Product Details

• Actors: Kozue Ayuse, Hyoei Enoki, Makiko Fujii, Yuriko Hiro'oka, Seiko Itô
• Directors: Toshiharu Ikeda
• Writers: Masaya Ozaki, Nanaeko Sasaya, Setsu Yamaguchi
• Producers: Masami Kubota, Mitsuru Kurosawa, Yoshihiro Yuhki, Yoshihisa Nakagawa
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Adness
• DVD Release Date: June 28, 2005
• Run Time: 117 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00080EV9S
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,791 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Art House & International > Asian Cinema > Japan > Horror

• For more information about "Shadow of the Wraith" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

J-horror fans and curiosity seekers may walk away slightly disappointed by this ho-hum entry by prolific Japanese director Toshiharu Ikeda. Drenched in straight-to-video atmosphere featuring doppelgangers, walking backwards in slow-motion, and lots and lots of echoing dripping water, Shadow of the Wraith is told in two very loosely conjoined parts. Part 1 involves a mysterious enigmatic beauty (Asaji ) who's in love with Yoshino, the cutest, most popular boy in school (oh, he's also in a boy band). There's only one problem; he already has a girlfriend. Strange things start to happen as Asaji forces her way into Yoshino's life with supernatural effortlessness. Well, you can guess what lays ahead, a little dab of Carrie, just a splash of Fatal Attraction. The second portion of the movie is slightly more interesting, involving a haunted apartment building linked to a mystery of the past.

The entire movie lacks coherency and is rather nonsensical, essentially low-grade horror that doesn't offer anything new in the way of thrills or chills. Still, there's enough spooky moodiness to keep things interesting, and a few decent scares. Fans seeking to "take it to the next level" should check out Ikeda's Evil Dead Trap, a violent cult classic and a must-see for any horror aficionado. --Matt Wold

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Psychologically Scary, June 29, 2005

By	Mysterium (State of Denial) - See all my reviews

It was my extreme luck to stumble upon this charming work of sticky horror only the other day. Although Japan is well known for it's clever, sometimes gut-wrenching horror, Toshiharu Ikeda stands out above the status quo, especially in his latest skein of scares, "Shadow of the Wraith".

This movie is made special in that it cleverly appeals to a young adult audience, yet it avoids using gore to do it (utilizing only three blood scenes throughout the entirety of the film). Rather, the younger crowd is attracted by the two male leads who (aside from being aesthetically pleasing) are also members of a famous pop duo from japan. However, for those unfamiliar with Doggy Bag, Ikeda has another draw for die-hard psychological horror fans.

Ikeda cleverly draws on inherent fears and discomforts that plague all genders from childhood into their adult years throughout the film's two parts. In the first, he cruelly preys upon the adolescent insecurities surrounding relationships and the failures that may or may not be associated with them. In the second part, Ikeda illustrates the childhood fear of dark, unknown spaces (closets), especially when they are found in a new home.

Overall, Ikeda cleverly frightens audiences by creating stories based on his viewers' deepest childhood fears and the perpetuating insecurities of adolescence.

This film is recommended for horror fans over the age of 16 due to violence in part one and themes of terror.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Did anyone get the license of that VEHICLE?!?!?, May 12, 2006

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

Ikisudama is a pair of supernatural thrillers told in two seperate parts...go figure ay? Part One takes place in one of the many fine Japanese schools that Asian horror fans have come to recognize, and by now, may be able to recognize on sight. It begins as Ryoji and Mariko, a pair of high school 'lovers' get to know each other in a vacant gymnasium. When, during class, another student, Asaji, mistakes an act of kindness from Ryoji as as some sort of declaration of love and begins to follow/stalk Ryoji around school. Asaji's behavior quickly extends beyond the walls of their school. Ryoji becomes suspicious of Asaji's intentions and it doesn't take very much longer for Mariko (Ryoji's girlfriend) to join that club. But as they say, two's company and three's a crowd, but Asaji is not the type to take a hint.

The second story is a loose continuation of the first story involving Ryoji's brother and band-mate Kazuhiko, who moves into their older sister and husband's apartment. Someone else is also moving into Kazuhiko's building; a young girl named Naoko. They briefly meet outside the building as he is in the courtyard taking photos. She and Kazuhiko find themselves in the same school and the same class where she tells her class the story of her old neighborhood where a curse had consumed family after family on her street, and Kazuhiko warns her that there are similar event taking place in apartments that share the number 5. Naoko has moved into Apartment 505.

***

Shadow of the Wraith does happen in two loosely connected parts with two seperate titles; Part One: Shadow of the Wraith, and Part Two: The Hollow Stone. The director obviously favored a two-part system rather than integrating the stories into a single story. Why? Only he may know. The stories might've been more compelling as one. There's seemingly little or no time issues to prevent this other than they needed a separate story for the other "star". The juxtaposition of the two story-lines would have most assuredly held my interest better.

Ikisudama plays like the candy-coated thrillers of yesterday such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and so many other tame MTV-style suspense films. Style over substance. With a partial reprieve for The Hollow Stone 'episode', as it was the more actualized and convincing of the two. Part One plays more like a Twilight Zone episode, but not a classic Rod Serling episode; more like one of the new Forest Whittaker hosted, remade, regurgitated episodes with today's "stars". Or more precisely, like Fatal Attraction. I think I rolled my eyes so many times that it must've looked as if I just hopped off of The Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags! Low budget special effects, manufactured and transparent suspense aside, the final nail in the coffin for Part 1 was the cheesy pop song that robbed the music from 'I Only Want To Be With You' as we get a look at the JPop any-band Marshall Law, which in real life is an actual brother-brother duo known as Doggy Bag. Who by the way, get top billing in the end credits and individual, widely spaced mentions. Something their agent(s) probably insisted on.

This movie was clearly a vehicle for the duo. There's very little positive about Ikisudama other than one short, tense scene in Part One and the premise in Part Two is interesting but not fulfilling. Horror fans will want to see it just to see it, but they shouldn't expect anything new or exciting. Or maybe just pass on it all together.

4.0 out of 5 stars Argento Saves The Day for This Director, April 2, 2006

By	Dancing Ganesha "Dancing Ganesha" (Northern Hemisphere) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Obviousely influenced by Dario Argento, the director's imaginative camera work and stylistics were wasted on the trite subject matter of this teen-horror flick. Nevertheless, the performance by actress Hitomi Miwa (from the original "Ju-On") is quite spooky and helps the first segment of this film immensely. As the striking Asaji, she virtually runs circles around the girls vying for the attention of the coveted "teen dream" at school, making you wonder what he sees in them in the first place.

The second part of this film is actually much more chilling in story content. The strong influence of "Suspiria" is evident throughout, especially in the day-glo colours, the atmospherics (even the soundtrack is Goblinesque), and that interesting scene in the apartment when the apartment itself assaults the protagonist a la Jessica Harper. I am grateful for that, and happy to see that Argento's works have done some good in the international world of film after all. For those not familiar with Argento's work, his films are very surreal and mesmerizing, and "Shadow of The Wraith" is actually quite surreal in various instances (except the "rock concert"
scene, which was saccharine and silly).

All in all, not a *great* film per se, but good enough to watch more than once. I would recommend it only if you are a fan of obscure Asian horror or Argento.