Re: member

This reminds me of Final Destination (2000) and Happy Death Day (2017) and probably loads of other similar films. It does have an interesting take on the core concept, giving the loops more purpose but I couldn't help but think it would be better suited to a survival horror game. There are some odd choices and tonal shifts that feel more natural than they should so that was a pleasant surprise. I liked the monster, it was pretty cool. I didn't like the ending, it was frustrating. Overall I mostly enjoyed my time watching this film but I probably won't watch it ever again or remember it next week.

Sitting down to watch the 2022 Japanese horror movie "Re/Member" here in 2023, I did so without ever having heard about the movie. But the Japanese cinema have a long track record of making enjoyable and entertaining horror movies, so I figured that I would give it a go.

Writers Harumi Doki, Katsutoshi Murase and Welzard put together a fair enough script and storyline for director Eiichirô Hasumi to bring to the screen. The movie was watchable and entertaining for what it was, but it wasn't a groundbreaking story. And what really made the movie all the more watchable was the ferocity of the red creature. It is rare that you get to see that kind of rage and malevolence from creatures in movies, so that was quite enjoyable.

The acting performances in the movie were fair. I wasn't familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list, but they put on good performances.

Visually then "Re/Member" was fairly okay. The special effects were good enough for the movie, but hardly outstanding. But it was refreshing to have a Japanese 'ghost' movie without the traditional girl in white dress with long, black hair covering the face.

Something did puzzle me, though, as it was funny how there happened to be a coffin with the exact beveled shape of the corpse of the little girl whose body parts the students were searching for. It just made so little sense.

"Re/Member" was watchable for what it was, and it is suitable for a single viewing. However, there just wasn't sufficient contents to the storyline to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Re/Member" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Good, but most of the watch time I feel like my family was just yelling at the girl to HURRY. When you're handed something important as another character sacrifices themselves for it, you don't just stand there, watching for them to die! You be useful and RUN.

At the start, some of the violence felt a little comical to me. It slowly got a little more serious, but I didn't feel scared at all during this, neither did my 10-year-old sister.

However, it didn't quite make sense for the girl to be evil, because they were helping her find her body. Didn't she want to be found? I thought that was the whole point of the body find thing...

While this isn't the best movie ever, it was entertaining.

The premise wasn't anything new, but I wasn't looking for any ground breaking originality. It had a story, so simply tell it in an interesting and entertaining way, and I would've been happy. And, there were definitely good bits to it! So, it could have easily been a fine, enjoyable horror flick, but certain unnecessities like having an internal "I've had enough, so I'm gonna be courageous, ganbarimasu" emotion doesn't just give you an extra boost of power/energy, turning you into a superhero, and allowing you to overcome any obstacle infront of you. Yes, I've heard of adrenaline, but it shouldn't take long to kick in, certainly not a "John Snow standing in the battlefield" moment to doubt yourself, then suddenly thinking of your friends generates the super soldier serum within you" long.

As this Japanese horror film begins a young girl is murdered. Decades later school girl Asuka hears the voice of the dead girl; she asks that the eight parts of her dismembered body be found. They are all on the grounds of the school Asuka attends. That night she, and five other students suddenly find themselves back in the school. A monster known to them as 'The Red Person' starts killing them in gory ways. When they wake up it is the previous morning. It soon becomes obvious that they are caught in a time loop. Each night they reappear in school and look for the body parts to return to a coffin in the school's chapel. Each day they become closer friends, bonded by the events of the night before and s desire to solve the mystery and end the cycle.

I thought this film opened fairly well with plenty of gore and an interesting set up. Unfortunately the sense of danger felt somewhat reduced when the time loop restarted and we learn that those who died have all returned and they seemed less traumatised than one might expect. Thankfully the plot manages to bring the sense of danger back later on. I wasn't surprised to learn that it was based on a manga as it reminded me somewhat of anime like 'Another', Angel Beats' and to a lesser extent 'Dusk Maiden of Amnesia'. The acting is solid enough and the school at night creates a suitably ominous atmosphere. Overall I'd say this is far from being a classic J-horror but it still manages to entertain so is worth a watch.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.