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.

Reading a synopsis about Zoo and chances are that you probably be interested in this film. 5 stories, 5 young upcoming Japanese directors, dark tales of murder, weird happenings, etc..

What Zoo actually is, is five young Japanese directors who've learned what a still shot, or slow shot is. They use it a few times and pretend to be Takeshi Kitano I suppose, then the stories they show you will be explained to you in the most idiotic way possible.

• The first short film is about these two twin sisters, who are played by the same person, one is hated by the mother the other is not. Everything in this first story is pedantic and trod-ding, and it leads up to a climax that is completely ... NOT surprising.

• The second is a rather semi-interesting one, called 7 Rooms, people are for some unknown reason, each locked into a room, by some unknown guy, who wants to kill them after they've been there for 7 days and eaten 6 slices of bread and 1 bowl of soup. The ending. Is a giant roll-eyes unfortunately.

• The third is absolutely ridiculous I don't even want to talk about it's so stupid.

• The cartoon is boring and dull.

• The final piece actually attempts to be spooky and sort of take chances, but leaves you empty and hollow. There is absolutely no real story told, a mild statement is made and the movie's credits roll.

The end. Save yourself the trouble, this is not for suspense/horror fans AT ALL, go see Tale of Two Sisters or Audition or something else Asia has done that is really worth something.

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.

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.

This is a great film. A little hidden gem. With the current interest in Asian cinema not to mention specifically Japanese culture I am surprised no-one has commented on IMDb (yet). The film transcends culture however and like all great art, is universal.

Not seen it? It's comprised of five vignettes which mostly focus on themes of love and innocence. A running time of two hours allows for each story to be well drawn and satisfying in its own right. There's horror, sci-fi, romance, anime and all wrapped in a beautifully rich blanket of symbol and surrealism.

Worth a watch.