This was recommended to me as an example of good J-Horror, but I feel like calling it that is kind of a stretch. It has way more in common with other manga adaptations I’ve seen (emphasis on effects, crazy formalistic camera work, frequent static tableaus that are clearly replicated manga frames) than J-Horror I’ve seen. But all that means is that it’s batshit insane so I’m down with it, even if I think the concept of an entire town becoming obsessed with a symbol to the point of insanity could have been a great starting point for a restrained yet truly cinematic horror film. What we get instead is a wet rag of a heroine and her boyfriend (with some form of Aspergers) wandering from scene to scene of batshit insanity, each more batshit than the next. Which, again, is something I am down with, even if it ultimately feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Randomly, the thing I most got out of this film was how wonderfully director Higuchinsky shoots the town. Scenes like the initial trek home of our heroine to a scene a little bit later of her riding on her boyfriend’s bike somehow manage to make the town seem both energized while still being a forboding maze. Can’t quite put my finger on what it does for me and since it doesn’t really contribute to the film as a whole (you could make the whole maze = spiral connection, but by the time the spiral stuff kicks in this sense of the town is long gone) I guess it doesn’t matter. B
Martha Marcy Nash and Young 