Re: member

I recently watched the Japanese film Re/Member (2022) on Netflix. The story follows a group of friends attending a haunted high school. As they explore the eerie elements of the school, they discover a body part belonging to a spirit trapped there. This same spirit, responsible for the deaths and the hidden body parts, finds the friends and traps them in the school. No matter what they do-even dying-they remain stuck in a loop. Can they find all the body parts and escape, or are they doomed to become part of the school's next haunted tale?

The film is directed by Eiichirô Hasumi (Biohazard: Death Island) and stars Kanna Hashimoto (Daughter of Lupin), Gordon Maeda (Tokyo Revengers), Yamamoto Maika (Deadman: Inferno), and Mayu Yokota (Kamen Rider: Saber).

This film had the potential to be great, but the writing felt inconsistent at times, and the character development was awkward, which really detracted from the overall experience. The CGI and depiction of the spirits were impressive, and the settings and costumes did a great job of pulling you into the film's world. The use of lighting also created some intense moments. The concept of the "monster" and the situation the characters find themselves in was engaging enough to hold my attention. However, the characters were irritating, the dialogue often cheesy, and the ending felt like a bit of a letdown.

In conclusion, Re/Member had a strong concept and solid horror elements, but it falters due to poorly written characters and dialogue. I'd give it a 5/10 and recommend skipping it.

My husband and I thought it was absolute pants, we both enjoy horror and the story line was intriguing, but my goodness was it so badly done! It barely kept your attention even during the "intense" scenes, the characters and dialogue were appalling "hey we're hiding from a monster who is close by and will rip us apart so now's the time to start laughing and chatting" there is no trauma or stress particularly during the day where you would expect them to be somewhat traumatised from the night before, but nope just laughter and friendly bonding. By the end you are indifferent if the monster wins due to the amount of cliched moves and illogical decisions done by the characters who you don't care about due to their lack of character development and unrealistic portrayal of 6 teens stuck in an endless loop of being killed.

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.

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.

After watching many Japanese horror films, I was hoping for better. If not for the childish and very unnecessary teen scenes, this movie would have been much better. This movie should have stuck to its plot line and stayed away from the random scenes. These scenes worked against the darkness of the movie and added a lighter element that totally made this movie feel cheap. This could have been so much better. I love Japanese horror movies and I was hoping to love this one too, but for me, Re/Member just fell short of what I have come to love about Japanese horror. With all that said, it was not horrible.