Suiyô puremia: sekai saikyô J horâ SP Nihon no kowai yoru

REVIEW: DARK TALES FROM JAPAN

Apparently this anthology of horror tales from Japan was "Made for TV"....and it shows. All five main stories (interspersed by a sixth story taking place on a late-night bus) could easily be called "Twilight Zone-esquire" and like that famous TV show, some stories hold up better than others.

"Spiderwoman" (KUMO-ONNA), directed by the writer of "Dark Water" centers on a tabloid reporter who is selling a lot of magazines by reporting on numerous, unconfirmed reports of a lady who is half-spider, who has been terrorizing suburban roads at night. It's pure cheese, and not particularly well-done, but it gets better as it goes along. ** 1/2.

"Crevices" (SUKIMA), by the director of "Ring 0" is much better. After a tenant disappears, the landlord calls the man's friend over to investigate. They find every nook and cranny of the apartment sealed up, along with a video camera of the tenant's final days....Short and to the point. *** 1/2

"Sacrifice" (ONAMAKUBI) is the most developed story of the five. A woman is being stalked by her co-worker, who's obsessed with black magic. At the same time, her mother falls ill...and memories of a giant disembodied head (!) from her childhood plague her memories. Not bad. ***

"Blonde Kaidan" (KINPATSU KAIDAN) is an embarrassment. By the same director as the Ju-on and Grudge films, it's about a Japanese guy visiting Hollywood. Pointless and pathetic. *

"Premonition" (YOKAN) is the only story that could rightfully be called a good movie. Well-done on all levels, it's a macabre story about a dishonest businessman who meets three unusual souls when he is trapped in an elevator. Good from start to finish. **** out of *****.

All in all, there's better Japanese horror out there, but this one is okay as a time-killer.

If you're tired of little girls with long dark hair, this is something quite different for horror fans and Japanese horror fans. Though most look to be shot of video, which I know some people find off putting, the acting and production values and the FX, both make-up are well done. More creative than the American Masters of Horror series,though these are shorter some being under 20 minutes long and it's easier to support that shorter running time. Though there are funny moments in them they never go totally into a comedy pay off. This is really diverting stuff, imaginative, check it out.

Giant heads, curses, evil blonds, elevators, spider people, a wide range of locations and types of stories. Music from The Amityville Horror shows up in one episode, rather strangely actually. No nudity but there is gore in decent amounts.

I'm currently on a roll with Japanese horror anthologies, this being the third one after Ura Horror and Tales of the Unusual in the last two days. I thought this one was pretty fun overall. I'll try to break it down segment by segment.

"Spiderwoman" - dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura The first segment is a cheesy, but rather entertaining chase for a mysterious spiderwoman who only appears in her true form during the night. Not quite scary or surprising, but it's good enough for a start.

"Crevices" - dir. Norio Tsuruta This one was about 5-10 minutes long and I wished it was actually longer. It's similar to Dark Water, but hasn't got enough time to flesh out its main idea. Still, it's a good one, creepy the whole time.

"Sacrifice" - dir. Koji Shiraishi Ah yes, my favorite J-horror director of the moment. His segment is possibly the best one here (bias or no bias), as it inserts some pretty horrific imagery into a plot that revolves around curses and mysterious illnesses, with a duration just long enough to wrap it up effectively.

"Blonde Kaidan" - dir. Takashi Shimizu This one is short like Crevices, but weaker. It's yet another standard ghost story from a director who often tries to replicate his success with Ju-on, with predictably duller results. It's not too terrible given that it's mercifully short, but it's definitely unexceptional.

"Presentiment" - dir. Masayuki Ochiai The last story is a fun one, it follows Teruyuki Kagawa (in a very solid performance) as a nervous businessman stuck in an elevator with 3 mysterious persons. I don't want to spoil it, but it's a worthwhile closer to an entertaining anthology.

So yes, in conclusion, I have to say I rather liked this film; it's definitely not high art, but it's a nice choice if you're looking for horror that doesn't always take itself seriously.

According to my DVD, there are supposed to be framing segments with this, but I could never access them. As such, we have five separate stories. "The Spiderwoman" was my favorite, with some scary visuals and a fun story about the myth of the Spiderwoman. Not heavy on real spiders, which is a plus for an arachnophobe like me! "Crevices" could have worked as a longer film, and "The Sacrifice" was interesting but nothing special. "Blonde Kwaidan" was just silly and seemed to be missing a large portion of plot. I also found myself enjoying "Presentment," which concerned a rather unusual tour package.

"Dark Tales of Japan" is overall a decent intro to J-horror, but nothing to write home about.

"Dark Tales of Japan" was a DVD I found at Wal-Mart for $5.50, and that seemed like a reasonable deal. It has a few short films on it, and I will give a brief synopsis of them. Overall, the films aren't fantastic (they're made-for-TV quality, short, and have low-grade special effects) but I found them enjoyable just the same.

"Spiderwoman" is the tale of an urban legend about a -- surprise -- spiderwoman. The general story of a journalist tracking her down is pretty good, and it gets decent with the scenes of webbing. But the final reveal is a disappointment, and may have been better off not being in the movie at all.

"Crevices" was possibly the best film on here. It is about an apartment that has all the crevices (cracks, empty spaces) covered up because something or someone is trying to get in. This was enjoyable, and a full-length version of this would have been something like a better version of "Pulse".

"The Sacrifice" was mediocre. The only parts I really enjoyed were the ladies. These are some of the finest women Japan has to offer. The story itself (about a girl cursed because she won't accept a date) is just alright, with a scene involving a big head that I really didn't follow very well.

"Blonde Kwaidan" (Kwaidan means "ghost story") comes from Takashi Shimizu, the creator of "The Grudge", so you'd expect it to be one of the better ones on here. It's just okay. A Japanese man comes to America and is attracted to blonde women. Unfortunately for him, the house he is staying at is haunted by a blonde woman. The plot really made no sense.

"Presentiment" is the longest one on here, and probably second to "Crevices" in quality. A man steals sensitive data from his employer, and becomes trapped in an elevator with three other people only he can see. The basic twist you should catch on to in under 30 seconds, but the very end really makes the film worthwhile. I think it might be too long for what it is, but the suspense and mythology presented are interesting.