Zoo

The anthology film is surprisingly underutilised in Hollywood, despite the success of "Pulp Fiction". I have often wondered if this is due to the fact that almost everybody who sees such a movie walks out thinking that, say, one of the stories was good but the other two weren't. A lot of movies are uneven, but making a movie that contains more than one story seems to particularly invite this criticism; you can't help comparing the individual pieces.

"Zoo" unfortunately doesn't buck this trend. It starts very strong, but the mannered approach wears thin across five stories, in an approach to filmic storytelling that usually sticks with three.

The first story depicts a heart wrenching family situation in which two girls are twins, one doted on by her mother, the other one abused and neglected. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep watching; the material is quite painful. The second story is probably the best: a young woman and her kid brother find themselves imprisoned in a dingy cell by a Jigsaw-type figure, whom they know is planning to kill them. The kid brother can move from cell to cell where he meets other captors. This story has a surprisingly touching ending, and I thought it was interesting that they went with a Western actor to play the bad guy. I wonder what that's about.

With the third story, I thought the movie made an unfortunate drop in quality - though it was still good. This one depicts a family in which both parents believe the other one is dead or invisible, and the young boy who acts as an intermediary. This one is kept afloat by the boy's performance, but it's too standoffish to be interesting.

The last couple I didn't really enjoy. One is an animated movie, using CGI done anime style, and the other is where the movie gets its title from: it's something to do with a guy who kills a woman in a zoo and takes photos of her body decomposing. I didn't really get it.

The animated one should have been more interesting; it's certainly visually beautiful. I just wasn't expecting that sequence during a live action movie. It's something to do with a man who creates an android in the shape of a young girl.

These stories are all quite interesting, if not all successful. That alone is enough to recommend it.

First off let me start by saying that this is NOT horror. The atmosphere within these stories aren't creepy or scary in the slightest (apart from "Zoo" which has a creepy tone to it) and they seem to belong more in the thriller/drama/mystery categories.

With that said I actually really enjoyed this film as whole but I can't really put my finger on why. I just liked the atmospheres and the way the directors decided to portray the stories. The only complaint I have is that the true significance of some of the stories is never revealed which might leave people with a bitter taste in their mouth (if you're a fan of Asian cinema you should be used to it).

My personal favourite out of the 5 films: "Seven Rooms".

Definitely worth a watch for people who aren't expecting a blood-bath and are okay with watching some well-paced mysterious stories.

Zoo is composed 5 movie segments that focuses not on the "dark side" of death but on its "dramatic" sense. These stories are composed of some elements that makes the film boring but overall it's a unique one and the stories are made to be touching.

"Zoo" segment could have showed more plot because it had the strongest shade of horror but unfortunately it came out boring because of lack of plot. It's just about a man who murdered his lover at a zoo. The other stories are different from this (every story is different from the others, though) because they turn out to have no connection with a zoo park. "Hidamari no shi" is the animated segment of the movie. It doesn't appeal that much to viewers although it's an anime so twenty minutes is a smart length for the segment. "Kazari and Yoko" is the first part of the movie and it's a good start. It's about identical twin sisters Kazari and Yoko who differs almost exactly from one another. One is treated like an animal and the other is loved by their mother. Yoko, the maltreated one, some time had the chance of changing herself and a twist, which I didn't actually understand, changed the way her mother lives with her. "SO-far" is a nice segment and is of a nice twist. A child sees that his mother cannot see his father and his father cannot see or hear her mother, one night when they returned home. Lastly, "Seven Rooms" is the strongest of the five. The seven rooms were filled with one woman each, each day and they're being killed after six days of stay. Satoshi and his sister finds their way out of the room and the reason why they're brought there. This is a simple segment and is kinda incomplete but for me, it's the best.

Overall, it's worth a watch and a review! 7/10

I have no idea where i found this thing. I consists of mediocre and boring 5 short films. It's definitely not worthwhile

Not the best but not the worst. The box is cooler than the films. I was a bit sad when the guy thing on the cover wasn't in the movie but the film about the sisters and the 7 rooms one were really good. The cartoon was a bore and the one with the "dead" parents made no sense to me. The one about the Zoo was actually creepy, though was kind of confusing too.

I got lucky and spent $13 on it. If it's cheap, buy it. Not worth spending over $17 on it. But's still a good watch. I recommend this movie.