Reincarnation
Review by Peter Syslo

I have to admit that I am kind of “on the fence” regarding Asian horror. I have never been that much of a fan, having been slightly disappointed with The Ring and The Grudge/Ju-on. From what I have seen thus far, there have been only a few titles that I felt were really interesting (Asian Extremes 2 being one). Don’t get me wrong, there are certain aspects of Asian horror that I absolutely love; the movies are all beautifully shot and the atmosphere/mood is always “darkly” urban (that’s the best way I can describe it). The effects and the overall style are really innovative and again, it is all just beautiful to look at. However, it is the plot or storyline of most of the Asian films that leaves me feeling a little “let down”. It seems that most of the films are either revenge stories or haunting stories where, “a tragic murder occurred and whoever sets foot in the place of the murder will be haunted by the memories of it”. In a sense, it is like the way American horror is in the “remake rut” – Asian horror seems to be “remaking” the same two stories, but only building different movies around them.

That being said, I was actually surprised by Reincarnation (2005) – I thought it was an interesting twist on the haunting/revenge storyline. The movie is part of the After Dark Horrorfest films and honestly, I have to say that it is one of the best of those films that I have seen. Penny Dreadful and The Gravedancers were basically good and some of the others were just OK, but Reincarnation actually stands out as the one that was the most “solid” film – and it remained interesting for its running length (96 min.); some of these films have seemed too long and may have benefited from a 60 min. cut.

Reincarnation is actually directed by Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge, etc.) and is a “true” Asian film – all Asian cast, Asian setting, and subtitles. It follows an amateur actress, Nagisa (Yuka) as she tries out for a part in a film that is based on a series of murders that occurred at a hotel. All the while, Nagisa is seeing visions of a little boy and girl and this really creepy doll (I swear, dolls/mannequins keep turning up in whatever I watch); she realizes that she has some sort of connection to it all. Nagisa and the cast learn more about the murders at this hotel and it turns out that a professor went “mad”, killed his little boy and girl and I think his wife (I am not totally clear on that – she or another wife may have survived), and killed several other people in the hotel, totaling eleven victims. The cast revisits the actual hotel where this took place and they start filming some of the movie, on the grounds of the hotel. Strange happenings continue and a university student, who is studying reincarnation, gets involved and learns the true story behind the murders – the professor was not mad, he was studying reincarnation and may have been testing some theories out, by killing people and filming it. In the final scenes of the movie, a mysterious 8mm reel arrives and is viewed by Nagisa’s agent while Nagisa experiences the murders as they happened originally – various people in the hotel are actually “reincarnations” of the people that were killed, originally. She learns her true “role” in all of this and the semi-surprise ending is a twist on the whole reincarnation “theme”.

Like I said before, I really did enjoy this film and I thought that it was a twist on the same old storylines of Asian films. The movie was beautifully filmed, capturing that urban “darkness” and it also moved seamlessly to and from the “movie within the movie” content, which is essential to the story. The effects were all really good and actually had a greater sense of “realism” than the usual ghastly-looking girls or boys who are peppered throughout these Asian films. The “ghosts” actually looked just like real people and this seemed to heighten Nagisa’s confusion, along with the viewer – at times, I wasn’t really sure what was real or not. There is not a whole lot of gore in the film, but there are a few disturbing scenes where the professor stabs his son and daughter (rough stuff, but it is another thing I admire about Asian hor ror - they are not afraid to push the limit). Also, I have to say, the doll was a pretty creepy thing; although, there is one scene where it comes to life (ala Chucky) which seems a little out of place. Regarding other details, the acting was all very good, as usual in Asian films, and the music was effective throughout (minimalist, and the sporadic use is somewhat refreshing).

So, I say it is definitely worth seeing, if you are into Asian horror and/or the Afterdark Horrorfest films. Again, I am not a true Asian horror fan, yet, but I did like this one and it seemed to stand out from the pack. However, I still really want to see what an Asian director and crew could do with a truly original storyline – actually, if something like Halloween was remade by an Asian director/crew, I feel that the result could’ve been really interesting (c’mon Hollywood, let’s try it – American writing with Asian filming).