nose_smasher
Joined Jul 2006
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nose_smasher's rating
Who knows what's the trademark of almost all of the Asian horror movies? Yes, you're right: a ghost or a spirit shaped as a girl(or a woman) with her long, dark hair over the face. In small doses, at the right moment, usually associated with creepy sounds or eerie score, moving suddenly or with broken movements, those out-of-this-world presences have the power to scare to death the poor characters unfortunate enough to be in their path. Now, ladies and gentlemen, in "Bunshinsaba" you have the longest presence on-screen of the aforementioned long-haired female ghosts in the entire Asian horror history. If you have a better example, please let me know.
Now you think that will make this movie the scariest of them all? Errr...no. "Bunshinsaba" is a horror movie, no doubt about it. But, it's scare factor is average or even low. Despite some (very short) disturbing images, it's hard to be really terrified. No unsupportable tension from "Shutter", no gruesome-deformed faces from "The Ring". The last three-quarters of the film we're dealing with the ghost, who-as usually-seek revenge. The main problem is that we have real difficulties to know who's the real person, who's the real person possessed by the vengeful spirit, who's the real spirit, what's real and what's imagination and who's the reincarnation of the spirit. It's not easy to follow. Once invoked(at the beginning) the spirit move from person to person, determining the subsequent behavior. Some commit suicide by putting a plastic bag over the head, spilling flammable liquid over and set it on fire. Other girl throw herself out of window.
About the standard, mandatory, long-haired girl(notice that I didn't said "ghost"): As I said, you will see a LOT of standard stuff. A face looking down and then slightly starting to rise the sight. Don't expect demoniacal expressions, sudden scares in sync with loud sounds. Once is the real girl-school, next time the ghost, next another girl possessed by the ghost. Hmmm, pretty twisted, maybe a second viewing is necessary.
Otherwise, even the plot is relatively clear, it is also pretty twisted. There's a lot of talk. All the girls are beautiful and in general the cast consist in pleasant-looking people. Unfortunately, if you want to be really scared, this is not the right movie.
Now you think that will make this movie the scariest of them all? Errr...no. "Bunshinsaba" is a horror movie, no doubt about it. But, it's scare factor is average or even low. Despite some (very short) disturbing images, it's hard to be really terrified. No unsupportable tension from "Shutter", no gruesome-deformed faces from "The Ring". The last three-quarters of the film we're dealing with the ghost, who-as usually-seek revenge. The main problem is that we have real difficulties to know who's the real person, who's the real person possessed by the vengeful spirit, who's the real spirit, what's real and what's imagination and who's the reincarnation of the spirit. It's not easy to follow. Once invoked(at the beginning) the spirit move from person to person, determining the subsequent behavior. Some commit suicide by putting a plastic bag over the head, spilling flammable liquid over and set it on fire. Other girl throw herself out of window.
About the standard, mandatory, long-haired girl(notice that I didn't said "ghost"): As I said, you will see a LOT of standard stuff. A face looking down and then slightly starting to rise the sight. Don't expect demoniacal expressions, sudden scares in sync with loud sounds. Once is the real girl-school, next time the ghost, next another girl possessed by the ghost. Hmmm, pretty twisted, maybe a second viewing is necessary.
Otherwise, even the plot is relatively clear, it is also pretty twisted. There's a lot of talk. All the girls are beautiful and in general the cast consist in pleasant-looking people. Unfortunately, if you want to be really scared, this is not the right movie.
Two males and three girls receive, each of them, an invitation to a party destined only for rich and successful business people. Once there, they are locked inside the building and someone start to hunt them. One die, two others, badly wounded, are captured and dragged on a stage. There, in front of other guests from the high-society, their stalkers torture them in some gruesome ways. The two (remaining) main characters try to escape this nightmarish location while the bad guys are on their steps.
If you have seen "Hostel" and liked it, you will probably enjoy this one too, at least three scenes have the exact same feeling. There's a lot of blood flowing from the both sides, the baddies and the victims. The movie start slowly and constantly accelerate until the climactic ending. I found some plot holes, the first being right at the beginning. It helps you to get in the mood, but the location has no connection with the rest of the story, at least in my opinion. Visually, I have some mixed impressions. Most of the footage seem to be caught on film, while other sequences looked more like a digital camera recording. There's a certain amount of shaky camera movement during the run/caught/fighting moments, but the rest is OK. The editing is good, allowing the viewer to see what's going on. Some moments are well defined visually, emphasizing the atmosphere (the axe in the final battle), other less (a car chase between a Ferrari 360 Modena and a pick-up truck), some have an unnatural feeling(completely deserted roads at night, a police check in a road tunnel with zero traffic).
So...Not a masterpiece, because it's nearly impossible to make a masterpiece today from this genre. But not a bad or boring movie. More, it has more twists and turns than your average slasher/horror movie, good makeup and some cool death/torture scenes. Bonus, nice Taiwanese girls and a female lead not only beautiful, but also smart. This helped me to care for her, after so many years of horror films where the young victim girls were so stupid.
If you have seen "Hostel" and liked it, you will probably enjoy this one too, at least three scenes have the exact same feeling. There's a lot of blood flowing from the both sides, the baddies and the victims. The movie start slowly and constantly accelerate until the climactic ending. I found some plot holes, the first being right at the beginning. It helps you to get in the mood, but the location has no connection with the rest of the story, at least in my opinion. Visually, I have some mixed impressions. Most of the footage seem to be caught on film, while other sequences looked more like a digital camera recording. There's a certain amount of shaky camera movement during the run/caught/fighting moments, but the rest is OK. The editing is good, allowing the viewer to see what's going on. Some moments are well defined visually, emphasizing the atmosphere (the axe in the final battle), other less (a car chase between a Ferrari 360 Modena and a pick-up truck), some have an unnatural feeling(completely deserted roads at night, a police check in a road tunnel with zero traffic).
So...Not a masterpiece, because it's nearly impossible to make a masterpiece today from this genre. But not a bad or boring movie. More, it has more twists and turns than your average slasher/horror movie, good makeup and some cool death/torture scenes. Bonus, nice Taiwanese girls and a female lead not only beautiful, but also smart. This helped me to care for her, after so many years of horror films where the young victim girls were so stupid.