Based on a novel by Osamu Fukutani, Shinrei Shashinbu expands on his novel with new characters, and stories. This first installment of the series includes three short stories revolving around three members of Shinrei Shashinbu (literally meaning paranormal photography club) Kayu (Shizuka Nakamura), Riri (Rei Toda), and Hisashi (Yosuke Ito).
All stories revolve around paranormal photos that contains ghost that're captured in the photos. The ghosts are supposedly real, and causes misfortunes to people who are involved in the situation. The three short stories are organized in the following way.
First story is about a ghost in the abandoned building:
Kayu is looking for a club in her school to join. She figures photography would be fun, and knocks on the door of the photography club. What she didn't know was that this was a paranormal photography club specializing in paranormal pictures. Soon after she joins, a photo is found on the floor. Hisashi claims that it was lost, and shouldn't be on the floor. They decide to visit the place where the picture was taken which is an abandoned building that harbors ghosts.
Second story is about a haunted Karaoke Bar:
Hisashi, and Riri invites Kayu to a karaoke bar telling her that it's to celebrate her membership into the paranormal photography club. What they didn't tell her is that the karaoke booth is known to be haunted, and some paranormal picture was taken there. Kayu discovers that she has some psychic ability of her own, and sees what the karaoke bar looked like during World War 2. It was a shelter and people died there. Their spirits still roam the karaoke bar.
Third story is about a haunted prikura (instant photo booth) machine:
Ywo girls enters a photo booth. From the get go, the machine acts in a strange way. It automatically selects the back ground, and inserts "Friends" into the picture. They contact the paranormal photo club's website. The two girls, and the three members of the club goes to check out the photo booth. The maintenance man that comes to maintain the machine tells Kayu that nothing is wrong, but the machine is old, so she can ask for a refund from the store but is that the only reason ..... ?
The stories are quite intriguing and well formulated. Shizuka Nakamura who plays the lead character Kayu is a popular actress mainly appearing in TV dramas, and also a graphic picture idol, where she poses in bikini swim suits. She carries the story in a believable manner.
The movie is quite well made for a low budget film. The story is written by a notable writer, and the actor has track record both for their photogenic appearance and acting. The combination seemed to have delivered excellent result.
Japanese movie industry seemed to have come up with a successful formula for movie making in many areas. This horror movie + cute girls is one of them. There are quite a few good movies in this genre like "Keitai Kareshi". This movie is also one of them.
Enjoy this special treat from Japan. It's worth the watch.
