kaneko Reviews

Absentia (I) (2011)

Slow-burning atmospheric horror

[10/10 · 8 November 2011]

The contemporary horror scene is glutted with tired rehashes of familiar concepts and an over-reliance on quick jump scares, with far too little in the way of character-driven, nuanced, complex storytelling. Absentia is definitely an exception to these low standards.

The core ideas are both original and clever, and, while supernatural and high-concept, they are totally rooted in the characters and their relationships. The human drama is fundamental to, rather than coincidental with, the structure of the narrative. The script even takes the risk of presenting multiple audience-identification characters among its leads, which in less careful hands could run the risk of alienating viewers used to having a single, simple narrative point of view, but the differing perspectives - psychological and emotional - of the two leads are well-balanced and complementary.

There are a couple of effective jump scares early on, but, as the story progresses, the thrust moves entirely to the slow burn, with the carefully maintained atmosphere and psychological implications of the scenario serving as the locus of the horror.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

Words can not describe my love for this movie

[10/10 · 18 July 2002]

Shusuke Kaneko is probably the best director working in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror today (only Peter Jackson comes close), and with GMK he got to fulfill his lifelong dream of directing a Godzilla film. His passion for and knowledge of the genre's classics is constantly in evidence, even as he is surpassing them in style, theme, and characterization. Never has Godzilla himself been so awesomely destructive, nor his monster opponents so sympathetic. Because Kaneko storyboarded the fx scenes as well as the human drama (usually the fx director storyboards his scenes separately), there is a greater visual and emotional consistency to the film than usually occurs in the genre. Only the original Godzilla and Kaneko's own Gamera 3 sit on the top level of genre masterpieces along with GMK.

Moon Over Tao: Makaraga (1997)

Amamiya's best film

[5 April 2001]

Fun fantasy, with a good cast and neat-looking effects. Amamiya keeps things moving along quickly, and has a good balance of dramatic elements with goofy fun stuff. The score is magnificent. Yuko Moriyama is cool, as always, though I wish she were in the movie a little more. Toshiyuki Nagashima is a great, dignified lead. Hiroshi Abe is one of the coolest dudes in cinema today, and it's a pleasure to watch him killing loads of bad guys in efficient ways.

My Soul Is Slashed (1991)

Excellent comedy/horror

[9/10 · 27 February 2001]

A good, loyal company man is killed by the not-so-good company he works for. During the hospital's attempt to save his life, they accidentally give him - whoops! - Count Dracula's blood! A year later, he's back from the dead, trying to right the wrongs of his life, and resisting the urge to become a full-on blood-sucker. This movie is an absolute delight, a fun, loving look at classic horror devices. Kaneko is an excellent director, and this ranks alongside his best films.

Shikoku (1999)

Good, creepy fun

[9/10 · 18 August 2000]

A spooky little movie that moves along at a good pace. Fine performances, not the most chilling thing ever, but eerie and enjoyable. A heavy reliance on hand-held shots makes everything seem very immediate. Oh, and the title is an interesting play on words.

Ringu (1998)

Flat-out the scariest movie ever

[10/10 · 17 July 2000]

Last night, I had a chance to see a beautiful sub-titled 35mm print of "Ring" at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood, and I was in awe. As a long time fan of horror films, I've long since gotten past the point of being particularly scared for the most part, but this movie had me paralyzed and breathless from the first shot through its entire 98 minute run time. I got home and had to sleep with the lights on. This morning, in class, I couldn't concentrate because I could not get "Ring's" haunting images and deeply disturbing ideas out of my mind. It will probably be a long time before I even work up the courage to watch "Ring" a second time, but when I do, I know I'll love it just as much as I did the first time.

"Ring" is full of twists that catch you off guard at every turn (unless you've read some of the spoiler-filled reviews people have posted here), and the twist ending (which fortunately was not revealed by any reviewers here) puts "The Sixth Sense" to shame. I am still running through the movie in my mind, examining how every little element pays off in some very unexpected ways.

Do not watch "Ring" alone. But if you like to be scared, then DO watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Eko Eko Azarak: Misa the Dark Angel (1998)

Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere!

[9/10 · 9 July 2000]

This excellent film is visually very similar to the works of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. It is creepy, and I love the use of the Elder Gods from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. In addition to being involving and genuinely scary, it has that certain undefinable "cool," just the right dynamic camera angles and groovy exaggerated sound effects, a few good blasts of blood, all mixed together in just the right proportions.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1998)

Pure amazement...

[10/10 · 26 September 1999]

This movie took my breath away as no other ever has. I'm sorry most Americans will never get to see this on the big screen, because it's awe-inspiring. Even on video, this film is astounding. Possibly the best special effects movie ever.