News
Fantasia 2019: ‘Sadako’ is an Underwhelming Entry in the Ringu Franchise
As another entry into the Ringu franchise, Sadako tells a rather lackluster tale burdened with side stories and shallow mysteries. Emphasizing the “slow” portion of a slow burn, the story meanders without a strong sense of direction. It follows the breadcrumbs of the previous films, but it tends to get a bit lost along the way.
Sadako follows a few different threads. A young girl with amnesia is found wandering the streets after narrowly escaping a fire in her home that was set by her psychic mother, who held the belief that her daughter was a reincarnation of the legendary Sadako. She’s brought to a hospital where she meets Mayu Akikawa (Elaiza Ikeda, Isle of Dogs), a psychologist who takes a shining to the girl. But Akikawa’s main focus is on trying to track down her missing brother, Kazuma (Hiroya Shimizu, The Outsider) who disappeared after investigating the burned-out shell of the girl’s apartment for his YouTube channel.
Our main focus as a viewer is on Akikawa, but because her attention is devoted to the plotlines of other characters, she doesn’t have much of a story of her own. Her main purpose is to pursue the plot as it unfolds around Kazuma, the young girl, and Sadako herself, unraveling each mystery as she attempts to find and save her brother.
While we focus on Akikawa, we spend very little time with the girl who is supposedly a reincarnation of Sadako; we don’t really get a clear sense of their connection. Which is kind of a shame because there could have been a lot more to explore there. Instead, we’re left with just snapshots of her “abilities” as Akikawa takes the lead, pulling focus away from Sadako by concentrating on the search for Kazuma (who, as a character, is too annoying and inconsequential to be of any concern to the audience).
Hideo Nakata — who brought us Ringu back in 1998 — returns for Sadako with writer Noriaki Sugihara (Sadako 2 3D). The direction of the film works particularly well during the scenes where Nakata lets Sadako out of the box to play. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen too often. For a film called Sadako, she actually isn’t given a heck of a lot to do in the film. She briefly pops out a couple of times, but as an audience, you expect more from her.
Sugihara’s script is a bit disjointed — it hops around between an exploration of YouTube culture (which is introduced early on and then dropped entirely), to stirring up tension with the little girl (which quickly dissipates and gets forgotten), to building a series of mysteries to be solved (including the lore of Sadako herself, which is only touched upon briefly). It’s hard to really connect with the film when it changes hands so often.
The sound design captures the steadily growing fear in the film; Sadako is textured with an unnerving yet beautiful theme that weaves itself throughout. Ambient sounds build tension and create a general sense of unease. Japanese horror cinema does some incredible things with sound design — Ringu and Ju-On being notable examples — so while Sadako does a good job of building tone and atmosphere, it isn’t quite up to par with its predecessors.
As an entry in the Ringu franchise, Sadako is a serviceable offering. It continues the mythology and adds a bit more to the texture of the character. As a horror film, it’s really underwhelming. Too much time is spent on the drama and mystery of Kazuma, and not enough is spent on the actual meat of the story — the titular Sadako herself. Gone are the guttural whispers of “seven days”, and the horrific imagery is drastically toned down.
If you’re keen on watching a film that misleadingly focuses on the search for a tiresome character, Sadako is the right choice. If you’re looking for something with genuine scares that has all the benchmarks of classic J-horror… maybe skip this one.
Sadako is playing as part of Fantasia Festival’s 2019 lineup. For more films, check out their website or keep an eye out for our reviews.
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Movies
‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram
Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.
The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.
Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.
Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.
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News
Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five
Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.
Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.
Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.
So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.
Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?
The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.
Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube
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News
‘Blink Twice’ Trailer Presents a Thrilling Mystery in Paradise
A new trailer for the movie formerly known as Pussy Island just dropped and it has us intrigued. Now with the more restrained title, Blink Twice, this Zoë Kravitz-directed black comedy is set to land in theaters on August 23.
The film is packed with stars including Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachlan, and Geena Davis.
The trailer feels like a Benoit Blanc mystery; people are invited to a secluded location and disappear one by one, leaving one guest to figure out what is going on.
In the film, a billionaire named Slater King (Channing Tatum) invites a waitress named Frida (Naomi Ackie) to his private island, “It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.”
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