Tomie: Re-birth

This is a very creepy horror film/psychological drama starring Miki Sakai as Tomie. In this one Hideo, an aspiring artist, kills his girlfriend/model for the painting girlfriend Tomie. With his friend's help, they bury her in the woods. However, Tomie shows up at a party. Her aim is not only revenge but to haunt the lives of the guys who did this to her. This film is okay, on a par with "Another Face". Not having read the source material of these films, as film value alone it is passable. While the revenge aspect is not only deserved to these guys but necessary to the continuity of the film, the part of her coming back more than once after she has been "re-killed" gets a little tired. So, not bad but not near the best of the series.

The above reviewer obviously doesn't know the history of Tomie, and why any man who loves her winds up killing her. As in the other Tomie installments, Tomie is forever doomed to being murdered, only to return from the grave. This time, she's done in four times. This is the best of the Tomies by far, and the only one that the girl who plays Tomie is more beautiful than the heroine. Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on) did a fantastic job directing this movie, and blending a unique balance of comedy, horror and surrealism into this chapter. Tomie's character is the most 'human' in this one, as opposed to the other movies that attempt to make her out to be more of the true monster she is. As for gore, this one most definitely has more gore than the other Tomie's, but by comparison isn't a lot since the story of Tomie really doesn't rely much on gore to begin with. 7/10

Having watched the first three films (Tomie, Tomie: Replay, and this, Tomie: Re-birth), I can say this is far and away the most accessible and interesting of the group.

For sure, this movie is, like the others, almost glacially paced, but those with the attention spans for it will be rewarded.

It's hard to describe the plot, but it essentially revolves around the effect that the title character - Tomie, the girl who can't die - has on the people around her. Tomie "enchants" men in so much as they become powerless, madly in love with her, to the point where they kill her, and she is reborn.

But the character is so much more complex than that, and this iteration of the series makes her the most accessible and expands her well beyond what the previous films had.

For sure, this is horror, but it's more psychological than anything. There are gruesome scenes, but the whole film is effective because the characters are rich and deep and interesting. While the first two films focused almost entirely on the effects Tomie had on the men she encountered, this one expands beyond that, touching on family and friends, and even deigns to show us what happens when a man resists her charms.

It isn't enough that it's a solid horror film, but the quality of writing on display is outstanding and puts it on par with other classics like Ring and Kairo. This is a matured Tomie film - not dull like the first or overtly Americanized like the second - but raw and intelligent.

Absolute must see.

This installment of the "Tomie" series is, well in lack of better words, unnecessary. Why? Well, the story offered nothing new to the series that hadn't already been seen in "Tomie" or "Tomie: Replay". In fact, if you have seen the first "Tomie" movie, you can just as well skip this installment, as it is basically the exact same story, just with different characters and set in a different place.

The "Tomie" series was starting to rise up with "Tomie: Replay", and then this one, "Tomie: Re-Birth", comes along and pushes it right back down the ladder.

There was nothing scary about this movie, just like the previous ones. And the storyline, well basically it is about the undying Tomie girl who comes to torment those who love and kill her. Same old, same old.

The people in the movie did good enough jobs with their given roles, though there was nothing outstanding here.

The only outstanding part of the entire movie, was the crawling head with the weird arm-like appendages. And that was hardly enough to make up for the rest of the movie.

"Tomie: Re-Birth" was plain and rather uneventful at best, and it wasn't really a movie that was necessary in any way to the "Tomie" storyline. After having seen this installment to the series, I am starting to dread how the last ones in the series will turn out to be...

The fourth film attempt at the "Tomie" saga borrows a bit from the "Painter" chapter, as well as the "Hair" chapters. Unfortunately, as Tomie movies go, this one is no better than the three before it. While the direction was interesting, the cinematography above average, and the chills effective, the film ultimately suffers from a cast of really.. well, bland characters. Don't get me wrong -- the movie had arguably THE BEST Tomie out of them all in Miki Sakai, and the supporting actors did the best they could with the limited material the studio provided, but -- the lack of actual captivating characters and working plot really halts the whole movie from realizing its potential. Hideo was the second most intriguing person after Tomie, and he was gone within the first 10 minutes. I think the final product would've been much more entertaining had the script followed more into the Hideo and Tomie's "relationship", as opposed to his boring and dull friends. A straight adaptation of the manga chapter, in other words.

And then there's the "trademark" slow pacing that seems to plague every single Tomie film in existence. I don't know about you, but I really dislike how the characters seem to slow down to an almost zombie-like state once they become involved in the main plot -- it happened to Tsukiko in the original, it happened to Yumi and Fumihito in "Replay", and now it's happened to Hitomi and Takumi in "Rebirth". And with the lack of an actual coherent plot, this slug race becomes much less tolerable, and borderline irritating. Only Tomie herself should be allowed to move in half-dead fashion because that's essentially what she is, but for everyone else? Oh, God.

Nevertheless, it's not all lost; the movie redeems itself by casting Miki Sakai as the beautiful bakemono we've all come to love. Right away, she had the traditional look that had been missing since the original film (it seriously sucks that they didn't get Miki back for "Forbidden Fruit", by the way), and her portrayal of the character was much more lively and spunky than seen before. My only gripe here is that Miki's Tomie is slightly older than the ones from the previous movies and the source manga (she was 16-17 year old there; she seems about 20-ish here), but then again, it's almost a non-issue when you consider the rest of the characters also look to be in their early 20's as well. Had to bump Tomie up a few years to fit her in, I suppose. The gore and psychological scares have also been amped up slightly, although "Replay" still reigns as the better "Tomie" film in that department.

All in all, if you're a fan of the "Tomie" movies so far and had little to no problem accepting them as what they are, then you will enjoy "Reborth". If your introduction to the character is from Junji Ito's manga, and you hated all the movies so far... well, things aren't much better here than before. If anything, watch the movie for Miki's performance -- you'll see why she's arguably the best Tomie thus far.