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12 out of 14 people found the following review useful: An engrossing retelling of a 19th century classic, 12 August 2008 Author: Kil_Killion from Japan
Hideo Nakata is himself perhaps a haunted man. Despite having had quite a full film career already, it is only by his work in the horror genre that he is largely known. This is especially true in the West where viewers can be a lot more literal in their definition of the genre. With just Nakata's name alone on the marketing, anyone could be excused for having expectations closer to films like Ring or Dark Water. It is these unfortunate connections that will undoubtedly drag this film down into murky waters not unlike those often present in Nakata's films.The film is a fairly close retelling of Encho Sanyutei's 19th century ghost story entitled "Shinkei Kasane-ga-fuchi" about the cursed fate of two families and the karma passed on from parent to child. Anyone familiar with the 1964 film Kwaidan (the title uses an antiquated spelling of the same word, both meaning "ghost story") will see similarities in the presentation of Nakata's film. Many have said that he intended to pay homage to ghostly films of the 50s and 60s, but that is not going back far enough. The film reflects the very traditions of Japanese ghost stories and fables. The main actor, known for Kabuki, plays opposite a character once played by his own father in a Kabuki performance years earlier.I stated earlier about the limited view of the horror genre as held by many Western film goers, but it hasn't always been the case. Sadly the idea of a "slow burn" and finding suspense in the thematic fabric of a film is something rare today in Hollywood horror. Too often, films depend on incredibly literal scares, in the form of disturbing images, gore and violence, but lack any real thematic richness. In some ways Nakata's few inserted jump scares in the film made me balk a little. Perhaps it is his Hollywood experience that convinced him that such heavy handedness was needed. The film has some genuinely tense and "Oh .. !" moments (I am sure you know what I mean) that really don't need any audio cues to let us all know they are happening.Perhaps this is connected to the negativity around this film. For the few scares present in the run time of the story, there aren't much. In fact, categorising the film as "horror" might me somewhat of a misnomer as well, at least by modern Hollywood definition. What we have with Kaidan is a traditional Japanese ghost story and fable that strives to not only thrill us but also impart some wisdom. The true horror of the story is the tragedy inherent in its themes and sheer extent that it spreads. Obviously, what comes along with such a film, some viewers won't like. Viewers expecting something more akin to modern horror films like The Grudge, will no doubt find parts or all of Kaidan boring and uneventful. Others will decry the feature of "more long-haired ghosts" but to be fair, such people don't appreciate the deep tradition of ghost stories in Japan.White kimonos are what women are cremated or buried in and traditionally all women had very long hair devoid of any colouring or permed curls. I say, if it ain't broke, why try to fix it. Certainly it is better than Hollywood's constant recycling making every second movie monster like the love-child of the Alien and Pumkinhead, or the tendency to laden everything down with CGI and "in case you didn't get it" effects (I am referring to The Ring's, Hollywood equivalent of Sadako).So whether you'll like this film or not depends on yourself. The film is not a modern horror tale full of scares and jumps. It is a dramatic, period ghost film, drawn from tradition and based on a 19 century novel. If instead of demanding Kaidan to entertain you, open yourself to what it has to tell you. This a story not unlike those told around campfires at night. The scares are in the themes and situations that the characters face and the fear is in those characters' minds. As with many good horror films, the film is out to scare the characters, not you. Get into their heads and you'll feel it too.
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Journey of a Cursed Man, 25 April 2008 Author: vghb95a from Long Beach, Ca
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
How many curses can a man suffer? Cursed by the sin of his father, and the sin done to his wife, the main character of this film does not have a lot going for him; except, his manly charm that have women falling themselves over for him. That's what this film is about, cursed by love and cursed to be loved.This movie opens like a Japanese fairy tale not unlike the 1964 version of "Kaidan". A tale of greed and murder told in theatrical like black and white film, where a businessman was killed by a samurai over a debt, but before he drawn his last breath, he cursed the samurai's family. Later, when the orphaned samurai's son met the daughter of his father's victim, as if by magic, they fell in love and soon after, fall out of love. The daughter fell ill and before she died, out of jealousy she cursed her lover to suffer the lost of women he loves. The cursed man fled for his life, to another city, another town where once again women fall in love with him and the curses continue.I was surprised that this film is own by Liongate films and didn't saw its U.S. DVD distribution, whereas Takashi Shimizu's "Rinne" or "Reincarnation" did. Perhaps "Kaidan" is too much of an eastern horror film for a western audience. I doubt target audience for horror films in America would be interested in watching a horror movie base in 19th century Japan with samurai and geisha.Kaidan is more of a telling of a love story that involves supernatural elements than just a normal western type of horror story. I found myself drawn into the story of this movie and watched as the cursed man's journey ran its faithful course. Since this movie doesn't have a U.S. release, I have to settle for a blurry VCD version although the English subtitle in the movie is much better than other Japanese VCD movies.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Kaidan, 13 August 2009 Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States
I guess why I thought KAIDAN was such a worthwhile experience is that it seems like a throwback to a bygone era. It concerns Shinkichi, cursed right from birth due to his poor Samurai father's murder of an elderly farmer attempting to collect a debt owe to him. Shinkichi would later become romantically involved with the older daughter of the farmer, and this relationship would link Shinkichi to tragedy for the remainder of his life. On her death bed, his mistress informed Shinkichi that he would never be able to love another woman again..any attempts to do so results in danger for those he involved. But, Shinkichi, returning to Hanyu(..his childhood home before moving to Edo with his uncle after his father and mother's mysterious demises)with a young woman he planned to marry, his life will begin to crumble and despite attaching himself to the daughter of the richest man in the village, misery, suffering, and, eventually, death will greet him in succession.Slow-moving epic from RINGU / DARK WATER director Hideo Nakata, is actually simple in story, but grandly presented. It deals with the sins of a father passed to his son and how fate can align two together which inevitably yields future horror. And, we see how love binds two together, this union never separated even after one of them dies. No matter how hard Shinkichi tries to create a normal life for himself, his past returns to torment him. The symbolic slice on the brow above the left eye, the initial blow his father inflicted on the peaceful man who simply desired what was owe to him. It remains an indelible image passed down throughout Shinkichi's remaining pitiful existence. The mistress remains a vital part of Shinkichi's life and no matter how much he so wishes, he can not escape her presence. His daughter carries the dreaded brow mark and her eyes, always focused on Shinkichi, that he wishes to harm her, as if doing so would force away the mistress' presence. The mistress' ghost often remains close by and we see Shinkichi often stressed and anxious due to the fact that he can not rid himself of her. And, the ending, as his life spirals out of control, that the mistress will successfully retrieve what had been stolen from her in life. The river outside of Hanyu is said to devour the souls of those buried deep within and remains an important part of the movie..it is where the mistress' father was laid to rest, along with the sickle he attempted to defend himself with(..and the sickle returns to actually assist Shinkichi, while the blood-stained weapon also serves as a source of terror for him since he uses it to accidentally murder his potential bride who journeyed alongside him from Edo, defending himself against the mistress who was strangling his throat). Hideo Nakata's film is never overtly violent, mainly at the conclusion as Shinkichi defends himself against a village mob, with lighted torches, seeking his life for the unfortunate harm causes towards innocents inadvertently. I'm pretty sure the final image of a ghost holding a severed head, preciously cradled in her arms, will remain with you after the film is over.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: A decent re-creation of an old-fashioned Japanese ghost story, 9 August 2009 Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY
I have watched a few older Japanese films, like the 1964 Kaidan (Kwaidan), and Onibaba, and I thought that THIS film is a fairly good attempt to re-create the atmosphere & look of that style of film.The story is basically that of a man who has a simple life, but becomes involved with a woman whom he doesn't treat well, because, while she takes care of him, he's also out with a few other women here and there too. Eventually she becomes injured and dies of an infection while he's out sowing his oats, but she did leave him a nice little note that if he ever married, she would return & kill his wife.As the film goes on, the man finds himself in more and more trouble as his former lover has kept her promise. He does marry, he does become a father, but there's something very wrong with the baby, and there's also a matter of someone knowing of his indiscretions elsewhere & seeking to blackmail him. And his former lover's face keeps popping up here and there, but unfortunately for him, it's only in his mind, and it's a bit unnerving when one realizes that they've just strangled the wrong person.Like most ghost stories, this doesn't, of course, have a happy ending.I thought this was a mostly beautiful film, as far as sets and locations, like foggy, murky swamps, beautiful landscapes, etc. Unlike the older ghost stories though, this does have some rather bloody scenes & there's even a bit of CGI tossed in that works for what little is used.I can't get into reading too much into this film, nor comparing it to the works of the great masters, etc, but I do know what appeals to me, & I found this to be a mostly appealing film, although it is rather long. 7 out of 10
11 out of 27 people found the following review useful: I missed Sadako, 5 October 2007 Author: moimoichan6 (moimoichan6@yahoo.fr) from Paris, France
"Kaidan" is a part of a ghost's stories anthology produces by the Japanese master of J-horror Takashige Ichise. Alongside with the great Shimizu's" Reincarnation" and the disappointing Kurosawa's "Retribution", "Kaidan" forms a trilogy that the producer wants as a reflection of the best that Japanese horror movies can offer. Unfortunately, "Kaidan" is the worst of the three movies, and Nataka doesn't manage to create fear as he successfully did in "Dark Water" or in his rightfully most famous movie : "Ring"."Kaidan" is an homage to the classical romantic horror stories that Japanese studios produced in the fifties and sixties. It begins with an elaborated black and white narration, that tells an old samurai/ghost tale in a classical Japanese Kabuki style. But soon after this beautiful introduction, the actual story really starts, ans if almost as if all this introductory sequence had took all the talent of Nakata. It mostly deals with a young itinerant salesman, that convinces an older singing teacher to marry him, in the medieval Japan where such a socially disturbing weeding like this one wasn't easy. When she dies, women easily felt in love with the young boy, whereas his love is doomed by his previous wife...The story is so classical that it becomes boring and predictable. The photography is just plain and gives a televisual look to the movie (whereas Shimizu gave an amazing visual touch to his one), and the direction is quite the same : unoriginal and even sometimes lazy (whereas Kurosawa used a very inventive use of space in in movie, and a very inventive direction). But to me, the worst element of this movie might be the lead actor, Kikunosuke Onoe, who's supposedly a charismatic character in the movie. But he's really got a enormous lack of charisma and never manage to give any credibility or substance to to his character and the story he carries. He's supposedly a master of a old Kabuki technique, but he apparently failed to transpose it on the big screen. Or I may have lacked the culture the subtility of his play required. Anyway, I just found it quite boring, and nearly felt asleep while watching his Kabuki plays. All in all, "J-Horror" isn't a really good introduction to the Japanese modern ghosts movies. If the directors are all good, their works here look a lot like a repetition of their previous movies, that were far better. So Shimizu's "Grudge", Kurosawa's "Kairo" and Nakata's "Ring" still stay the best of the Jap'Horror movie collection.
0 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Not a good Japanese horror movie, 5 August 2007 Author: waldrusso from Japan
The best Japanese horror movies are good because of the atmosphere they create. I would say that they are good not because they are frightening, but because of the psychological impact they cause. However, this one was not good in this aspect. The film fails to show the true horror that the main character were passing through. It was quite an ordinary horror film, trying to scare the audience with sudden appearances of spirits and strange creatures. Speaking of which, the visual effects are not very good, which should not be a problem for a true horror movie, since you can create a true atmosphere of horror without using so many visual effects. Just think about great horror Japanese movies such as Onibaba. Also, the characters were not well developed and their interaction was far too simple. The movie tries to focus on both horror and romance, but there is no attempt to make a deeper analysis on the relationship between men and women. However, it is important to highlight that it was successful, as almost all Japanese horror movies, in avoiding the manifest approach of horror used in Hollywood. None of the characters are particularly good or bad. And there is no attempt to moralize, which is common in many Hollywood movies, when there is a clear message that bad things only happen to bad people, so be a good boy and you will have a great life.
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