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Fantasia 2019: ‘Sadako’ is an Underwhelming Entry in the Ringu Franchise

Published

5 years ago

July 26, 2019

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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Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

3 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

5 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

Published

7 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

**Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes**

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.