Product Details

• Actors: Asami Mizukawa
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Genius Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 25, 2005
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AM4PGS
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,523 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #37 in	Movies & TV > Horror > J-Horror
  #43 in	Movies & TV > Horror > Asian Horror

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"COMMEMORATION DAY" (MEINICHI) Cast: Sayaka Yamaguchi ("Tolmie", TV drama: "100 Year Story"), Asami Mizukawa ("Dark Water","Go") Length: 40 minutes (approx.) Synopsis: "Maybe father was right. Maybe we should not have moved into that house." Shortly after the death of her boyfriend in an accident, Minako's father is transferred to a new city for work and her family must leave Tokyo. She is heartbroken and in a state of depression and denial. When Minako falls in love with a house, her father cannot refuse. After they move in, they start to discover typical problems; the house is old, a little damp and creaky. But it also seems to house the ghost of a young girl, "Kato", who wanders around upstairs on crutches night after night. Yukio, the younger of the two sisters, keeps insisting for Minako's sake, that it is only their imagination. But soon everything becomes clearer and things start happening that send shudders up their spines. "CRUEL KIDNAPPING" Cast: Tohru Masuoka ("Night Escape Company", "My Neighborhood the Yamadas"), Renji Ishibashi ("TRICK", "The Black House") Synopsis: Toshio Kamijo (Tohru Masuoka) is a 42 year-old businessman whose real estate company has taken a downturn. Though he has sold off some of his assets, he is still struggling. To make matters worse, he receives a ransom letter indicating that his daughter, Mamitan, has been kidnapped. Blaming his wife, he opts not to call the police and instead goes from one bank to the next trying to accumulate funds. As a last resort, he goes to visit an acquaintance, Gotoda (Renji Ishibashi), hoping that he may have some sympathy and loan him the money. When he arrives, there is a cute little baby much like his Mamitan. In a weird turn of events, the panic-stricken Kamijo suddenly decides to kidnap Gotoda's grandchild. He sends him the same ransom letter and demand for the money. "THE DESIRE TO KILL ANYONE THAT PASSES" Cast: Mayumi Wakamura ("Embraced by the Winds of Firenze", "JUBAKU-Spellbound"), Takaoka Sousuke, Yuki Kazamatsuri Synopsis: On a rainy night when Rie's (Mayumi Wakamura) husband is away, a murderer (Sousuke Takaoka) comes to the house. Trembling for fear of what may happen to her and her children, she desperately tries to convince the man to leave. The plot unfolds in a closed room and the tension builds as Rie must find a way to escape.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars New directors! Get to know 'em!, May 12, 2006

By	Shaun "Walkwalkfast" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

A collection of 3 short Japanese Horror films. Volume 1 DVD of a Region 1, 3-part series from Global Fright Cinema and Kadokawa Pictures.

Meinichi
d. Tomoyuki Akashi
40 min.

A good-looking family of four approaches their new house and is met by a family friend (or maybe the real estate agent?). Everyone seems happy to be moving into the new house, which will be a welcome breathe of fresh air from the hectic Tokyo home they left. But the main reason seems to be for the benefit of one of the family's two daughter health. That daughter, Minako, had a complete breakdown after her boyfriend is killed, and seems to wonder through life in some sort of comatose, hazy daze. With a twisted grin. Her sister, Yukio (Asami Mizukawa; Dark Water, Shibuya Kaidan), begs her sister to go on with her life but the morose Minako is visited by the ghost of a young girl who used to live in that house. What stands out immediately, from the first images that appear, is the camerawork. Most of the shots are in frame, but the ones that aren't are badly out. The action and the actors are shot far too close also. That's not saying the video is poor, on the contrary, the definition is crystal clear; so much so that I felt as if I could reach right into the movie to grab a banister or push a door open. Those positive attributes aren't nearly enough to save this amateur escapade. I'll try not to mention that almost nothing is explained in this "episode" and only the most superficial motives are apparent. Combine that with lack-luster, cheesy special effects, and you have an almost entirely forgettable experience.


Cruel Kidnapping
d. Tomoyuki Akashi
32 min.

Laughably bad in every way. A dim-witted, bumbling, former big-shot money-man gets himself embroiled in a kidnapping plot that involves not only his own child, but the child of a well-to-do acquaintance. In order to get his baby back safely, he must come up with 30 million Yen (just over $250,000 US & $300,000 CAN). But his "brilliant", spur-of-the-moment strategy to find the funds puts him into a very bad position. The story is easy enough to follow, although it's barely worth doing so. A few comical scenes and takes from the Toshio character.


Desire to Kill
d. Kenji Nakanishi
33 min

The best of the three in this volume. It follows a middle-aged woman, Rei, who lives in a cramped apartment building. Her immediate next-door neighbor is constantly lording over the other tenants and poking her nose into their lives; seemingly waiting for the other tenants to do something "wrong" or hounding them inexplicably. One day, Rei refuses to throw out a bag of trash because her old, bitter neighbor is seen rifling through people trash. She wants to time the service pick-up just right so she can avoid the old lady's interest. Alone at home, (her husband is out of town on business), she grabs an umbrella and rushes into the stormy night to pitch her garbage and gets pushed back into the apartment by a dark stranger, no sooner had she opened the door. With just her sleeping son with her, she has to make it through a tense night with a young man who has killed once already that night. A fairly good "episode", all told, but suffers from the same level of tedium as the previous two "episodes". It's only redeeming element is the hint of a genuine story and a mild Twightlight Zone -ish ending.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but..., September 16, 2007

By	Desirae Vaccaro "omega-rose" (SLC, UT) - See all my reviews

The first story was good, even though the acting sucked. The second one, I had no idea what it had to do with horror. It was about a guy whose daughter was kidnapped and demanded 30,000 yen. Then he kidnapped his friend's kid and pretended to be the kidnapper, demanding 50,000 yen. He abandoned the child at a child's center, run by nuns. When they returned for the child, the nuns told him that the child had passed away due to pneumonia. The third story was my favorite. I would recommend this to people who enjoy Japanese films, only because of the third story.