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

Dark Tales of Japan is a collection of made-for-TV J-Horror stories, shot by popular Japanese directors. The result is a Twilight Zone style anthology that aims to please those who can't get enough of Japanese ghost films, but unfortunately it fails due to rather cheap production values, poor effects and a lack of genuine scares.

In 'Would You Like To Hear A Scary Tale?' (directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura), which acts as a 'wraparound' story for the whole anthology, a creepy old lady boards a late-night bus and proceeds to tell a scary story to the driver (despite his not being too keen on hearing one). She's obviously a ghost, but isn't the slightest bit frightening.

The Spiderwoman (also by Nakamura), follows a couple of magazine reporters who are writing an article on a mysterious monster that has been repeatedly sighted in the town of Ibaraki. The intrepid investigators track down the creature... and soon wish that they hadn't! A couple of creepy moments and some rather fun dodgy CGI make this tale just about watchable.

Next up is 'Crevices' (directed by Norio 'Ring 0' Tsuruta), in which a young man finds out exactly why a missing friend has plastered his apartment with red tape: it's to keep out the creatures that lurk in the crevices! Lots of creepy atmosphere make this the best of the bunch.

The Sacrifice (directed by Koji Shiraishi) is the title of the third story, and although lacking in scares, it is made watchable by the presence of the gorgeous Yû Yamada who stars as a young woman cursed by a creepy workmate, but who is ultimately saved by her mother (who sacrifices herself to a giant disembodied head with strange eyes!).

Blonde Kwaidan, the low point of the whole film (despite being directed by perhaps the most well known of those involved—Takashi 'The Grudge' Shimizu), is a (mercifully) short story which features a Japanese businessman in Hollywood, who comes face-to-face with a blonde ghost. Yawn!

Before the film is rounded off with another 'scary' story from the ghostly bus-lady seen at the beginning of the film, Masayuki Ochiai (director of the upcoming Shutter remake) delivers the fairly enjoyable Presentiment, in which a trio of ghosts scare the hell out of a poor man trapped in a lift.

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.

The version of this Film that I have is Called "Dark Tales of Japan" Which actually features 5 short horror flicks not 8, and they are all well over 5 minutes long. They include "The Spiderwoman (Kumo Onna) Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura, "Crevices" (Sukima) Dir by Norio Tsuruta, "The Sacrifice" (Onamakubi) Dir by Koji Shiraishi, Blonde Kwaidan (Kinpatsu Kaidan)-Directed by Takashi Shimizu,& "Presentiment" (Yokan) Dir by Masayuki Ochiai I'm not sure what versions that have in Japan of this, but once again the American title out here is "Dark Tales of Japan. And if you bother to look at the list of directors on this movie, you will see that there are 5, who directed five episodes, so I feel the main review of this film is a bit inaccurate.

Either way, all of the films are very low budget, and silly for the most part. I actually found the last episode in this series "Presentiment" (Yokan) to be the best and most interesting. One thing the review does have right is, if you are looking for a genuine Japanese horror flick, look else where, this will only turn you off from the genre. Its almost as if the directors got together just to poke fun at some of these urban legends. Though there are still some scary parts, and a few jolts here and there.

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.

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.