Industrious

The basic idea isn't too bad, but the movie fails in execution. The pace appears to be intentionally slow, but too many scenes drag. Most potential moments of shock are wasted by bad timing. Rather too much of the story is told prematurely and superfluously by the voice-over, and quite possibly its scope is too wide, grappling not only with the philosophical question of what happens after death, but also introducing the threat of utter apocalypse by homicidal ghosts, on top of the mad scientist theme. The main ghost looks a little bit too much like the Ringu one, and there's too much of Evil Dead style camera prowling through the paranormally plagued forest. However, the ending isn't as bad as the completely disastrous one looming just minutes before the end. Technically, this movie is lacking in many respects, and there are better Japanese technophobia horror movies out there.

A suspenseful thriller that bears some resemblance to Deliverance as for scenery and setting. There are also some very innovatively shot scenes and good music, although the daftness and sometimes seemingly careless attitude of one of the characters is unfitting to the situation, although this is not a mayor problem. It also poses interesting questions about justness of revenge and limits of friendship.

Footprints is a very interesting movie that is somewhat difficult to categorize. "Psychological thriller" is the most appropriate description I can think of. The female protagonist, Alice Cespi, discovers that she doesn't remember anything of the last three days. The only clue she has is a torn photo of a hotel. She is also haunted by a recurring, very vivid, dream about a science fiction movie that she believes she saw many years ago. In her pursuit of the truth behind her amnesia she doesn't trust anyone, but little by little it becomes obvious that she has visited the town where the hotel is located before. This is an exciting flick whose main virtue is that it is virtually impossible to predict how the events will unfold, and particularly, how it will end. The unusual loneliness of the main character and the unreliability of everyone else ensure that the good old paranoid feeling is present throughout the film, whereas beautiful colors and some spectacularly filmed sequences make this a visually attractive movie as well. The important part of the one and only Nicoletta Elmi, everyone's all time favorite redheaded obnoxious child star of Italian horror, is an extra bonus.