TOMIE (1999)

Twenty-something Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) thinks she might want to be a photographer, but feels lost even with her boyfriend and close friends. She can’t recall an accident from her past, but she feels that she needs to remember it in order to find her place…

But what if the accident wasn’t an accident at all? Tsukiko’s mother and doctor have been covering up her involvement in the death of former classmate Tomie (Miho Kanno), a mysterious girl who has been killed multiple times, and who will return again…

Tomie (1999)
Director: Ataru Oikawa
Starring: Mami Nakamura, Miho Kanno
95 min
© 1998 Kadokawa Pictures/Artport
Review:
“Tomie” unravels slowly, focusing on Tsukiko’s personal problems and a police investigation into multiple murders of a young woman named Tomie. Tension builds as the two storylines weave together, highlighted by an awesomely creepy soundtrack. As Tomie hunts down Tsukiko’s friends and family, you can’t help but wonder what horrible things she has planned for Tsukiko. Their last confrontation is indeed disturbing, but not in the way you might expect…

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-rebecca

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DARK TALES OF JAPAN (2004)

After a group of teenagers die in a car crash just after they encounter what seems to be a strange creature on the highway, Yamazaki, a local tabloid journalist, begins to follow the building legend of the Spiderwoman, hoping to uncover her identity.

Dark Tales of Japan: The Spiderwoman
Original title – Kumo Onna
Dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura

© 2004 TBS OZ

Review:
The first story, “The Spiderwoman” by Nakamura follows the horror-riled myth-hunt of tabloid reporter, Yamazaki and the after-hours monster dubbed “the Spiderwoman” by the media world. The opening and ending sequences are identical which posits a very interesting loop-effect to the story which in essence, is never really solved—as most urban legends are left open-ended, this lack of resolution is very appropriate. As an overall work, it was very appealing and kept me guessing till the very end and one that myth and legend fans will enjoy.
- Latoya




Kodera is the guarantor for his high school friend, Shimuzu and is called over to his apartment when Shimuzu skips his rent for three months. Entering the empty room, Kodera finds that every wall and window—every crevice—has been inexplicably covered with red tape.
Kodera cannot fathom what would possess Shimuzu to do this—but then he stumbles upon a video that reveals the morbid truth of his last hours and his disappearance…



Dark Tales of Japan: Crevices
Original title – Sukima
Dir. Norio Tsuruta

© 2004 TBS OZ

Review:
Tsuruta’s “Crevices,” takes a slightly less direct approach to world of horror and I would say it is my second favorite of the five. It is curious that Tsuruta worked on a prequel to the Ring (Ring 0: Birthday) because I found while watching this one that the style of more psychological horror was very reminiscent of the Ring. I also liked the way that the motion of the movie is fast but doesn’t feel rushed at all: as a short work, it fulfills the requirement of just enough but not too much background information. The title reveals itself gradually and reaches relevance around the middle of the story and leaves the viewer with that glorious feeling of, “Oh… Oh! Now I get it!” It ends without you ever fully being told the nature of the terror encountered but the lack of origin only makes it scarier.
- Latoya


Mayu, an office lady working in Tokyo was asked out by her coworker Fukuda but she rejected him immediately. The next day, strange things begin to happen around her...
Just as things are becoming more horrifying, she receives news that her mother has fallen sick. Convinced that Fukuda is somehow involved with her mother’s illness and the strange things occurring around her…what will she find when she sneaks into his house to investigate the truth…?

Dark Tales of Japan: The Sacrifice
Original title – Onamakubi
Dir. Koji Shiraishi

© 2004 TBS OZ


Review:
“The Sacrifice” directed by Shiraishi was interesting in that it seems to be two separate supernatural occurrences going on right up until the middle when you realize how they are bridged. Rather than horror, I would say this felt a little like a ghost story that would thrill you rather than scare you. It left me hungry for more, desperately wanting to know the nature of the sacrifice and this family as well as whether or not the daughter is destined for the same fate. All, in all, the ability of this film to make you thirst for continuations of the plot means that it is intriguing as a story and one I can foresee many a fan-fiction for.
-Latoya


For his job, Ishiguro is sent to Los Angeles where he is instantly amazed by the number of natural blondes!
But when strange things start to happen in the house, he soon finds out that the presence of this blonde isn’t quite the American dream he had in mind…

Dark Tales of Japan: Blonde Kwaidan
Original title – Kinpatsu Kaidan
Dir. Takashi Shimizu
© 2004 TBS OZ

Review:
“Blonde Kwaidan” by Shimizu is the shortest work in the set, and has its own blend of comedy and pure-genre horror. I began this movie laughing (as a resident of Los Angeles, I was really amused by the pleasant switch in location and the exaggeration of blondes. There really aren’t THAT many blondes on Hollywood Boulevard…) because the main character is so loveable…. it retains a strange comic appeal for most of the movie actually.
-Latoya


Office worker Fukawa is leaving his office when he steps into an elevator that gets stuck. Trapped in a metal box between floors, he is unable to contact anyone on his dead cell phone while the clock keeps ticking closer to 7:45 and the final train. There are three other people in this elevator… so why is he the only one who seems to care about ever getting out…?

Dark Tales of Japan: Presentiment
Original title – Yokan
Dir. Masayuki Ochiai
© 2004 TBS OZ

Review:
Finally, “Presentiment” by Ochiai. Truly, the best was saved for last. When this first began, I had no idea what to anticipate—“presentiment” was the only thing I had. You do not get a clear introduction to any of the characters which is a technique I find can be absolutely brilliant if done well—as this one was. You see only that this man is in an office that looks vacant, staring a bit suspiciously at the security camera… then bam, he drops to the floor and begins crawling GI style from cubicle to cubicle and you are all the while staring like, “What…the…” and then his phone rings. Props galore to Ochiai or the screenplay writers for this one—the PHONE reveals his life. Then the audio switches to his mind’s prediction of what the result of his actions are—an in-head news report of the unveiling of his crime. This set up of finding out the past and a rendition of the future is spectacularly cunning because you learn the present without being told it! My favorite scene though was definitely the part where he is in the elevator. Oh the use of cameras that was that scene! And the end of this work gave me chills—oh! Cannot—describe—in words—watch it!
-Latoya

Check it out at Crunchy Roll!

PENGUINS IN THE SKY - ASAHIYAMA ZOO (2008)

Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, is the northernmost zoo in Japan. The unpopular zoo welcomes a new zoo keeper, young YOSHIDA (Yasuhi NAKAMURA), who has more affection for insects than people after years of being bullied at school when he was young. Yoshida soon realizes that Asahiyama Zoo is facing a financial crisis and the zoo director TAKIZAWA (Toshiyuki NISHIDA) has been doing everything in his power to save the zoo from closing down.

Moved by Takizawa’s passion, Yoshida and other zoo keepers came to share the zoo director’s belief that one’s dreams can come true, and together they tackle this seemingly impossible task of revitalizing Asahiyama. A breakthrough arrives in the form of “Behavioral Exhibition,” a method that is pioneered by Ashiyama’s zoo keepers and which eventually makes the zoo renowned throughout the world.

In 2006, Asahiyama Zoo surpassed Ueno Zoo, Japan’s oldest and the most famous zoo in central Tokyo, in its number of visitors. What’s so special about Asahiyama Zoo and its “Behavioral Exhibition?”

Director: Masahiko Makino
Starring: Toshiyuki Nishida, Yasuhi Nakamura, Ai Maeda
2008/Color/112min/Vista Size/SRD

©2008"PENGUINS IN THE SKY - ASAHIYAMA ZOO"Film Partners

Review: Coming Soon!!