Customer Reviews

Ghost Train

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

GHOST TRAIN (aka: Otoshimono, Lost Property) is the latest installment in Japanese horror. Director Takeshi Furusawa obviously has watched and has been inspired by a lot of J-horror films, it shows in this movie, the usual formulas are present in its sequences: a complicated backstory, scares that make you jump, the usual creepy music, a vengeful longed-haired ghost and a child ghost in makeup.

Synopsis partially derived from back cover:
"Whoever picks up this railway pass will die".
High school girl Nana(Erika Sawagiri) thought her life was complicated enough. Her graduation is looming, her ailing mother is in the hospital, and her sister Noriko is in a constant need of attention. But, the train ride between all her responsibilities will prove to be the most horrifying part of her day. Somewhere, deep underground in the tunnel near Mizunahsi Station, a dark spirit yearns for revenge. One by one, people begin to mysteriously disappear. Eventually, Nana's own sister falls prey to the wicked tracks. Together with her friend Kanae(Chinatsu Wakatsuki), they now take one more trip into the supernatural and confront the sinister and malevolent force haunting below the depths. Together they must uncover the truth, but terror awaits them as the hand of death comes ever closer.

Although Ghost Train may be considered a typical J-horror flick, taking gimmicks from more popular Japanese Horror films,(Ringu, Ju-on, Kairo, One Missed call) it does have its redeeming moments. Furusawa has spent a lot of time as an assistant to Kiyoshi Kurosawa(Pulse aka: Kairo), so his skill for intense thrills have been developed. Furusawa's skill in direction shows--1)A very cool sequence where the camera builds tension by focusing on Nana in a dark apartment while the viewers are aware that the ghost is the same room, 2)editing is very creative during the scene of Kanae's possessed boyfriend, and 3) the killer third-act sequence that involves a huge rocky mound that the main character must climb, whereupon the "rocks" reveal themselves to be corpses and she must flee, the corpses chasing her in a ghoulish wave of crawling physical distortion along the abandoned railway tunnels. These types of creative techniques assist the filmmakers in concealing the film's faults. Sometimes it seemed like Furusawa and the co-writer Erika Tanaka take the plot so seriously, that the heavy-handed direction (at times) seem to be draining all the fun out of the film.

To the film's credit, the supposed mystery at its core is much more complicated than it is when it was first suggested. Also, the film's main characters, Kanae and Nana's friendship, is actually quite effective. Chinatsu and Sawajiri make a cute and charming team of ghost hunters; that likeability makes them easier to connect with, although their acting skills are somewhat lacking.

I saw the region-3 release of this film that clocks in at 92 minutes. I try to avoid watching highly edited U.S. releases(not to say that this film's U.S. version will be cut). I read that the U.S. release(7/17/07) will be letterboxed with 2.0 Surround, still, its specs may change.
PICTURE: Anamorphic Widescreen. Video transfer is very clean and sharp, colors are good, and black levels are detailed.
AUDIO: Japanese 6.1 Dolby Digital/DTS-ES. The sound is very powerful and crisp. Subtitles are in English and Chinese. The English Subs are very good and well-timed.
In Closing: Ghost Train is not at all unique, it is a typical Japanese horror film. It relies heavily on creepy imagery and situational atmosphere inspired by other Japanese horror blockbusters. Attempts to steal from such a strongly influential tradition are to be expected nor a big turn-off--since these may lead to blockbusters. However, in my opinion, Ghost Train is average, It delivers a decent plot and a good number creepy/scary moments, but it offers the same tired gimmicks from all the other horror films that comes out from Japan.
Rental (3 stars)

the movie ghost train is a very interesting movie,beacuse the innocent victims in the movie has no ideas what is
going to happen to them when they arrive to take the train.

It's amazing what one can find in a subway tunnel, or the evil that lurks there. This was a surprize for me. I was looking over the imports and thought the title sounded interesting. Yes, it is. With out giving too much away, this is a good ghost story, told only like the Japanese can tell it. I'm sure, there's some American company shooting their version now, but see this before the remake.

OTOSHIMONO is not the greatest ghost story ever made (nor does it claim to be), but it certainly creates an interesting setting for a ghost story. It's effective in it's pace (not too slow, not to fast), but fails to scare in some areas while effectively creeping you out in others.

This is a rather tame Japanese horror flick. That shows us nothing we haven't already seen from other Japanese horror movies like the Ring and Grudge.

...the movie has very bad acting and directing. (Warning, might contain spoilers)

1. When the mom reached down for her son, usually we would have this scene in a more dramatic view where the mom bursts out crying and holds the kid against her and finds something weird, holds him back a bit, and finds the surprise.

2. The girl and the bracelet. Whoever heard of trying to break a metal bracelet by taking a long nose pliers and trying to squeeze it apart? Common sense would say use the edge specifically used to cut wires or use a wire cutter to snap it in two. Watch this movie and you'll see what I mean.

3. The scene where X is under the train....nice try but badly executed and therefore fails big time.

4. The scene where the guy finds a bunch of pictures in his friend's locker and then his friend comes in and pushes him aside and so on. Flaws, flaws, and more flaws. The acting and directing was nothing short of horrific and leaves a bit frown of dismay on my face.

5. The characters are not built strongly enough and therefore does not help the viewer form a bond with the people that they see. They all have very weak and mediocre lines combined with weak acting. The emotional scenes are just pathetic! It makes me want to laugh more than anything. I'm reading subs btw so maybe it's also some translation problems? Sub reads fine for me, 99% of the time.




This movie could have been MUCH scarier....MUCH. It has its jumpy moments of fun, but to know the potential is never met makes the viewer, myself, very disappointed and unsatisfied. It is a alright movie if you wanna pass the time. I loved the ending transition to credits. It's a mildly entertaining movie.