Kôpusu pâti: Book of Shadows

Granted, I haven't seen the first movie, so I had no idea what this was about or what I was getting into when I sat down to watch the 2016 Japanese horror movie "Corpse Party: Book of Shadows" (aka "Kôpusu pâti: Book of Shadows"). All I knew was that it was a Japanese horror movie, and that was essentially also all I needed to know.

Japanese cinema usually makes fairly good horror movies. But of course not everything produced there can be gold. And "Corpse Party: Book of Shadows" was definitely not gold. In fact, it was far from it.

I found the storyline in the movie to be utter rubbish and downright boring. I managed to endure the movie to the bitter end, but I can't claim to have been entertained, not even remotely. I stuck with the movie, only for the gore and because it was a Japanese horror after all - and maybe the movie would pick up and become better along the way.

It just never did.

The characters in the movie were rather pointless and very much like cardboard cut-out figures without personality or much drive. Which made the movie suffer horribly.

This was a massive swing and a miss for me. And I am rating this movie a mere two out of ten stars. This is basically because the movie was, after all, nicely produced.

Spoilers contained for the first Corpse Party movie

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows is a live action movie based on the events of the horror game, Corpse Party. It's a sequel to the first live action movie based on the lore of the game (which was. Terrible, to be quite frank) but I think this one really hit the mark for what a live action of this franchise should have been.

Book of Shadows follows the two survivors of the first movie in this series as they return to Heavenly Host Elementary once more to try and save their friends as they arrive in the past.

This was exactly what the franchise of live action needed. The acting in scenes is much better and less cringe-worthy although some scenes definitely could have been done better (i.e. close up stabbing scenes just looking someone twisting something sharp very lightly across a dummy).

The return of an original villain from the original lore into this reimagined was also done amazingly and was something I was annoyed with the original film for missing out.

I really like the angle this film took. I think it was just far away enough from the lore of what I knew of the franchise personally and did it in a way that seemed reimagined. It didn't feel like a rip off for quick money like the first and it could stand alone as its own movie if flashbacks had been edited in.

The ending itself in this was absolutely spectacular - I didn't expect it at all until the very last few seconds before the main reveal and I think it was done wonderfully. Book of Shadows is a movie that I am definitely interested in watching again and I definitely recommend just skipping the first live action and coming straight to this one. It feels much more realistic and more composed than the first.