X-Cross

I watched this movie as a part of the "Focus Asia Nights" Film festival weekend in Stuttgart in autumn 2007. And although you kinda can tell that this will be over the top (Horror/comedy), I never felt that it hit the right notes. Not that it was completely bad (turkey), but it just missed out on a few things ... not to mention the craziest plot changes and "surprises" up til the end.

On the other side, it had some great (funny) ideas, that worked. Sometimes as a running gag, sometimes just one good laugh or action scene. But while the movie couldn't decide which direction it'll take (action, Horror, Comedy), you might get bored a little (especially if you get to see things that happened twice)! The plot is so crazy that it really wouldn't be a spoiler to say anything about it (it's not about the plot anyway), but I'll leave you with a word of advice: Don't watch the movie, if you're not prepared for something completely "different"

X-CROSS is a weird little Japanese action flick, clearly shot on a low budget. It makes up for the deficiency of the budget by injecting a whole lot of wacky craziness and enthusiasm for the subject matter, in much the same way as a film like VERSUS, although it's a far cry from that sort of material.

The problem with X-CROSS is the story, which feels dragged-out and long-winded. There's not a great deal of plot once the initial premise is out of the way: a couple of girls travel to a remote village to partake in the hot springs there as a means of spiritual refreshment and relaxation. Unfortunately, the village just so happens to be home to a murderous cult. Who can they trust and will they escape?

Basically, this is one long chase movie, shot in the dark and with typical Japanese weirdness. Some of the plot elements are a lot of fun, like the crazy girl with the giant pair of scissors who seems intent on slaughtering our heroines, but other elements, like all of the mobile phone mystery sub-plots, are overdone and drag out a bit. The execution is also only so-so - on the strength of this and BATTLE ROYALE 2, director Kenta Fukasaku is no match for the talents of his superior father.

"X-Cross" sort of surprised me, as I had assumed it would be another one of those countless gory splatter movies that have made it out of Japan in the recent years. However, "X-Cross" was far from it. It was actually a really great suspense/horror movie.

The story is about Shiyori (played by Nao Matsushita) and Aiko (played by Ami Suzuki) who travel to hot springs located at a very remote village. But things are not all as they seem; not in the village, not with the people, not with the friendship. Shiyori and Aiko find themselves stranded in a remote village with no one but themselves to trust, or can they?

I found the story to be really great because it builds up the suspense so nicely, letting the story brood and seep in, then flash back and show you other sides of occurring events. Now that was a thing I thoroughly enjoyed about the movie, it was so nicely done, and it really unravelled my theories by shedding new light on situations that I just saw in the movie. And the plot kept shifting, so it was not possible to predict what was happening or what was going to happen. The ending of the movie, well that was really bad, in my opinion. I didn't care for that ending at all. Actually the entire movie was great, but the last 20 to 30 minutes was sort of fighting an uphill battle, the movie started slipping during that time and becoming anti-climatic and just downright stupid.

The people they had cast for the various roles in "X-Cross" were actually doing good jobs with their given roles, and the characters were really fleshed out as believable and realistic. Well, what happened to Reiko was just a bit too much, it was so over the top that it stopped being realistic.

"X-Cross" has a really good mood to it, the environment was well used, and you sit with a sensation of being trapped and isolated out in the woods, so they managed to capture the right setting for the movie.

So looking away from the last 20 to 30 minutes of the movie, then I found "X-Cross" to be a really nice movie, and it was nicely build up leaving you guessing as to whom did what and who can be trusted, then only to completely unravel your theories as you are given new bits and pieces of information.

The IMDb genres labeled to this movie are action, adventure and comedy. That kind of makes me wonder, because I didn't find the movie to be that at all.

I almost feel bad about not liking X Cross all that much. Its not that its an impeccably crafted film that I simply don't enjoy, no sense of guilt here, but for a film feted by most reviewers as great fun and pretty righteous stuff, it had little impact on me. Two girls head to a remote mountain village for hot springs and relaxation, one has recently suffered a bad breakup and her more free-wheeling friend is with her to help cheer her up. Unfortunately the village is home to a crazed cult with bad things in mind… It's a nifty set-up and for the first half hour or so the film looks as if it'll power up into a neat little suspenseful chase film, but this never quite materialises. The big problem is that while the film handles its build up well, the townsfolk are never menacing and their appearances or scenes of pursuit are never well directed. What should be pulse pounding stuff is simply a big fat meh, and excitement is mostly provided by a subplot involving a very angry lady with over-sized scissors and a grudge against the heroines friend. These scenes are a lot of fun and have all the action and dynamism that seems absent from the cult encounters. Fortunately, though director Kenta Fukasaku may be flawed in this respect, he does seem to have inherited some of his dads playful style and flair for intrigue. There are perspective shifts a-plenty, fast rewinds and intertitles, plus shifting loyalties and twisting character motivations, which combined with the fast pace give the film a fairly compelling grip that works beyond its actual quality. Plus Ami Suzuki and Nao Matsushita are pretty decent as the two leads, Matsushita as the disheartened Shiyori and Suzuki as her outgoing yet somewhat insensitive and inconsiderate pal. The setting works well too, a sense of uncanny semi luxury what with the remote location, hot springs and multitude of picturesque cabins, though the best moments of the film occur in a toilet and a junkyard. Handy set designs, workable atmosphere, everything is set up just right but the film remains resolutely a damp squib outside of the aforementioned scissor-lady. Its never bad exactly, just weak, though it has a few fine spots and a suitably wacky ending that goes out on just the right note. So altogether, about a 5/10 or so. Maybe I'll like it more on a second view, but for now its simply pretty average.

Not bad, not bad at all. Great horror movie. Lets start with the setting. High Budget Japanese Horror Movie, the setting is very nice even the use of fog made it look a bit better and colorful. The acting, okay good? The atmosphere, not too scary but nice. The direction, perfect!! But the real entertainment was the Crazy Bitch holding a large pair of scissors. Now thats what I call a cult movie. The monsters, the priest and the ugly dwarfs made this movie entertaining. But it didn't received a 9 or 10? Well, because it repeats. I don't want to spoil the movie, again. But I recommend it to everyone. Rent it or buy it. Its your choice.