Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: Two young actresses and their film crew find themselves haunted by ghosts after adding a "ghost video" segment to their TV show.
Review: So, I mentioned that I would occasionally add updated reviews to movies I've already covered if I felt the original was not my best, and here is the first of those; my first review, which you can check out, really did not convey everything I wanted to discuss regarding this rarely discovered gem. I can't recall if this was on Netflix or maybe I'm simply dreaming--either way, it's not there now; it probably never was on Netflix, because apparently it still doesn't have a region 1 DVD (oh for the love of Rika!). Anyway, I find myself constantly coming back to this movie, still captivated by its awesomeness. It's definitely a sleeper hit if only an audience had the opportunity to discover it. In terms of scares, this film is easily on par with the legends like "The Grudge" and "The Ring" while simultaneously implementing successful, low budget tactics and creative ideas that allow it to stand on its own as a unique entry in the Asian horror library. While the quality may not be as good as those legends, this film more than makes up for that with unconventional ideas, an engaging story, and originality to the scares in a genre where the audience has seen it all. You'd be surprised by how well this film works despite simply being a combination of typical Asian horror ideas mixed with a found-footage approach. My only caveat is that you must watch until the very end because there are two decoy endings, and I would hate for anyone to miss out on some of the best material.
The film begins by introducing the audience to two young actresses, Mirai Shida and Haruna Kawaguchi, who appear to be playing themselves; the two girls are cute and do a great job portraying their own fictional selves with realistic fright. Mirai has her own low budget TV show, and Haruna is her guest as they add a "ghost video" segment to spice things up for said show. Although the crew believes the videos they're playing are fan submitted, it would appear the videos are something entirely different than what they anticipated. I love that the story pulls you in very quickly, and the scares start rolling before the 10 minute mark; none of that slow burn like the "Paranormal Activity" franchise employs. The first video the crew watches involves a bathroom door opening on its own with no one inside, but then when they try to replay it, the video has altered angles and now a hand appears on the bathroom door. Unnerved by this notion, the girls press on regardless, knowing that they can't afford to screw up acting gigs like this. Haruna recognizes the location in these videos as her old junior high school after the next video shows a shower that comes on untouched and a ghostly visage appearing in a window. The crew tries to stop the DVD, but it won't stop as we see a ghostly schoolgirl laughing on top of a roof; the footage cuts out right as the camera comes to the girl's face. Haruna, who had investigated the hauntings on her own in the past, is freaked out as the crew is baffled by what happened with the original videos. As the girls leave, one of the crew sees a face in the window that looks like the schoolgirl from the video.
The crew seeks the help of a psychic to exorcise any spirits, but she explains that they must appease the ghosts that are drawn to Haruna by going to the school personally. After the school's principal surprisingly allows the crew to visit, they are snagged by the one camera girl and the psychic being caught up in traffic. The remaining crew continues anyway as they meet up with the principal who shows them her own ghost video filmed recently. There is the implication that Haruna's fame has stirred up the ghosts, which would actually coincide with her trying to make contact with said ghosts. More so, the ghost schoolgirl from the video is allegedly a girl who committed suicide who also tried to make contact with spirits just as Haruna had except the rumor was that many ghosts became drawn to her due to this; they also explain that the footage the crew had watched belonged to this schoolgirl. The one camera girl shows up, but says the psychic won't make it as the crew tries to reenact the principal's ghost video to see if it was possibly a mistake or fake. There is a cool moment here, that kind of foreshadows a plot twist later, but it should easily catch your eye that something is amiss.
After roaming around the school, investigating the areas from the videos, and addressing the ghost rumors, the crew comes up empty and decides it's time to leave just as they hear laughter coming from the same bathroom in the video. The camera girl volunteers to be the one to check it out, but the crew hears the crash of her camera and discovers that she has disappeared. They then get a call confirming that the camera girl had been in an accident and was in critical condition. The principal thinks the crew is messing with her so they watch the camera girl's footage just as all hell breaks loose. The lights go out in the school and the camera starts to show a ghostly woman dressed in red emerging from the bathroom seemingly in real time. The group runs away but stumbles across many ghosts now trapping them in the school. Haruna remembers that the rumors said the one schoolgirl killed herself over some boy so she tries to find the school records only to reveal that one of their crew members was the guy. Admittedly, this is the dumbest part of the movie, and serves as a huge ass contrivance, but roll with it. Somehow Haruna is possessed by the ghost schoolgirl who leads the crew to the roof where she throws the guy off in the same manner that she had died. Even though he survives, the spirits appear to be appeased...for the moment. This is also where the first decoy ending comes into play.
Months later, the footage is being shown at a private screening for the big wigs at Mirai and Haruna's talent agency. Apparently they want to torturously add footage of the two girls watching their own movie and seeing the fear on their face. As the girls watch the movie Mirai notices that the footage is changing yet again and Haruna is becoming possessed by the ghost schoolgirl once more. One of the crew members then gets a call from the psychic explaining that the movie is cursed and they all scatter like cowards. Mirai tries to get help, finds no one, and notices that on the monitor there are many ghosts in the theater with Haruna. Mirai bitch slaps the ghost out of Haruna as they notice that they are being filmed by the ghost schoolgirl in an especially creepy moment. Trying to run away, Haruna is grabbed by a ghost as Mirai is pursued by the schoolgirl in an attempt to shut down the movie projector somehow working as a gateway for the ghosts. After shutting down the power to the area, Mirai finds Haruna safe as the real closing credits are rolling. Haruna closes things out by discussing she thought the ghost in red was the key to everything just as we see a final shot of the ghost in red lurking in the movie theater.
Hopefully that synopsis will entice you to check this bad boy out for yourself. Obviously the movie needs to be experienced to fully appreciate the ingenuity with a lot of the scenes, editing, and, of course, cool scares. There are so many fantastic moments, original ideas, and creativity strewn about that I can't recommend this movie enough to Asian horror fans. This film is probably ranked with "White: The Melody of the Curse" and "Ju-on: The Grudge 2" as the most underrated and overlooked Asian horror films that fans need to check out as soon as possible; hell, these are some of the best horror films flat out. From start to finish this film successfully engages you with an interesting story and keeps an impressive pacing moving from one cool idea to the next. Sure, the scares still revolve around ghostly women, and other cliches, for the most part, but they worked with the material and took it in a completely different direction than most movies have been able to accomplish. There are bouts of shaky acting, a few predictable twists, and at least one cheap looking ghost, but none of these aspects hurt the film in a meaningful way and serve more as nitpicking that I would have liked to see improved. Originally I said check this out on youtube, and while that is usually an option, the video quality usually sucks lately. If you can somehow get a DVD, I highly encourage that option, but, unfortunately for us region 1 individuals, we are shit out of luck at the moment.
Notable Moment: When the group runs into an old man ghost outside the school's front door, then, after superb editing, the ghost is on the other side of the door. Cool, scary, and just pure awesome--one of the reasons why this film deserves more acclaim.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
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