Japanese horror. Say those two words to any self-respecting horror fan, and you're likely to get an emotional reaction - extremely positive or extremely negative, with no middle ground. To be sure, there are plenty of fans on the other side of the fence from yours truly. Google some reviews of J-horror classics, like "Ju-On" and "Ringu," you're likely to find more than a few auteurs who are very fond of words like "slow" and "plodding." To them, the deliberate and sure-handed pace of Japanese horror films is viewed as the cinematic equivalent of the Bubonic plague. It seems that we, as American movie watchers, are accustomed to the Michael Bay school of film - namely, there better be something flashy or loud happening, and it better be happening RIGHT DAMN NOW. As such, these reviews reflect that expectation.As you can no doubt ascertain, I fit into the former camp. Joe Bob Briggs was the driving force that introduced me to horror films, meaning that I watched a lot of slasher and monster movies as a teenager. And yeah, those are all well and good for about ten years...but after that, I wanted something more. Something DIFFERENT. Japanese horror movies are extremely different from those in the great, grand US of A. For starters, many of the best-known villains in J-horror are FEMALE, which is something extremely rare in and of itself in American movies. The concept of the "Onryo ghost" is one with a long folkloric tradition in Japan, much like the urban legend is here in the States that gave rise to the masked killer and the teenage slasher film. More than anything else, however, Japanese horror films are much more inclined to focus on the creation of MOOD. You might not get the money shots that you get in a U.S. horror film, but you will most definitely wind up with some stuff that gets you conjuring up things in your own subconscious that creeps you the f**k out.
Put simply, I enjoy American and Japanese horror films equally...but if you're like I was three years ago, a hardcore slasher and serial killer movie fan who was looking for something, ANYTHING different to break me out of the nonstop parade of fornicating teens and artfully-created gore scenes, give Japanese horror a shot. The focus on character, leisurely pace, and emotional resonance should be the breath of fresh air that you need. And while there are movies from the land of the rising sun that I enjoy more than "Tomie," this is a movie that serves as a good introduction to the genre of J-horror, with the title character serving as one of the "unholy trinity" of female Japanese horror villains, along with Sadako Yamamura of "Ringu" fame and Kayako Saeki of the "Ju-On" films.
Tomie Kawakami is a very beloved character in the Pacific Rim. It was introduced by writer Junji Ito in an insanely popular series of Manga comic books all focused around one theme - a title character who cannot die. In Tomie, Ito struck gold. It is never spelled out exactly for us just WHAT Tomie is. All we know is the reaction that she inspires in those around her. Every male she comes across falls in love with the beautiful vixen, while every female becomes pathologically jealous of her. Invariably, those around her begin a very disturbing trend - murdering the girl of their dreams/source of their envy, only, like the proverbial cat who came back the very next day, Tomie soon regenerates and resurfaces in the person's life, slowly driving them insane. This notion of a girl who could not die really struck a chord, and with kids in Tokyo lapping this s**t up, it seemed like only a matter of time before this strange mix of a seductress and demon made its way to the big screen.
"Tomie" is the first film in a LONG series, although, much like Takashi Shimizu's benchmark "Ju-On/Grudge" series, we've gotten absolutely peppered with a bevy of films in a short span of time (eight films in eight years). Although unlike Takako Fuji's dynasty playing Kayako, we've had a different actress playing Tomie in each and every film. The series goes through some definitive peaks and valleys, and Takashi "Everything I Touch Turns to Gold" Shimizu himself directing one of the sequels. Despite Shimizu-san's "Tomie: Re-birth" being technically the best film of the bunch, my heart stays with the original movie. It's got the best balance between creepy, realistic stuff, and flat out-there fantasy, and remains the definitive Tomie film.
This movie follows Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura), a young student with amnesia. While she is living a normal life in the present day with her live-in boyfriend, her entire life from her high school graduation backward is a blank. Tsukiko is attempting to reclaim the memories with the help of her psychologist, who, in a GREAT early scene, is grilled by a fierce, hot-tempered Detective (Tomorowo Taguchi) who tells the psychiatrist about countless deaths linked to the name "Tomie Kawakami." Of course, since "Tomie" is the name of this movie, we can guess that Tsukiko's amnesia is linked to Tomie in some way, which is only confounded by some of the other strangeness going on within this story.
Like the strange man who has just moved in below Tsukiko. Carrying a box, and looking like a goddamned serial killer, this guy instantly creeps us out from the moment we see him. Whatever is inside that box is something truly monstrous, as we see him feeding it bugs, talking to it as if it is a human being, and being...entirely too nurturing of the godforsaken devil box. What's inside, of course, is the head of Tomie Kawakami, the victim of apartment renter from hell, who is now nursing his beloved Tomie back to health. And she has already begun to regenerate her body. As it turns out, the location of the apartment isn't an accident, either...
As you can see from those above two paragraphs, there are a lot of subplots in "Tomie." Director Ataru Oikawa pays each one with the respect it deserves, as we see the Detective's obsessive search for Tomie that may belie some kind of death wish, the philandering adventures of Tsukiko's cheating boyfriend, the regeneration of Tomie - who, by the way, is masterfully played in this first go-round by Miho Kanno, and ranks as the second best Tomie in the entire series behind Miki Sakai's version of the character in "Tomie: Re-birth" - and her seduction of the aforementioned cheating boyfriend, and the recovery of Tsukiko's memories. Tsukiko's back story with Tomie is saved as the final revelation of the movie, in a long, drawn-out monologue delivered from Kanno to Nakamura, and it's in this scene where Kanno earns her keep as "one of the two best Tomies." She may be a soul stripper, she may be a demon, but dammit, we feel sorry for her that her friends betray her and kill her. As such, the final twenty minutes of "Tomie" are some very electric stuff; there's some good gore, a few timely surprises, and an EXTREMELY disquieting scene where the headless body of Tomie exits its grave and eerily walks toward Tsukiko, who was in the act of burying her former friend.
Reading this review, you've probably decided if "Tomie" is for you or not. To be sure, this ain't a horror movie for everybody. You won't find much in the way of out-there murder set pieces, fornicating teens (although there is some nudity; Tsukiko has a hot model friend who serves as one of Cheating Boyfriend's conquests, and she is SSSSSMOKIN') or by-the-numbers plot. If you're like me, however, and appreciate a good, solid build to every character, an attention to the importance of dialogue in advancing a story, and the craft of building a mystique and mysticism to a main villain character before it FINALLY makes its unexpurgated appearance, you won't be disappointed by "Tomie." In fact, you might even be tempted to seek out the rest of the series on Amazon.com, where a box set of the first five films is readily available for the price of a McDonald's value meal.
One final word - in a day and age in which we J-horror fans immediately have the sinking feeling that ANY film we enjoy from across the Pond is going to be remade here in the States, I believe that this is a movie that is virtually remake-proof. It has absolutely no commercial opportunity here in the States, and movie executives realize that...so rest easy, fellow fans of the original versions of "Shutter" and "A Tale of Two Sisters" who feared the same fate for Ms. Kawakami. It ain't happenin' anytime soon.
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