Tomie: Replay

Now that’s more like it!

This is the movie I was missing when I tried to marathon this series previously, and was bummed because whenever I watched these movies years ago I remember this being my favorite of the bunch. I don’t think I’ve even seen in since those days, not even in the 2010s!

Glad to say this held up for me! While the previous two movies had some horror elements they also felt more drama heavy. Replay is a straight up body horror! Better paced, better characters, a beautifully haunting score (even the stingers stand out!) and more importantly it embraces the weirdness of Junji Ito! Hell the movie opens up with a girl growing Tomie’s head in her stomach! And Tomie regrowing her head! Just a few examples that stood out!

Gotta say Mai Hosho was a great choice to play the title character. She is not only very beautiful but plays the seductive side of Tomie very well. I might fall under her spell if I met her not gonna lie!

While being let down by the first two, this showed me why I was excited to revisit this series and I’m on board to continue!

Now that’s more like it!

This is the movie I was missing when I tried to marathon this series previously, and was bummed because whenever I watched these movies years ago I remember this being my favorite of the bunch. I don’t think I’ve even seen in since those days, not even in the 2010s!

Glad to say this held up for me! While the previous two movies had some horror elements they also felt more drama heavy. Replay is a straight up body horror! Better paced, better characters, a beautifully haunting score (even the stingers stand out!) and more importantly it embraces the weirdness of Junji Ito! Hell the movie opens up with a girl growing Tomie’s head in her stomach! And Tomie regrowing her head! Just a few examples that stood out!

Gotta say Mai Hosho was a great choice to play the title character. She is not only very beautiful but plays the seductive side of Tomie very well. I might fall under her spell if I met her not gonna lie!

While being let down by the first two, this showed me why I was excited to revisit this series and I’m on board to continue!

Part of the Hooptober challenge

Despite containing more of the gruesome horror that's more prevalent in the later films while attempting to retain the quiet introspection of the first, Tomie: Replay is just boring. Replay's attempt at the same powerful silence and emptiness of the first film comes off as weak imitation that comes off more as disinterest or accidental. This film still retains some nice shot composition, but does that really matter when the whole film is totally lifeless. Even Tomie, the malevolent seductress with the maturity of a high schooler, is reduced to a hollow version of herself. The only sparks of true horror is when the obsession and fear that made Tomie creator Junji Ito so revered surfaces in the form of journal entries and survivors of Tomie's influence, but Tomie: Replay suffers too much from focusing on the backstory, lore, and biology of Tomie. This, in effect, makes the film excessively exposition driven and not really enjoyable to watch, even at its climax.

Part of the Hooptober challenge

Despite containing more of the gruesome horror that's more prevalent in the later films while attempting to retain the quiet introspection of the first, Tomie: Replay is just boring. Replay's attempt at the same powerful silence and emptiness of the first film comes off as weak imitation that comes off more as disinterest or accidental. This film still retains some nice shot composition, but does that really matter when the whole film is totally lifeless. Even Tomie, the malevolent seductress with the maturity of a high schooler, is reduced to a hollow version of herself. The only sparks of true horror is when the obsession and fear that made Tomie creator Junji Ito so revered surfaces in the form of journal entries and survivors of Tomie's influence, but Tomie: Replay suffers too much from focusing on the backstory, lore, and biology of Tomie. This, in effect, makes the film excessively exposition driven and not really enjoyable to watch, even at its climax.