The Discarnates
1988·Fantasy·1h 48m
7.1
★
A recently divorced writer is reunited with the ghosts of his parents who died when he was a boy. However, every time he sees them he loses more life energy. Now, he must choose between starting a new life or staying forever in the past.
Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi
ice cream
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Morio Kazama
Hidemi Harada
Kumiko Akiyoshi
Fusako Harada
Tsurutaro Kataoka
Eikichi Harada
Toshiyuki Nagashima
Ichiro Mamiya
Yūko Natori
Kei Fujino
Bengal
Taxi Driver
Takashi Sasano
Dentist
Ryoichi Kusanagi
Asakusa Barker 1
Kenjirou Ishimaru
Script Reading
Yukihiro Takahashi
Script Reading
Yoji Matsuda
Script Reading
Nao Asuka
Female Manager
Crew
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Director
Taichi Yamada
Novel
Kazuo Satsuya
Art Direction
Popular Reviews
11 reviews
Sarah
8.0★ · 09/20/25
Hooptober 12: 4/34
Happy Hooptober!
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As someone who is very much a nostalgic person I can relate to wanting to retreat to memories of the past, and that's the feeling that this film tackles. I really the incorporation of the supernatural here, and I especially love the idea that dwelling in the past starts to make the main character turn into a zombie. I'm not sure if this is an idea that I've seen explored elsewhere.
Criteria met:
zombie film (1/5)
decade- 1980s (3/9)
country other than Italy or the U.S.- Japan (1/6)
Happy Hooptober!
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As someone who is very much a nostalgic person I can relate to wanting to retreat to memories of the past, and that's the feeling that this film tackles. I really the incorporation of the supernatural here, and I especially love the idea that dwelling in the past starts to make the main character turn into a zombie. I'm not sure if this is an idea that I've seen explored elsewhere.
Criteria met:
zombie film (1/5)
decade- 1980s (3/9)
country other than Italy or the U.S.- Japan (1/6)
Hooptober 12: 4/34
Happy Hooptober!
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As someone who is very much a nostalgic person I can relate to wanting to retreat to memories of the past, and that's the feeling that this film tackles. I really the incorporation of the supernatural here, and I especially love the idea that dwelling in the past starts to make the main character turn into a zombie. I'm not sure if this is an idea that I've seen explored elsewhere.
Criteria met:
zombie film (1/5)
decade- 1980s (3/9)
country other than Italy or the U.S.- Japan (1/6)
Happy Hooptober!
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As someone who is very much a nostalgic person I can relate to wanting to retreat to memories of the past, and that's the feeling that this film tackles. I really the incorporation of the supernatural here, and I especially love the idea that dwelling in the past starts to make the main character turn into a zombie. I'm not sure if this is an idea that I've seen explored elsewhere.
Criteria met:
zombie film (1/5)
decade- 1980s (3/9)
country other than Italy or the U.S.- Japan (1/6)
Jay
6.0★ · 02/19/24
It’s always interesting to see different adaptations of the same material. This is based on the book “Strangers” that was recently readapted into “All of Us Strangers”.
I’m surprised at how much is similar. The big changes are the setting, some extra characters, more of Adam’s, in this version Hideo’s work life and the gender of the love interest. He’s also divorced and an estranged father to his child. The horror aspect is amplified, by Hideo becoming zombified the more he spends time with his parents. This freaked me out in AOUS but I like how much further they went with it here, to the point where it reminded me of The Exorcist. But there seems to be less emotional drama in this version. The gay aspect to AOUS really fuels the material. This is not present in this version.
Also, Subtlety doesn’t exist in this version, unlike AOUS. A lot of the story is explained to us in internal monologue instead of implied. And I didn’t like that. And the twist is over explained but I feel like Hideo is given move chance to move on from the Ghosts than Harry, granted it’s a bit overdrawn cheesy climax. But it’s there.
I’m surprised at how much is similar. The big changes are the setting, some extra characters, more of Adam’s, in this version Hideo’s work life and the gender of the love interest. He’s also divorced and an estranged father to his child. The horror aspect is amplified, by Hideo becoming zombified the more he spends time with his parents. This freaked me out in AOUS but I like how much further they went with it here, to the point where it reminded me of The Exorcist. But there seems to be less emotional drama in this version. The gay aspect to AOUS really fuels the material. This is not present in this version.
Also, Subtlety doesn’t exist in this version, unlike AOUS. A lot of the story is explained to us in internal monologue instead of implied. And I didn’t like that. And the twist is over explained but I feel like Hideo is given move chance to move on from the Ghosts than Harry, granted it’s a bit overdrawn cheesy climax. But it’s there.
It’s always interesting to see different adaptations of the same material. This is based on the book “Strangers” that was recently readapted into “All of Us Strangers”.
I’m surprised at how much is similar. The big changes are the setting, some extra characters, more of Adam’s, in this version Hideo’s work life and the gender of the love interest. He’s also divorced and an estranged father to his child. The horror aspect is amplified, by Hideo becoming zombified the more he spends time with his parents. This freaked me out in AOUS but I like how much further they went with it here, to the point where it reminded me of The Exorcist. But there seems to be less emotional drama in this version. The gay aspect to AOUS really fuels the material. This is not present in this version.
Also, Subtlety doesn’t exist in this version, unlike AOUS. A lot of the story is explained to us in internal monologue instead of implied. And I didn’t like that. And the twist is over explained but I feel like Hideo is given move chance to move on from the Ghosts than Harry, granted it’s a bit overdrawn cheesy climax. But it’s there.
I’m surprised at how much is similar. The big changes are the setting, some extra characters, more of Adam’s, in this version Hideo’s work life and the gender of the love interest. He’s also divorced and an estranged father to his child. The horror aspect is amplified, by Hideo becoming zombified the more he spends time with his parents. This freaked me out in AOUS but I like how much further they went with it here, to the point where it reminded me of The Exorcist. But there seems to be less emotional drama in this version. The gay aspect to AOUS really fuels the material. This is not present in this version.
Also, Subtlety doesn’t exist in this version, unlike AOUS. A lot of the story is explained to us in internal monologue instead of implied. And I didn’t like that. And the twist is over explained but I feel like Hideo is given move chance to move on from the Ghosts than Harry, granted it’s a bit overdrawn cheesy climax. But it’s there.
Iby
9.7★ · 03/13/25
Susuhangma
7.0★ · 12/06/24
Susuhangma
6.3★ · 12/05/24