Tomie: Replay

Tomie: Replay is the best entry in the franchise up to this point. It doesn't have the weird atmosphere and mysterious soundtrack of the first film but a much better story and quicker pace. It doesn't have the second film's concise diversity but offers more profound characters and events.

The movie revolves around a hospital where Tomie is born from the womb of a child due to a kidney transplant from another Tomie when the child was born. Since her birth, numerous nurses have quit their job, doctors have gone insane and the director has mysteriously disappeared. The film follows the director's daughter who wants to find out what happened to him as well as a young man who has noticed a change in his friend's behaviour since he started dating a former patient of the hospital. Their paths cross on several occasions and they decide to collaborate to uncover the hospital's bleak mysteries.

If compared to the first two films that were entirely atmospheric, Tomie: Replay actually has a few truly scary moments. The franchise's weird atmosphere is still present thanks to great light and sound effects. The characters have more depth and development than usual. The strongest point of the movie is the story that shifts and turns here and there but is overall logically structured and easy to follow with solid pace and without any unnecessary lengths.

The only thing I'm missing here is the gloomy soundtrack from the first film that gave it such a unique atmosphere. If the soundtrack were more efficient, Tomie: Replay would not only be a very good horror movie but an excellent one.

The franchise certainly redeemed itself after the rather forgettable Tomie: Another Face with this strongest entry in the franchise so far. Since all movies tell independent stories, you might as well start discovering the franchise with this highlight. If you like mysterious horror movies that focus on atmosphere rather than gore, you will certainly appreciate this film that is best enjoyed on a cold and dark winter night.

This film is more like a horror film than the first two, which seem to more psychological dramas. Yumi (Sayaka Yamaguchi) is trying to find out what happened to her father, a doctor at a local hospital. Tomie comes back to life when she bursts out of a little girl's stomach. She causes Yumi's father to bleed. Everyone involved with this procedure either dies or goes mad. One, Takeski, takes Tomie to his home. He eventually kills and dismembers her, but if you've watched these films, you know she's coming back. Yumi keeps trying to find her father and enlists the help of resident Fumiko (Yosuke Kubozuka). Tomie is almost a bit player through a good part of this film. Although slow moving, it keeps your interest and the story and direction, as well as the acting, is all good. You have to watch at least the first Tomie movie to understand the character fully, but I think this film is a worthier addition to this series than "Another Face". Recommended.

A girl named Tomie is born fully grown from a child's stomach. So is kept in a fish aquarium until she breaks out of the hospital with the help of a love-smitten patient. Meanwhile, Yumi (Sakaya Yamaguchi) after much searching finds her father's notebook, whom was the director of the same said hospital, and reads it hoping to find clues about his mysterious disappearance. The last page is written in blood. How do these two things connect? While I liked this film more than the previous one, I couldn't help but feel something was missing. Perhaps it's just that the comic book character of Tomie can't really be carried over to the big screen. I don't know. This, the best in the series of 6 (currently), is just slightly above average.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: Art gallery ; Trailers for the first 5 "Tomie" film

I liked this movie. The acting was great, especially my the lead and supporting actresses. I also liked the atmosphere. A lot of the movie is filmed in a small apartment or in the confines of a hospital. This works well. My only issue was that a few scenes are confusing. I think it might be due to errors in translating to English.

This is my favorite film in the Tomie series. I recommend all of them, though.

TOMIE: REPLAY is the third instalment of this manga-based series about a girl who keeps coming back from the dead. The first film, TOMIE, was very much a unique, weird movie with an atmosphere all its own, while the lamentable shot-on-video sequel, TOMIE: ANOTHER FACE, isn't even worth mentioning. The good news is that TOMIE: REPLAY is on much stronger ground, similar in many aspects to the first film but with a more involved storyline.

The horror in this film is far more visceral, with plenty of disturbing imagery. There are body parts galore, as well as scenes of violent murder and just plain weird stuff going on (the opening sequence, in which doctors performing a Caesarian discover a woman's head instead of a baby, is difficult to forget). There are more cast members here, from mad doctors to dedicated daughters and the usual rote of young menfolk who find themselves obsessed with the spectral Tomie.

The pacing is slow and the tone subdued for the most part, and if you're looking for well-developed ghost sequences a la RING or THE GRUDGE, then you've come to the wrong place. If, however, you're in the mood for a one-of-a-kind cult oddity then the Tomie series might just be for you.