Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a Japanese film with subtitles. The plot is very difficult to follow but it involves a film crew making a movie depicting the events of a murder. As part of the filming, the director, crew and cast go to the actual hotel in which the multiple murders occurred. The main character is the female lead in the film. Almost from the start of the project, she begins to have visions or hallucinations. She sees people who no one else sees. When the crew arrives at the hotel, her visions become more extreme and frequent. You sort of understand what this film is about when it is over, however the ending left me confused. This is not a haunted house or slasher horror film. Most of it takes place in daylight. Do not expect scantily clad bimbos or knife-wielding maniacs to jump out from the closet. The story reminded me somewhat of the Roman Polanski film "Repulsion" about a woman who goes mad and has hallucinations. Overall, I thought the film was on the slow side. In its favor, it is not one of the gross torture porn flicks that are destroying the horror genre.

Reincarnation is a brilliant film, plain and simple. It is unique in that it relies on imagination and psychology to scare you and make you think twice about the world around you. The director did a fabulous job constructing the imagery of the film, and I genuinely did not know about the ending until it was revealed. Quite a shock! Reincarnation goes in my book as the single greatest indie horror film I have ever seen. Anyone who bashes it is simply not giving it a chance or doesn't fully realize the complex dialog and imagery around them. It is an intriguing story and has good acting in it and most of all the camera angles are really scary. Japanese film has something the western films do not have, something almost surreal, at least to us, being from a different culture and all. Brilliant!

Like a lot of psychological horror, you have to invest some time and energy in this film. It appears to be one thing, but you are not prepared for the changes, and certainly not the ending.

I really expected that Nagisa (Yûka in her first film) was going one way, and then it went a completely different direction and the ending was most unexpected. It challenges you because Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on and The Grudge and sequels) has put together something different with characters and actions moving back and forth through filming and the actual location of horror, and you never really know where you are at any time.

It is a heavy horror film that has less blood, but more challenge.

1st watched 2/13/2009 – 7 out of 10(Dir-Takeshi Shimizu): Inventive and scary horror story from veteran Japanese horror director, Takeshi Shimizu. I've never seen his other stuff but I guess he was at the helm fro the ground-breaking "The Grudge." This one is about the filming of a movie based on a mass killing/suicide done at a hotel. There was only one survivor, but many of the characters are connected to the incident because they are reincarnated versions of those who died. The main character, who wins an important role of the youngest one killed, begins having dreams and seeing visions after receiving the script. As each scene passes, we start seeing how others are connected to the story. There are actually three movies involved here – the actual movie we're watching, the making of the movie, and the film made by the killer. The killer made a film supposedly because he wanted to prove his reincarnation theory and would be viewed by those reincarnated, I guess. We really don't find out who's who until near the end of the movie, which is the mystery behind the movie. The chills are done in the context of the story which makes the movie interesting, instead of it just being a slasher film like American audiences are used to. OK, so the Japanese are again better at something than we are – OK, not better just different. All in all, this is definitely an enjoyable and scary movie to watch but beware you may have nightmares after it's over.

A young actress is drawn to her role in a horror film and also to a hotel from her dreams: a hotel where eleven people were murdered before she was born. What is her connection to her character and the ill-fated hotel? I have two concerns with this film. First, as the film was in Japanese, I am left thinking there were certain aspects that were left out for the American audience (condensed dialogue in the subtitles). Second, the story is pretty simple and might have been better as an hour-long episode of something like "Masters of Horror" (though by no means am I suggesting it was unworthy of being a film). I could also say certain parts were unclear (there are what I assume to be spirits that are never explained), but this does not take away from the film.

I enjoyed the film taking place largely on the set of a horror film. Horror films referencing the making of horror films (or in the case of "Popcorn", the watching of horror films) have a unique style about them. A self-critique. There is also something ironic about how the actress is told the director in the film will want lots of blood and gore, while the film we were watching had relatively little (and compared to some of the Japanese films I've seen I thought this was about as tame as you can get).

The film also offers a great bait-and-switch I cannot reveal. Through most of the film you will be expecting a particular direction or ending. But I assure you what you think you're going to see after the first several minutes will change considerably.

If you find dolls creepy, there's a doll in the movie for you to be creeped out by. Personally, I did not find it very disturbing, but I can see how for others it might be. (Also, there's something less scary about reading words on a screen rather than hearing them whispered ominously to you in a language you understand.) Not a bad film by any means. As far as Asian films go, I'd sooner recommend "The Untold Story" or "The Eye", but this one is alright. And if "Ju-On" is any indication, we'll soon be seeing an Americanized version of this piece. So catch the original first, while you can.