Ghost Train

I've been watching a lot of Asian horror lately. I love it but it's hard to watch while you're doing other things because you have to watch the screen for the subtitles. And I refuse to watch dubs since they usually don't sound very good. I like Asian horror because in general they rely on practical effects instead of CGI overload. Ghost Train wasn't great but it wasn't terrible, either. First off, don't read the synopsis. It is so far off from the main story. The plot of Ghost Train is this: A spirit of a woman who was killed by a train leaves her stuff on the train and platform. When Random Traingoer picks it up the spirit comes for them to reclaim its property. The pacing is really, really weird and the hauntings, spirited aways (and returns) don't seem to make any sense. When they get returned they're something akin to zombies but they're not. It's not even really clear on if they are returned to normal after the haunting/curse is resolved. There also are weird time passages. For example: Nana's sister goes missing and it seems to take Nana a couple of days to start looking for her. Nana also takes a time out for her and Kanae to go for coffee and chat and become friends. The subplots don't go anywhere and the character interactions seem really off. The one relationship that is developed well is the friendship between Kanae and Nana. They frame it more of a romantic friendship which I liked. The actress who plays Kanae (Chinatsu Wakatsuki) also played in a movie called Ju-Rei that was really good and I think she's a pretty good actress. Her character wasn't very developed in Ghost Train but she did what she could with it. The sets are very strange as well. Everything is empty. Even the train platform has only one person on it. That just seems weird to me. It looks like a fairly large city and the streets are literally empty. The ending seems abrupt and also has an odd resolution that presents more questions than answers. Did the haunting actually begin with this person? Because she looks pulled down by a disembodied hand. And it's never explained. A random character is introduced near the end which seems a bit cheatery and while her role does make sense it also raises even more questions. All in all it's a decent movie that is worth a watch but there are far better ones to enjoy. Like the aforementioned Ju-Rei.

I don't generally like horror movies, I absolutely hate slasher stuff and the real gory horror movies too. But I occasionally do enjoy a good Japanese horror movie because most are long on suspense and pretty low on gore. The Ring and Ju-on being prime examples. I gave this one a try because two of my favorite stars are in it Oguri Shun and Sawajiri Erika, they were good but the movie in general is nothing special. One really cool thing about it though is that it used some of HP Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos, a carved relief in a subway tunnel and Erika's character is looking to goto school abroad at the Miskatonic University.

It's true all these Japanese horror films look alike, but I've only watched a few, so it hasn't bothered me much yet. Though to be honest, the scary child-ghost with too much make up has lost its appeal. The film isn't great, but it keeps your interest till the end. It has a couple of interesting twists but doesn't really take full advantage of them. The backstory is rather vague and needed a little more work because it could really give the plot an extra boost. Other than that, everything flows without many surprises but keeps you watching, with a voice in your head asking how on earth all the train stations happen to be completely empty whenever the characters are there..

This is a relatively nice movie for me. This movie deals a lot with friendship among two people, and really does remind me of One Missed Call Final. This movie is original. The entertaining scenes takes place in a train station. The opening scene in this movie is scary. I like the plot used in this movie. I like the cave like setting of this movie. I don't know why this movie is rated so low. The cave like setting for this movie and the use of the train station in this movie is very original. I love the ending in this movie. This movie is a little touching as well. However, there are flaws in this movie. The acting in this movie is a little poor. The GCI effects were very poor except for the last ten minutes. The whole movie was not scary at all. There were only two scenes that were scary. Tension and fear was not built very well in this movie. This movie becomes very melodramatic at times, and its pacing becomes just as slow as a snail,especially the scene where the girl calls her friend using the hand phone. This movie is one of the least scariest Japanese horror movies, but not the worst definitely. This movie shows that a good movie need not be scary. This movie is really entertaining and has some very interesting ideas, like the use of the bracelet being stuck to one of the girl's hand. The train station scene in this movie is nowhere as creepy or spooky as The Red Shoes. This movie is entertaining, though not as great as some of the other J-horrors such as Ringu, Ju-on or One Missed Call.

Oh gosh,I'm really fed up with all these generic Japanese horror films about long-haired female ghosts and ghostly kids."Ghost Train" is no exception.It is clearly influenced by "Ringu","Ju-On","Shutter" and "Pulse".Two years ago I was into such modern ghost stories,because they usually managed to give me some goosebumps,unfortunately there is nothing fresh or interesting in "Ghost Train".In fact the film is really boring.Noriko goes missing in a subway tunnel-like an elementary-school classmate-Nana must investigate a mystery of multiple disappearances,with the help of a youthful train conductor and another "disappeared" child's mother.The film offers some mildly creepy moments,however the CGI effects are laughable and the climax is illogical.Skip it.