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STUDIO: Tartan Video
MSRP: $19.95
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 94 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• English and Spanish Subtitles
The Pitch
"It’s like every other Asian horror film you’ve ever seen. And is that so bad?"
The Humans
Noriko Nakagoshi, Eriko Hatsune, Yuka Itaya, Naoko Otani, Arata Furuta,
The Nutshell
A mysterious apartment drives newly credit checked occupants to throw themselves over the ledge. Why can’t ghosts ever haunt the first floor? Minor bruises are plenty scary.
The Lowdown
You think you know what this film will be like from looking at the cover? You are right. We are presented with strange happenings, a haunted past, and a demented spirit. Creepy little girl? Check. Weird eyeball problems? Check. Spectral entity that could seriously use some conditioner? Check. Will you remember this film two days from when you watch it? Questionable.
We’re going to need some new FBI guys.
Now while the film offers few surprises, there is something to be said for cinematic comfort food. I’m a sucker for a creepy mood, and attractive people walking slowly through darkly lit spaces. On that count, the film delivers. The performances aren’t spectacular, but nobody is embarrassing. The lead is compelling enough that you actually care what happens to her. I would think that something of a necessity, but a few recent entries into the genre had me grateful just to have some empathy here. The camera work features some dubious effects, but they kind of become part of the charm.
Visine commercials have gotten less subtle.
The second act really slows to a crawl, and the reveal of the "hidden history" of the apartment could have been spliced in from pretty much any ghost story without two much notice.I will allow that the film features two to three genuinely creepy "non-jump out and shock" moments that seem to contain the kind of hidden associated menace one usually encounters in dreams. That might sound like reason enough to offer some praise, but then one considers films like Cure that have that kind of mood for practically the entire running time. No such luck here.
McDonalds too.
Unfortunately, the one point of interest is a somewhat ambiguous ending that I don’t feel like spoiling. I’m still on the fence as to the exact intentions of the final specter, and that teasing quality kept the film from entirely evaporating from the brainpan.
The Package
The front design is a rip off of a rip off by now, although the ghost on the back is kind of creepy (if a spoiler). The photo gallery is pretty pointless, but you do get some cool trailers. Check out the one with the surgical mask wearing, smile scar baring, giant scissor wielding children’s nurse type person. That was scarier than this entire film.