyond its actual quality. Plus Ami Suzuki and Nao Matsushita are pretty decent as the two leads, Matsushita as the disheartened Shiyori and Suzuki as her outgoing yet somewhat insensitive and inconsiderate pal. The setting works well too, a sense of uncanny semi luxury what with the remote location, hot springs and multitude of picturesque cabins, though the best moments of the film occur in a toilet and a junkyard. Handy set designs, workable atmosphere, everything is set up just right but the film remains resolutely a damp squib outside of the aforementioned scissor-lady. Its never bad exactly, just weak, though it has a few fine spots and a suitably wacky ending that goes out on just the right note. So altogether, about a 5/10 or so. Maybe I'll like it more on a second view, but for now its simply pretty average.

On the one hand, the premise is very promising, recalling international classics from the 70s. On the other hand, even within the first five minutes we're greeted (and not for the last time) with small choices of stylization (e.g., a sparkling effect on metal, and on the title card) that raise a skeptical eyebrow. On the one hand, we're readily treated to absolutely outstanding, creepy production design and art direction, readily inviting an unsettling atmosphere that evokes Christophe Gans' 'Silent Hill,' or the essential masterpieces of John Carpenter. On the other hand, Fukasaku Kenta's direction quickly tends to feel gauchely forthright if not also overcharged, with a further apparent predilection for stylization, that (a) does not pair well with image quality and production values that are intermittently and irregularly bare-faced and glaring, and which (b) run contrary to the atmosphere the picture otherwise aims to conjure. Within a fraction of the total runtime (one-sixth) 'X-cross' begins to feel like a mixed bag, and we must hope that the scales will come to tip in a favorable direction.

Unfortunately, I don't think the situation improves. I don't know where the responsibility lies, though I suspect it's split between director Fukasaku, writer Oishi Tetsuya, the source material of Joko Nobuyuki, and producer Kondo Masatake. The fact is that what sounds like a fantastic concept, and which boasts some fine contributions in various capacities, is less than fully convincing. In all regards - the plot and its development, scene writing, dialogue, characterizations - the writing is so blunt and straightforward as to be gawky, ham-fisted, and off-putting. There is no subtlety or nuance in the conjuration, seemingly stemming from the novel as much as the adaptation, and frankly, despite good ideas the storytelling is just flimsy. Blame the writing as one will, however, Fukasaku's direction doesn't do much to impress either. Elements and moments that should be striking and delightfully twisted - a character being startled, a strange village elder, a distinct sound effect - are presented in such a curt and flat manner that all their power is forfeit. Even the climax struggles heavily. Furthermore, his direction indeed remains consistently overzealous, and tactless, and the embellishments of stylization continue to plague the proceedings, too. All the feature needed to do was to tell a story, but it goes overboard in so many ways trying to be Extra, and in so doing, it stumbles.

Ike Yoshihiro's music tends to suffer from these same problems. So do the costume design, hair, and makeup. Even the shot composition, cinematography, editing, and sound design come across as overwrought, as if the folks involved thought themselves to be more clever than they are. All aspects may bear some good ideas, by all means, but these only get us so far when the execution leaves so much to be desired. Granted, it's not all bad. I maintain that the production design and art direction are strong, and the filming locations are splendid. Even the lighting is swell in helping to summon that atmosphere, and many practical effects and stunts are very good. But too much of the acting does just as much to earn one's ire, and the gaudy flourishes that are so profuse in these ninety minutes wear thin swiftly. Case in point, someone thought very highly of themselves as the plot development adopts a "non-linear" structure - but here that notion is terribly cheapened with rapid rewinding or fast-forwarding of scenes we've already watched so as to shift to concurrent events focusing on another character from the point of where a given scene left off.

Further consider some extra over-the-top dialogue, props, or scenes, and one character who seems to be present for no particular reason at all, and the esteem one may be inclined to bestow drops significantly over time. I believe there was real potential in the concept, but some ideas clash - sometimes trying to be an earnest horror-thriller, sometimes unabashedly leaning into the approach of a pure fun-loving romp - and some are just plain bad. The definite strengths are all too few, the possible strengths are highly variable, and the shortcomings and faults are entirely too numerous. Part of me feels bad about being so critical, but time and again as I watched I recognized dubious creative choices that robbed the movie of all its impact, and the end product is ultimately just rather vexing and tiresome. There are far worse ways to spend one's time, certainly, yet with so much else that we could be watching in the first place, be it wild lark or chilling thriller, why would we spend our time here? I'm glad for those who enjoy 'X-cross' more than I do, but I somewhat wish I had spent ninety minutes more wisely.

I saw this film at the Los Angeles Film Festival, not knowing what to expect, and I was really pleased. The closest comparison I can think of is EVIL DEAD 2. X-Cross hits the perfect blend of horror and comedy. Few films can both deliver the scares and the laughs the way this film does.

I admit, this film won't be for everyone. The plot doesn't really go from A to B. And the visual comedy might be too over-the-top for some viewers. The comedy also has a kind of absurdist edge that could leave some mainstream viewers shaking their heads in confusion. But if absurd comedy suits your tastes you're likely to be very impressed.

The film also just looks beautiful. Set in a mist-shrouded mountain vacation village in rural Japan, this film doesn't have a frame that's not amazing to look at.

Overall one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

"X-Cross" sort of surprised me, as I had assumed it would be another one of those countless gory splatter movies that have made it out of Japan in the recent years. However, "X-Cross" was far from it. It was actually a really great suspense/horror movie.

The story is about Shiyori (played by Nao Matsushita) and Aiko (played by Ami Suzuki) who travel to hot springs located at a very remote village. But things are not all as they seem; not in the village, not with the people, not with the friendship. Shiyori and Aiko find themselves stranded in a remote village with no one but themselves to trust, or can they?

I found the story to be really great because it builds up the suspense so nicely, letting the story brood and seep in, then flash back and show you other sides of occurring events. Now that was a thing I thoroughly enjoyed about the movie, it was so nicely done, and it really unravelled my theories by shedding new light on situations that I just saw in the movie. And the plot kept shifting, so it was not possible to predict what was happening or what was going to happen. The ending of the movie, well that was really bad, in my opinion. I didn't care for that ending at all. Actually the entire movie was great, but the last 20 to 30 minutes was sort of fighting an uphill battle, the movie started slipping during that time and becoming anti-climatic and just downright stupid.

The people they had cast for the various roles in "X-Cross" were actually doing good jobs with their given roles, and the characters were really fleshed out as believable and realistic. Well, what happened to Reiko was just a bit too much, it was so over the top that it stopped being realistic.

"X-Cross" has a really good mood to it, the environment was well used, and you sit with a sensation of being trapped and isolated out in the woods, so they managed to capture the right setting for the movie.

So looking away from the last 20 to 30 minutes of the movie, then I found "X-Cross" to be a really nice movie, and it was nicely build up leaving you guessing as to whom did what and who can be trusted, then only to completely unravel your theories as you are given new bits and pieces of information.

The IMDb genres labeled to this movie are action, adventure and comedy. That kind of makes me wonder, because I didn't find the movie to be that at all.

Not bad, not bad at all. Great horror movie. Lets start with the setting. High Budget Japanese Horror Movie, the setting is very nice even the use of fog made it look a bit better and colorful. The acting, okay good? The atmosphere, not too scary but nice. The direction, perfect!! But the real entertainment was the Crazy Bitch holding a large pair of scissors. Now thats what I call a cult movie. The monsters, the priest and the ugly dwarfs made this movie entertaining. But it didn't received a 9 or 10? Well, because it repeats. I don't want to spoil the movie, again. But I recommend it to everyone. Rent it or buy it. Its your choice.