6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A movie so bad it puts Frankenfish to shame., October 18, 2005
This review is from: Marronnier (DVD)
I rented Marroiner because I loved Uzumaki, and thought Junji Ito couldn't do me wrong. Boy, howdy! I'll be writing him a letter.
The plot goes SOMETHING (although I'm having trouble piecing it together even after seeing it) like this:
The young star is a girl obsessed with marronier dolls. She lives with her brother and wishes she could be just like her dolls. She got her first one, under strange circumstances, when a mysterious stalker gave it to her many years before. But, when she starts getting followed by this creep, she starts to think he is watching her, through her dolls eyes! The guy starts killing people, and making them into dolls, with the help of a famed dollmaker and his machine that waxes people and makes them dolls. Kind of like house of wax. But, this one jumps all over. First he kidnaps the main girl, then her brother and friend come to rescue her... I'm not even sure why exactly they don't just call the police. But, after everyone around her is turned into dolls, and even the dolls in his underground dungeon come to life, she'll have to stand against this weirdo and give him what he deserves.
Do you like movies that are actually scary? Or, are you like me, into terrible horrors. If the latter, get this. I give it one star for comedy, half for Junji ito, and another half for features. It contains deleted scenes, which are just shots taken from different angles, and extra bits of scenes in the movie. Next is a featurette that includes shots of the actresses dressed like the dolls, and the dolls themselves. And interview with the director and producer, that really were the best part.
And last, the weirdest part of the whole thing. It's called the 'Legend of Marronier'. It is a short featuring the puppets from the movie, and was so bizzare I had to show everyone I could just to see their reactions. It show the puppets dancing around, when the main marronier puppet who is cracked in the movie flying around, shooting lightning from its cracked eye. Picture the decapitated doll head shooting lightning. Then the other dolls SQUEEK for help. A close up of a prop castle. Inside, two naked female dolls are making out, when they hear the call. The dress in a magical poof and fly out the top of the castle. The use their lesbian power to subdue the head, and it joins its body, calmed and apparently good again. All I could think was, 'huh?'
I got a good laugh, and maybe one creeped out moment. But nothing makes this movie scary. Watch The Eye, Audition, High Tension or any other good foreign horror or suspense. But please, only see this if your having a Mystery Science Theater night at your house!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Marronnier--the DULL Doll movie, September 25, 2005
This review is from: Marronnier (DVD)
I'm a BIG fan of Japanese horror, and I have a fascination with possessed doll movies. So I thought this would be a gem containing both elements. WRONG!!! On the plus side it has a few nice gore scenes, but nothing I have not seen before.
Story: It's the kind of movie you can't make heads or tails over. It's very very disjointed, *CONFUSING* and, in my humble opinion, does not even follow a definite plot other than some guy turning young women into dolls??? To me it seemed like a disjointed mess, and it really made me wonder how on earth it got through the sludgepile of manuscripts that should have, I think, been rejected.
I got very bored with the movie, and I cannot keep myself awake to see the rest of it after two tries. It's VERY BORING, and a lot of scenes outright, i think, stupid.
It honestly gave me the impression that it was directed by a 10 year old child: It made no sense whatsoever.
I rented it and, well, I lost $4.00. The cover looks good, and it even laughingly warned "don't watch this alone"...well, let me assure you...you can watch it alone and is a good cure for insomnia. I thought it was a TERRIBLE movie. That's pretty bad that it puts me to sleep with every attempt I made to watch it!
DULL DULL DULL
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
WTF?, June 24, 2006
This review is from: Marronnier (DVD)
I rented this because the box looked creepy (there's just something about dolls, man) and because Junji Ito's name was on it. Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be a weird little mammajamma of a stalker/slasher/superhero(yes, superhero)/possession(?) movie. Actually the creepiest part, for me, was where the psycho stalker imitated how the heroine brushes her teeth.
This gets one star for originality and another for its sheer gonzo approach (apparently the director has seen Evil Dead 2 and, if he hasn't, that's a mighty fine coincidence).
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