Seance (Japan 2000) Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A medium stumbles across the kidnapped girl she's trying to find and attempts to lead police to the body after idiotically killing the girl.

Review: During the peak of Asian horror's popularity, in the late '90s and early 2000s, many classics were created. Unfortunately, "Seance" is not even close to that caliber of quality. Sure, it was a made-for-TV film, however, that's hardly an excuses when something as awesome as "Ju-on: The Curse" was made-for-TV as well. The main problem with "Seance" is that it's painfully slow and boring when it had a premise easy to work with and make scary. I mean, there is one cool scene toward the beginning but then nothing happens until after the 60 minute mark. Come on, son. Making matters worse is the abrupt and Scooby Doo-esque ending.

Admittedly, the story had a lot of potential to work with. The main characters are a married couple whereby the husband is some kind of sound engineer and the wife is a housewife who occasionally acts as a medium. We see how the wife's ability to see and sense ghosts makes it hard for her to function in everyday life. At the same time, there is some rogue cop that has kidnapped a little girl. How will all of these plot elements come together? Well...they don't...and the story turns into a series of zany antics befitting of a comedy. We learn nothing about this rogue cop and why he's become a criminal. More precisely, we never learn why he would kidnap this little girl. Next, the only reason why the husband was written as a sound engineer was to explain why he'd have a big trunk in the woods...for his equipment...that he somehow never puts back into the trunk so that the little girl can get trapped inside. How convenient. Next, the wife suddenly becomes hungry for fame to the point that she would risk a little girl's life to prove her psychic abilities. Last, the little girl is a complete idiot--easily duped by the rogue cop, doesn't say anything when stuck in the trunk, screams and passes out on a whim later, and somehow keels over dead, seemingly from the realization of her own idiocy. Yippee!

As I mentioned, the pace is excessively slow and builds up to no payoff. The first scary scene is decent, but, ultimately, nothing happens for about an hour. Things do start to pick up once the little girl dies and haunts the couple, but even this aspect is weirder than it is scary. More so, the fact that the little girl mostly haunts the husband makes no sense since he's the one that keeps trying to give the girl over to the cops while the wife wants to hide her until she can pretend to lead the police to the girl. It would have been nice if they put more effort into making the little girl look scary when dead, but I suppose I can overlook that decision. However, what I can't overlook is the lackluster and rushed ending where the cops suddenly know about the wife's ruse. Then the credits start rolling out of nowhere with no resolution whatsoever. In fact, things are so vague I wasn't even certain if the little girl really died. Wowweee!

Overall, this is a below average film. For a made-for-TV movie "Seance" looks pretty good and feels like it has a decent production value. Sadly, that is an illusion to mask the weak ass story, lame events, and moronic conclusion. There was potential here yet the filmmakers opted for zany antics and contrivances that boggle the mind. Had there at least been a worthy payoff then it might not have left such a sour taste in my mouth. Oh well...it's not like everything that came out during this time period was of "Grudge" and "Ring" quality.

Notable Moment: One scene that was noteworthy was when the lighting kept illuminating the garage door as if beckoning the wife. Now if only a ghost had appeared in the shadows--that would have been impressive.

Final Rating: 4.5/10