the first 30-35 minutes were more annoying than entertaining. i’m introduced with this annoying interpretation of schizophrenia (not really schizophrenic) where this girl named sarah runs away screaming like she’s in a marathon. but honestly it’s the low amount of context that creates this atmosphere for it to be annoying than intriguing. and the constantly high pitched screaming gets me too.
throughout the film, there’s amazing camera placement. i love how there’s always that one aspect of filmmaking that’s done extremely well working alongside the poorly executed stuff. it’s a charm with a film like this where there’s this sense of professionalism in a fun, cheesy film. some scenes are portrayed as an a-list drama film where there’s some much depth on how subjects are placed in the frame. for over-exaggerated performances, the cinematography really does help flesh out moments of madness and anxiety.
after the first 30-35 minutes of annoyance, this film goes into defcon 1. white people not knowing what a samurai is when they get sliced up by a katana and the last thing they see is this “asian armor shit” with a bright neon blue energy field around it. there’s a sequence where it gets so bizarre with no context, a house starts shifting and shaking and bodies are constantly banging and stomping on the floors and walls. that sequence alone puts tobe hooper’s poltergeist to shame with how insane and full of urgency it is.
i’m not gonna lie this is probably the first time a low budget horror film (let alone a christmas horror) has actually kinda scared me. that samurai popping out of nowhere and it suddenly in front of the camera lens has to be some ptsd-inducing shit. and i’m gonna be scared to hide behind doors because i don’t know if a katana is gonna pierce right through it or not. and every time the samurai makes a kill, sarah has a orgasm which is the most shockingly hilarious thing ever. with how random the inclusion of a samurai is in this film, it’s a perfectly executed unbeknownst horror.
but then the film gets even better when they lightly include the relevance of ww2, making the randomness have meaning. the mother and sarah weirdly have these spiritual connection to something unknown. but then it’s revealed that sarah is the embodiment of the tragedies that fell upon japan due to its government’s ignorance. and the mother is the united states giving the consequence to japan after their disturbed peace. it basically turns into a sci-fi horror version of casablanca.
i was gonna give this film a 3.5 but as i kept watching it just got better and better. with how sensical the absurdity is and the way it flows into its own storyline just gets me. and i started loving it a lot more.
the first 30-35 minutes were more annoying than entertaining. i’m introduced with this annoying interpretation of schizophrenia (not really schizophrenic) where this girl named sarah runs away screaming like she’s in a marathon. but honestly it’s the low amount of context that creates this atmosphere for it to be annoying than intriguing. and the constantly high pitched screaming gets me too.
throughout the film, there’s amazing camera placement. i love how there’s always that one aspect of filmmaking that’s done extremely well working alongside the poorly executed stuff. it’s a charm with a film like this where there’s this sense of professionalism in a fun, cheesy film. some scenes are portrayed as an a-list drama film where there’s some much depth on how subjects are placed in the frame. for over-exaggerated performances, the cinematography really does help flesh out moments of madness and anxiety.
after the first 30-35 minutes of annoyance, this film goes into defcon 1. white people not knowing what a samurai is when they get sliced up by a katana and the last thing they see is this “asian armor shit” with a bright neon blue energy field around it. there’s a sequence where it gets so bizarre with no context, a house starts shifting and shaking and bodies are constantly banging and stomping on the floors and walls. that sequence alone puts tobe hooper’s poltergeist to shame with how insane and full of urgency it is.
i’m not gonna lie this is probably the first time a low budget horror film (let alone a christmas horror) has actually kinda scared me. that samurai popping out of nowhere and it suddenly in front of the camera lens has to be some ptsd-inducing shit. and i’m gonna be scared to hide behind doors because i don’t know if a katana is gonna pierce right through it or not. and every time the samurai makes a kill, sarah has a orgasm which is the most shockingly hilarious thing ever. with how random the inclusion of a samurai is in this film, it’s a perfectly executed unbeknownst horror.
but then the film gets even better when they lightly include the relevance of ww2, making the randomness have meaning. the mother and sarah weirdly have these spiritual connection to something unknown. but then it’s revealed that sarah is the embodiment of the tragedies that fell upon japan due to its government’s ignorance. and the mother is the united states giving the consequence to japan after their disturbed peace. it basically turns into a sci-fi horror version of casablanca.
i was gonna give this film a 3.5 but as i kept watching it just got better and better. with how sensical the absurdity is and the way it flows into its own storyline just gets me. and i started loving it a lot more.
