Saimin

In traditional JHorror fashion not much in this movie is explained and you are left with many questions. As you get started in this movie it seems like you are watching a thriller in the vein of silence of the Lambs or Seven, it is only in the second half of the movie that the JHorror aspects really start shining through. Unlike many of the other reviews here I was not really creeped out or unnerved by this film. In fact because of the not so believable acting of characters I was sometimes snickering and laughing. But I do have to give the film creators credit for coming up with a story that was interesting to watch and even though they were not able to fully effectively create it, I was still drawn in. And that is all that really matters.

Despite an involving opening and an intriguing premise, the film was undermined by choppy editing which left me wondering at times what the heck was going and on and which of the many characters was I watching. Despite getting scarier as it proceeded, the final revelation left me with more questions than answers. Perhaps I need to view it again -- but not today or tomorrow!

When I saw this movie, which was only last night, I was bored with it. However, it wasn't until Yuka, the possessed young girl, came on screen when I suddenly got a little weary.

Then, there follows a rather horrific line of suicides, each one more gory than the previous one.

Saga, a young Japanese man, and an old detective, lonely since his wife divorced him a few years before, turn out to investigate the strange case, and holds young Yuka as a suspect.

A very bad mistake.

From there, it's just nearly two hours of hair-rising, suspenseful fear. Sometimes Yuka's behavior would change; for example, if she was feeling lost and was dangerously depressed (this poor girl was "abused all her life and never loved", one character remarked), she would suddenly stand straight, eyes wide open, and say: "I... am... a... friendly... alien... I... have... no... intention... of.. hurting... you".

To tell the truth, this scene was supposed to be tense and suspenseful. But it got a laugh from me, since I am indeed a young teenager and was more into black comedy than horror, but later it scared me.

Yuka says (or I think it was someone else) that she is "chased" by THE GREEN MONKEY (some sort of alien, I do not know. Or maybe a ghost. This is never explained at all in the movie, not even at the end).

Is this all just an act? Or is there really supernatural events happening? Who knows? What really happens is never fully explained at all in this movie, only about 10% of it is explained, equally matched with the disturbing climax.

In spite of its unpopularity and lack of profanity (actually, this movie contain no swear words -- not even the "f" word or "s" word or even Damn! That is just so cool!), I give this movie a 10/10. Bravo, well done!

To be honest, I'm just not the biggest fan of Japanese horror movies because of the simple reason once you have seen one of them you have basically seen them all already. All of the genre movies are more or less being the same but every now and then they do something original and unexpected, with this movie as a great example of that.

In the beginning of this movie it's being quite unclear which directing the movie is heading toward. It began sort of good but formulaic and it only took a turn and different shape at about its half way point. After that moment the movie really took off and became a real great and fascinating one to watch. It's really not a typical horror movie, due to its original approach of the story.

I really like the concept of this movie and once Hollywood will start to notice this movie they will deem it interesting and original enough for an American remake, no doubt about that. It's really not a typical average ghost or killer type of story. The movie actually has lots of different horror elements in it, which all work out great together as well. It also helps to keep the movie an unpredictable one.

It's also really a very well made movie. It's a little movie, that without a doubt did not had an awful lot of money to spend but nevertheless it's a very good and highly professionally looking one. The directing is just great and the movie really manages to create a great dark and tense atmosphere. The build up in some of the sequences is just great.

The movie also has some very original killings in it. So horror lovers that are getting fed up with seeing the same type of- and unimaginative killings over and over again should be able to appreciate what this movie is doing with its killings. It's quite insane and of course everything is far from likely but I was absolutely loving it all.

An unexpectedly great and enjoyable original movie with its genre.

8/10

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I caught this on the off chance there'd be a connection with the television series, Saimin, whose final three episodes I'd happened to see. Aside from hypnotism, though, there's no discernible connection. Even on evidence just of those three episodes, the series may well have been superior, yet the film's a guilty-pleasure B-grade page-turner for about an hour before it implodes trying too hard to resolve things. Ringu one through three, Tomie, and now Saimin make three nearly interchangeable, if only in appearance, white-clad, bushy haired, big-eyed monster women. Could there be some myth here I'm not in on? (I'm tempted to include ...Jailhouse 41's Matsu, as well, even though there's no supernatural, she's victim, and her film's feminist in the end.) The Saimin film does provide some arresting images, usually with its hypnosis-inspired self-mutilations. In the single most shattering of these, really a throwaway that you could cut and do nothing to the plot, a brightly daylit man mistakes a gas stove burner for a basin and, calmly, washes his face in its flame.