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Eastern Chills Renew Horror Cinema
Monday Jan 03, 2005.
By Joel Wicklund
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Independent filmmaker Larry Fessenden once accurately called horror "the most maligned genre in film besides porn." Why is this durable category so often held in such low regard? It's not just that there is far more trash than treasure to be found in the horror realm. That's true of any kind of movie. One reason is that bad horror, often relying on cheap gross-out effects or easy manipulation, is simply more offensive to many than a bad but innocuous drama or romantic comedy. Another reason may be that horror, good or bad, tends to unsettle audiences who prefer to be comforted; dismissing those disturbances is easier than confronting them. For those of us that love horror precisely because it is unsettling, the influence of recent Asian horror movies on American film is a welcome one, steering Hollywood horror slightly away from gore-dependent slasher fare and back to a tradition of spooky atmosphere and supernatural subject matter. The influence is reciprocal, as the new wave of Asian horror owes a debt to earlier American films; but Japanese, Chinese and Korean cinema have also provided a distinctive modern flair that is making the entire genre more interesting around the globe. The Asian influence on Hollywood fright flicks has been seen in hit remakes of the Japanese films "Ringu" ("The Ring" actually improved upon it) and "Ju-on: The Grudge" (last fall's "The Grudge" came up a bit short of the original's chills, despite having the same director). English language remakes of Hong Kong's "The Eye" and South Korea's "A Tale of Two Sisters" are in development, while the new release "White Noise" mirrors "Ringu" and other Asian films in depicting the dead contacting the living through electronic devices. New Asian horror is far too varied and prolific a field to cover in one column, even in a broad overview, but haunted youth is one theme common to many of these films and portrayed in impressive fashion in this week's trio of suggested viewing. "Memento Mori" (1999) puts a paranormal spin on adolescent sexual anxiety. Set in an all-girls school, it revolves around the discovery of a diary revealing the lesbian relationship between two classmates. Look elsewhere for sexploitation kicks though, as this Korean film is a tasteful, thoughtful character study. One girl becomes morbidly obsessed with her romantic attachment as the discomfort of the other becomes more evident, leading to another fatality in a school plagued by tragedies. The girl who finds the diary becomes caught up in the pair's emotional whirlwind of discovery, rejection and retribution. While the ghostly elements and a telepathic bond between characters are somewhat at odds with the more straightforward drama of the film, and its ending is a little unsatisfying, "Memento Mori" mainly hits the right notes in a sincere portrayal of teenage heartbreak and regret. It's available from Tai Seng Video, with no bonus features to speak of, but with clear English subtitles. While quiet creepiness is in vogue, gore is certainly not absent in Asian horror. Japanese cinema, in particular, has its share of grisly offerings and while "Suicide Club" (2002) is far from the most extreme of these, its opening sequence certainly warns you that the blood will flow freely. Dozens of schoolgirls join hands and cheerfully jump in unison in front of a speeding train. That mass carnage ends up being just part of a suicide craze sweeping the nation. Is a cult led by a megalomaniac would-be rock star behind the madness, or is a seemingly innocent teenybopper group responsible? The police are stymied as they investigate the phenomenon in a film that veers from straight horror to black comedy to media satire. For those who can take a little splatter with their scares, "Suicide Club" provides some pretty arresting moments. The DVD from TLA Releasing features a small selection of production stills and a sharp transfer with clear subtitles. The Japanese are even more sequel-happy than Americans and "Tomie" (1999), like "Ringu," has had several successful follow-ups. Most fans seem to favor the slicker "Tomie Replay," but having seen only these two, my vote firmly goes to the low-budget original. Whatever it lacks in production values, and whatever it suffers in awkward plotting and uneven performances; it more than compensates with shiver-inducing scenes and a sometimes-brilliant allegory of arrested development. Tomie (played in unforgettably eerie fashion by Miho Kanno, whose absence in "Replay" seriously hurts that film) first appears as a head in the bag of a deranged young man. The head is alive, however, and soon grows into a young girl and just as quickly into the dark, teenaged seductress who will bring torment to several other lives. Though it first seems that Tomie is the vengeful ghost of a murdered girl, her haunting of a former classmate and the related violence are shown to be part of a cycle for which there may be no end. And while the film telegraphs its major plot twist a little too obviously, it does set up a wonderful closing image. Although it is slow to build its tension and has its share of serious flaws, "Tomie," like the early work of George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead," "Martin"), sticks with you through a combination of primal terror and sharp social observation. A shot of Tomie descending the stairs and opening her umbrella as she stalks another victim is as simple and perfect an image of looming menace as I've seen in recent years. The print quality on Ventura Select's DVD is disappointingly soft, but the disc does come with a half-hour of behind-the-scenes footage and trailers for all the Tomie films. And just as Tomie always returns from the grave, so shall DVDetours revisit the dark circle of Asian horror at a later date. Films featured in DVDetours™ may be difficult to find at many video stores but are widely available from some of the online rental services, such as Netflix, Green Cine, QwikFliks and Blockbuster Online. Inventories vary from company to company and DVDetours has no connection to any of these services. © 2005 Joel Wicklund
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