Tales of Terror: The Haunted Apartments Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After moving into a new apartment, a girl and her father find themselves at the mercy of a ghost that traps them there.

Review: If you're wondering why the title has changed, according to a promotional website, they began to shorten the title allegedly because writing out the full title cursed the writer due to all the enraged ghosts portrayed in the series. I guess I'm fucked. This isn't "Macbeth," folks. The real reason why I think it was changed was because this isn't an anthology film like the other entries. Instead we see, what I will assume is, the concluding chapter to the Ai storyline established in volume 3 part 2. Or did this come first? I don't know! Well, you remember Ai, right? Played by the lovely Mei Kurokawa, Ai popped up in half the stories, and now she gets her own movie-length tale of terror. So let's take one final look at the exploits of Ai, apparently, fully named Aimi.

The story is that Aimi and her dad are moving to a new apartment after their mother died. They choose an old building that, I guess, is cheap considering the dad doesn't work as much being a freelance journalist. When Aimi and the dad bring their stuff to move in, we are introduced to the weirdos that live in the apartment complex. Unfortunately, we don't learn as much as we probably should about the other tenants considering they play a big part in padding out the film's running time. Immediately you know something is not right with Aimi seeing a phantom schoolgirl...that and the movie's title is a dead giveaway. Once Aimi is settled in, she notices that another family living in the apartment complex is moving out quite hurriedly. An older tenant, played by Isao Yatsu once more, warns Aimi and the father to make sure they are always home before midnight. Oh, and there's some lame love interest for Aimi who dies way too early for me to even classify him as such.

From here, we learn the rules regarding the apartment from the family that escaped. You have to be home by midnight or you die, you can't say the ghost's name, Ai, you can't move out unless you're the oldest tenant and someone new moves in to replace you, and the last thing is some bullshit about other ghosts magically appearing. Basically, the tenants are mogwai. If you're wondering how on earth anyone would figure these rules out, they weakly explain that it was through trial and error. Yeah...no, I'm calling bullshit on that. Plus, what time is it okay to go back out, huh? I would have burned down the entire complex or called in Sam and Dean, but that's me. According to the legends, Ai was the daughter of the apartments' owner and she disappeared one day; her lonely ghost haunts the building and doesn't want anyone to leave. I didn't like that they had the ghost's name as Ai, with Aimi sometimes being called Ai too, and factoring in we already know Ms. Kurokawa as Ai from the TV show!

One day, Aimi's little love interest and his family decide they will move out thinking the ghost could not reach them at a great distance and if they stay out in the open. I did like this part a lot, because it was a scene that you always wonder about when watching movies like "The Ring" and "The Grudge." Like, could Sadako/Samara come after you if you're hanging out around witnesses? Loverboy's family wait the night out at a restaurant with lots of people around, but then the power goes out and the family finds themselves separated and in the ghost's world. For some reason they chose to make Ai look normal usually and then turn into a monster rather than your typical Sadako/Kayako clone. However, the monster form looks lame, and I hated to see the infamous, pretend to spare someone only to kill them two seconds later, cliche. Once Ai has had her fun, the lights come back on in the restaurant and only moments have passed in the real world, and the family is now dead where they sat. By chance, Aimi's father happened to turn on a radio at the exact moment they announced the deaths the next day. This is probably a good time to mention the dad has drinking problems among other things...

A few other occurrences regarding the ghost happen, but, like I said, they feel like filler. For instance, the old man sees ghosts that haunt him and his wife each night. These ghosts were comrades of the old man in WWII and they blame him for their deaths. As revenge, they kill his wife and resurrect her each day. Umm, where the fuck did this come from? You can't go making up new rules! There's something about one couple being so poor they have to drink their own blood as sustenance. For one, that's not going to cut it, and for two, god damn I'll give you food if you're that desperate! Then there's this couple where the guy is a bum and the chick is an idiot, but they race to get home before midnight one time. You know, this has me thinking...wouldn't this have made for a better anthology tale? Like, you have the wraparound about Aimi, and we see the tales of each tenant and their experiences staying at the apartment. Wouldn't that have made more sense and fit the themes of the series? Oh well.

Toward the end, the dad decides to get his shit together and begins to write a column for his magazine about the haunted apartments. When the tenants learn of this, they're angry, because they fear no one will want to move in and they will be trapped forever. The pathetic tenants unite to fight against the dad and Aimi, but the dad single-handedly holds these wimps at bay. When Aimi and the dad can no longer hold them off, they light a fire and climb out a back window (and should have broken their legs); these events unfold close to midnight mind you. Aimi tells the dad to hide while she solves the 30 year old mystery of what happened to Ai since she's become a detective all of the sudden. Apparently Aimi was having visions of Ai and would wake up with a kind of sand by her bed which is supposedly drywall to Ai's apartment where she was buried in the wall. Believing the curse to be over, Aimi tells the dad to come home since he only has seconds to spare. Uhh, did you have to run that far off dude?

The dad leaps over what he believes is the line that determines whether you're safe or not and then lies there on the ground like an idiot. With the last second ticking away, Aimi reveals she moved the line up and that the dad is outside the apartment complex past midnight. We learn, out of nowhere, that Aimi was being molested by her dad and wanted revenge obviously; this same thing happened with Ai as the two girls shared a common bond. Honestly, there's only one scene that connects to this revelation and you'd have to be SERIOUSLY reading into things to guess that's what happened. But come on, if this were true, Aimi was sure acting casual afterward. Ai then turns into the stupid monster form and kills the dad before fading away, I guess. The movie ends with Aimi staying beside Ai's skeleton mentioning how everyone has moved out, but she will stay forever. Well, it's good to know no one thought it would be a good idea to call the police especially considering there was a dead body lying in the street. This little revelation is cool and everything, but it's major bullshit. If she wanted the dad to die, how could Aimi guarantee he would stop at the line? And since you couldn't be sure of that, why not simply leave him out there past midnight? Nice try but the ending needed more thought.

I get what they were going for here, but I would have preferred they maintained the anthology aspect. Regardless, there are good ideas and the story is actually quite original and interesting. The look, tone, and atmosphere are well done and Ms. Kurokawa carries the film effectively. The twist is surprising despite the borderline absurdity to it and the way it is presented. On the other hand, there was a lot of filler that hardly connects to the plot like the other random ghosts. Ai turning into a monster made no sense and looks terrible, and there are a few loose ends to the story by the end. Overall, this film is on par with the TV show, but I feel like the show is more fun due to its variety. Also, I wanted a better connection to the TV show--perhaps referencing some of those individual segments. There is creativity to this movie, but it is often overshadowed by standard J-horror cliches. If you've followed along thus far, and enjoyed everything, this should not disappoint. As a standalone entry, I think it works fine, but you miss out to a certain degree.

Notable Moment: When the family is killed in public. I've wanted other horror films, in this same vein, to touch on this subject for a while now.

Final Rating: 6/10

Ms. Kurokawa up to her old tricks:

Bonus: I have looked high and low to find "Kai-Kai: Tales of Terror From Tokyo," which is the last entry in this franchise, and I can't find it with English subtitles. I mean, I could watch it sub free and be completely lost, but then I wouldn't be able to give a fair review. And there's no way in hell I'm paying like $35 for a 50 minute movie. I don't care if Rika was in it, and that's saying something! For that much money, and so short of a film, it should come with a date with the star, Erina Mano, at the very least, or some way to edit myself into the movie saving the day! The point being, I will not be reviewing that final film any time soon unless it gets a general DVD release or someone uploads it on a free site.

Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan: The Movie Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: The movie version based off the, similarly titled, horror anthology TV show.

Review: Since there isn't a whole lot of information regarding this series, I'm guessing this movie was made a year or two after the TV show had premiered; we can safely say it was before volume 3. This time the tales are in varying time lengths, as opposed to the five minute time frame we're used to, but most remain relatively short. As far as the quality goes, I would say it kind of felt like a step down if you can believe that; there were some questionable effects to say the least. Other than that, I'd say this film works better to complement the series rather than standing alone. These aren't the best tales they could have featured, but a few are exceptionally well done. Essentially, for every interesting segment we have an equally bad or pointless story.

Night Watchman: To kick things off we have the tale of security guards looking after an abandoned building as it is prepped for demolition or something. One of the security guards goes about his routine without problem whereas the other is scared by his claims of seeing ghosts. The head of the security company references the fact that many of these night watchmen have quit in the recent months with each reporting strange sightings. It would appear the building is haunted by dozens of ghosts as we see the perspective of a few security guards, including the head of security himself and his main crony, as they encounter the ghosts. The ghosts are not scary looking and one looked like L from "Death Note" amusingly. The security guard that enjoys the job is able to pretend the ghosts aren't there and tries to tell others to do the same, but it's impossible to go about your business when ghosts keep coming at you. Eventually the head of the security company quits along with all the others before him after staying at the abandoned building. The story ends when he sees the other security guard in passing on the street and notices ghosts cling to the man. I can't tell if this was supposed to be scary or funny because it's neither. Now, that isn't to say this segment was bad, because it was decent, but it needed more focus. It also should have provided clarity on why this building was in need of security and what the hell went on in this building given the premise; why are there so many ghosts?

Wisps of Smoke: I don't know what the hell was happening in this story. Three whiny chicks get lost in the woods after bailing on a party. For some odd reason, the women pull over and hang out in front of a shrine. They hear a loud growling that appears to emanate from the forest itself (the smoke monster from "Lost?"), but then all of the sudden one of their friends is vaporizing...or something to that nature. After the woman fades into nothingness, the two remaining women run back to the car while giving the impression that they see something chasing them that the audience can't see. When the two are about to get in the car, the driver notices that the other woman has disappeared at that exact moment. Then the last woman sees, whatever this creature is, coming at her as the story ends. I mean, seriously, what is this supposed to mean? There's something about the women smoking...but uhh, okay? I swear, they forgot to add a creature effect to the segment, because there are pointless shots as if we're supposed to be seeing something. All I can say is they took a decent premise, tried to invent a unique monster, and then completely blew it by not explaining jack nor showing anything.

Gloves: A random woman is having a recurring nightmare where ethereal gloved-hands are choking her to death. When the woman wakes up from this nightmare there are marks on her neck from the strangulation that grow darker with each passing night. While this is occurring, the woman suspects it has something to do with an old boyfriend that has popped back in her life with an unknown reason. I'm assuming, since he's pondering marriage, he's considering his options? At one point the woman can see the face accompanied to the gloved-hands and that is the last night she is tormented by this phenomenon. An unspecified amount of time later, the woman receives a wedding invitation from that ex-boyfriend and the woman believes the bride was the one haunting her each night out of jealousy; when the marriage came, the bride had no reason to continue haunting the woman. Oh goodness gracious I hardly no where to start with this mess. First, the effect on the gloves looks terrible. Second, how is this bride able to do this shit? It's stupid and makes no sense. Third, this may have felt more dramatic if we knew anything about the woman and the ex-boyfriend; we have no context regarding what happened in their relationship. This is sloppy storytelling at its finest.

The Weight: This is the shortest of the bunch and arguably the dumbest as well. A woman and her son are sleeping when the woman wakes up with the sensation that something is on top of her. She tries to swipe at whatever is the source but her hands hit nothing. After using a clock as a weapon, the woman finds herself released from the pressure only to discover her arms are being held down. This time, the woman can see the cause of the problem as it is some ghostly man who doesn't look scary. When the son catches the ghosts attention, the woman tries to fight off the spirit and he momentarily disappears. The woman idiotically leaves to get a drink when she notices the ghost is sitting on top of the son. When the woman tries to intervene, the ghost spins his head around and jumps up on top of the boy as the segment ends. What? So a pedo-ghost decides to be annoying for no discernible reason and his means of attack is sitting on you? Lame as fuck. The only consolation is the woman is super milfy.

Full-length Mirror: This is an interesting tale since it was the basis for what would later become "Ju-on: Old Lady in White." And when I say basis, we're talking the bare bones of the plot. Two guys are visiting their old high school and decide to shoot some hoops. They allude to a haunted mirror that is in a supply closet and want to check it out since they claim they will never be coming back (ironic truth). One of the guys answers a phone call while the other stays behind to hear the basketball bounce toward him. Seemingly captivated, the guy moves close and sticks out his hand when it is suddenly grabbed by a ghost out of the mirror. The other guy returns to find the mirror is shattered and his friend is nowhere to be found. The guy picks up a shard of glass and sees a ghostly woman standing behind him in the reflection. Running away and shutting the supply closet door, the guy is deafened by a woman's ghostly laughter. When the laughter goes silent, the guy turns to see a Kayako-esque spirit charging him while carrying the basketball. Not bad not bad--a quick setup with effective scares while leaving you intrigued. You can see where the grandma ghost was established and the whole bit with the mirror from "Ju-on: Old Lady in White," so that was cool.

Line of Sight: When making a video about what she and her classmates want to do when they grow up, a girl notices a phantom specter lurking in the background. The girl's name is Yukari and she is played by Maki Horikita who I've already discussed regarding this series; the cute Ms. Horikita appeared to star in multiple horror films and TV shows before moving on completely (remember your roots my dear!). Yukari is supposed to be a bit on the dorky side which is hard to believe considering her kawaii factor. She shows the video to a teacher and they somehow determine the ghost is a specific nurse that died during WWII (yeah, I'm calling bullshit on that one) when the school was a military hospital. Two girls stumble upon Yukari's video and decide it would be a great addition to some school festival. At first Yukari doesn't think it's a good idea, but when the hype around the video grows so does her popularity. When the day of the festival comes, the students have set up a classroom specifically for the viewing of the video. A couple of girls ask for an early viewing and Yukari allows it thinking no harm will come from any of this. Listening on, Yukari hears the screams of the girls and overhears their discussion describing things that didn't happen in the video. Unnerved by this prospect, Yukari watches the video again herself and each time it would cut to the ghost, she changes position and gets closer to the camera. For some reason we see shots of Yukari being haunted by the ghost earlier, but I don't know what that's all about. Yukari takes the tape out of the player, but it's still playing and now the ghost is no longer in the footage. When she backs up toward the classroom door, Yukari is stopped by the ghost who says she will always be watching her. I think this is probably the best entry in the movie as it provides a cool story, good effects, interesting ideas, and moderate scares. Sure, there are hints of "Ringu" but this feels unique enough. This would have made for an excellent full-length feature.

The Promise: I guess this came before the segment from volume 3, but why did they repeat multiple titles? Anyway, a nephew is house sitting for his uncle who lives at a high end apartment. Besides the usual bullshit, the uncle tells the nephew that when his name is called he must answer. Obviously he's confused by this, but doesn't think too hard about it due to becoming mesmerized by the spacious apartment. Later that night, after indulging in the uncle's food and drink, the nephew hears a disembodied voice calling out to a "Kazunori." After responding "yes" to the, almost, mechanical voice, nothing happens, but this process continues through the nephew's duration at the apartment; if the nephew does not answer the voice, it repeats itself over and over. The day before the uncle is to come home, the nephew brings over some chick that he suckered into helping him clean up. When trying to kiss the girl, the voice repeatedly calls out to the nephew, but he's too busy to answer. The voice begins to repeat itself endlessly until it hurts the nephew's head and he answers back; the chickadee left during this event obviously. When the nephew thinks everything is okay he sees a large apparition that resembles the girl on the movie poster except dirtier. The nephew appears to survive the encounter as he greets the uncle the next day. We learn that the uncle's name is not "Kazunori," and the nephew suspects the uncle is in love with the ghost. When the nephew leaves he sees the same apparition on the street calling out to him as the segment ends. While the effects on the ghost were questionable, the story as a whole was interesting and original. You get the right balance of intrigue with the implication as to what's happening. These kind of weird, offbeat tales are what I love the most about J-horror; they aren't afraid to experiment with ideas.

Hisao: I've discussed in the past how notorious anthology films are for ending poorly--guess how this one ends. That's right, completely retarded! To be fair, it's not the worst tale from this film, but that's not really saying much. All that happens is some mom is mopping up water that her son is dripping around the house as she indirectly explains to the audience something we knew right from the start: the son is dead and his name is Hisao. That's seriously all that happens--the mom crazily talks to herself, or the ghost, about the events leading up to the Hisao's death. Apparently he was drowned after being beaten by some punks he was lending money to. Then there's something about the Hisao possibly killing the punks that killed him, but who knows. I guess I have to give the actress playing the mom credit for doing her best talking to herself, and the lighting was well done, but that's about it. What a lame and forgettable way to go out. I know it was trying to be sentimental, but it failed miserably in my opinion.

As you can see, it was 4 for 4: an even split between bad and good. This places things in the mediocre realm for me but a few bonus points for how much I liked the "Line of Sight" segment. I appreciate the originality and creativity to some of the tales, but I felt this movie version should have taken things up a notch when compared to the TV show. With that said, this movie is worth checking out if you've been enjoying the TV show, but don't expect it to blow you away. Considering the price, however, I'd recommend trying to track it down through youtube or wherever even if it's split into its individual segments; that's how I originally watched this film. Personally, I'd stick to the two parts of volume 3 over this.

Notable Moment: In the "Line of Sight" segment when Yukari is watching the ghost video. I loved the way the ghost came closer with each cut and then was able to come out of the footage when coming at the camera. This needs to be a full movie.

Final Rating: 5.5/10

Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan: Volume 3 Part 2 Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An anthology series showcasing all manner of random horror tales from Japan.

Review: Now we come to the final volume of the set, and they appear to have saved the best for last. All the improvements that were done in the first part of volume 3 carry over except you have the added bonus of more tales and even a scary entry. Another major change is the inclusion of a character that loosely connects the stories to one another. I say loosely because this girl, Ai, played by the lovely Mei Kurokawa, appears in half the tales, but she doesn't bring up previous events or make a true association between segments; she is simply a character reused over and over. I should note she even dies in a few stories, so, while I did like this idea in theory, they fundamentally wasted the opportunity. Oh well, she's cute and that alone spices up more of the entries. Also, Ms. Kurokawa appears in one of the spinoff movies about a haunted apartment building which I hope to review. With all of that out of the way, let's take one more look at these tales of terror!

Only Two of Us: To start things off, we obviously have the introduction of the Ai character who is babysitting her cousin, I guess, whose mother recently died. This cousin was staying with Ai's aunt and is overly attached to people and does not want to be left alone. When Ai leaves momentarily to use the bathroom, she comes back to find the cousin freaking out. Later that night, when the two are sleeping, Ai awakens to the sound of the cousin talking and she claims to see a dark figure in the room. Ai does see the shadowy figure who is all black except for overly distinct eyes; think "Ju-on: The Grudge" when Rika first sees Kayako. The next day, Ai inquires what happened to the cousin's mom and learns she burned herself alive; damn that's about as hardcore of a suicide as you can get! When Ai leaves, she explains that the cousin moved around a bit before she lost all contact on her whereabouts; she also sees the shadowy ghost lurking behind the cousin as she walks away. Not too bad of an opening story, but the effect on the ghost was kind of weak; why couldn't they have used makeup instead of whatever the hell they used for the one scene?

A Woman Next Door: A guy living in a small, dilapidated apartment building appreciates the isolation and freedom until he discovers he has a next door neighbor. After a night of singing, he comes across the neighbor, who is a middle-aged woman, and looks kind of pissed, but then she smiles at him. Behind the woman, however, is a kid dressed in all black with every inch of the body covered; not going to lie, the kid looks like they would be a badass anime villain. One day, a delivery man says he has a package for the neighbor and asks if he can leave it with the guy and he obliges; the package appears tremendously heavy, large, and also all black. That night, the woman comes by with the kid and picks up the package with ease when the guy notices the kid has a mechanical arm. The guy, curious, creates a makeshift mirror on a stick which he uses to peer inside the neighbor's balcony. The mirror shows the kid is now a large adult who grabs the stick with the same mechanical arm and emits robotic sounds. Then the robotic creature tries to get into the guy's apartment before the woman calls the kid back. The ending feels abrupt, but I appreciate when more tales have something beyond ghosts and we haven't had robots yet.

Three People Are Coming: After class ends at god knows what hour, Ai is last to leave due to some douchebag knocking her over. Seriously, what guy is going to just linebacker charge a sexy girl and leave her? That was your in, dude, you blew it! You could have given some bullshit excuse why you're in a hurry to butter her up (my sick grandma needs me), help her up, and flirt all the way home! Tsk tsk. Anyway, Ai gets on an elevator alone when it breaks down suddenly. She uses the elevator's speaker to contact someone who suspiciously claims they're sending three people to help her. Out of nowhere, ghostly hands materialize and begin to choke my poor Ai momentarily. Confused, Ai is then choked by another pair of hands until she practically passes out. Scared out of her mind, Ai keeps her back to the walls as she anticipates the third set of hands, but the elevator comes to the ground floor. Hesitantly looking around, Ai grabs her stuff when she is grabbed from the front by the third set of hands that choke much harder than the previous two. The story ends with the apparent first death of the Ai character. This wasn't too bad and should be the moment when you're like, "Didn't I just see that girl in the first story?"

A Snapshot: Miraculously surviving her last ghostly encounter, Ai is hanging out with friends at a karaoke bar when one of the guys brings an oddly dressed girl to hang out with them that he says was sitting outside. After singing a few songs, the group tries to get the strange girl to engage the situation more, but she is reluctant to participate and simply sits there quietly. Ai then suggests they take a photo, with the two guys and the strange girl, followed by Ai forwarding the photo to another of their friends. When the power goes out, the strange girl starts to speak nonsense about planes and the dark. The group later leaves but notices the girl is not following with them, and Ai goes to collect her. Ai finds the girl cowering in the bathroom screaming about fire and hell. Then we cut to Ai at school with the friend Ai sent the photo to thinking that it was some kind of joke. The photo of the strange girl has changed a bit, and Ai explains that she learned the karaoke bar was once a bomb shelter during WWII and many girls were burned alive there. This was an okay story, but this was the moment when you realize they are not going to properly utilize the Ai character and link the segments together.

Blue Raincoat: Well, Ai is back at it again, but this time she's hanging out with some guy coming on too strong for our dear little Ai; though, she does appear to like the guy for whatever reason. There is a knock at the door and Ai answers it to find it's some girly-looking boy asking for something. Ai interprets this something as money and basically says she's too broke so go to hell--in much more pleasant terms of course. Honestly, if they hadn't said explicitly that it was a boy I would have assumed it was a girl; also the kid is wearing a dripping wet raincoat when it isn't raining out. After Ai and loverboy eat, Ai is stuck doing the dishes while loverboy momentarily disappears. Don't worry though, it's all a ploy to lure Ai back to his bedroom and land a kiss; you sly dog! After dodging another kiss, loverboy screws up his attempt at groping by making his hand go up Ai's back instead of down; come on dude, I thought you were sly? But out of nowhere, raincoat-boy bitch slaps Ai and then she sees the apparition appearing around the apartment. There is something about the raincoat-boy being the internal thoughts of loverboy or something, but I don't know. Ai runs away and loverboy has turned into raincoat-boy and repeats the line about giving him something...we can assume nookie. If they're going to make Ai appear to have a sixth sense of sorts this could have been another way to tie the segments together.

Unbroadcast Footage: This story felt super short, but the plot was interesting. Members of a film crew were taping a special at a house where bodies were mysteriously found when they recorded unusual activity. The producer, or whoever he is, debates whether they should keep or delete the footage. All that they really see is a ghostly looking woman behind the host while she talks and then one of the camera crew members appears when they claim she wasn't present at the shoot. You see this camera crew member earlier in the segment, but I don't know what they were trying to imply; they never say she was dead or anything. I liked where they were going with this one, but they seriously wasted a chance to do something cool.

He's Home: This was another slightly offbeat tale involving a boyfriend of a single mother. They have this noir tone to the music and narration, but I don't know if that was the right decision. The husband died, but they keep a shrine to him in the bedroom which makes the boyfriend a bit uncomfortable. We see instances of when the boyfriend would see the ghost of the husband, but I'm not quite sure the intent of the ghost as he looks stern but never does anything. The boyfriend appears to interpret this as some kind of allowance to be with the wife, but then the ghost keeps appearing. There's something about a lantern festival perhaps being the time when the ghost appears but they totally lost me on that one; a couple years manage to go by in a little five minute short. The boyfriend doesn't even appear to be getting nookie...

Visitor: Didn't we already have a segment with pretty much the same title? Well, when a girl finds herself sick for a prolonged period of time, leave it up to Ai to bring her homework! While the girl is trying to get some rest, she hears the doorbell ring repeatedly but no one is there. After this continues, she peeks out a window and sees another girl trying to do her best impression of Carrie White after the prom. Deciding it's best to ignore this and get back to bed, the girl is then shocked to see the bloody girl peering into the house through a window above the door; definitely a creepy shot right there. When there is a knock at the door it does turn out to be Ai delivering that schoolwork as promised. Later, the girl calls her mom begging her to come home, but the mom tells the girl she's being a baby. The girl then decides to camp out in front of the door staring at the bloody apparition as she stares back through that same window above the door. When Ai returns again, the girl acts differently and Ai notices a trail of blood that the girl appears to be wiping up endlessly. Carrie starts to come out of a closet but is held at bay by the girl. Ai says fuck this shit and leaves as the girl is left to continue mopping up with Carrie looking on. This entry was the best from this volume and kind of scary as well. Not a lot is explained, but it was really freaky.

Sleepy Head: As Ai and her friend walk home from school they discuss why the friend is always so tired; it would seem our dear Ai thinks she's a psychologist and wonders if the sleepiness has to do with the girl's stepmother. Brushing Ai off, the girl goes home and tries to talk to the stepmother who ignores the girl. The girl takes a nap, but is awakened by a bell attached to the door ringing (is their house doubling as a convenience store?). When the girl investigates she sees herself enacting the same events from earlier. Baffled, the girl watches on as more versions of herself appear in some kind of endless time loop. At one point, the stepmom finally acknowledges the girl, embraces her, and explains that it was the first time she was referred to as mom by the girl. This happiness is short lived, however, as the stepmom stabs the girl in the back with a large knife but it's all a dream. When the girl tries to go back to sleep we hear the cycle starting all over again. Eh, your guess as to what's going on is as good as mine.

Second Round: Following a similar premise as the last segment, this story takes a slightly more comical approach to the situation. Inspired by "Taxicab Confessions," or something like that, we are introduced to an unusual taxi driver and his even weirder clients. The driver starts off at a hospital which will be important in understanding that the audience is coming into the loop already in progress. The first client is an old lady; the driver doesn't want to pick her up, but she pays well. Immediately after dropping off grandma, a sexy lady in a red coat appears and the driver tries to flirt with her; the girl disappears when they reach the destination and she leaves only half the cost. The last client is some business guy screaming a lot and wanting to go to the hospital; when the business guy gets out of the taxi his pants are falling off for whatever reason. Before the driver can leave the hospital, the grandma from earlier pops back up, but the driver simply goes along with it believing it's a coincidence. When the sexy girl with the red coat appears, the driver doesn't care as much, he's just happy to get another chance to flirt. After mulling over the idea of getting half the money again, the screaming man appears again and the two scream together for a bit which was funny. At the hospital again, the grandma appears once more, but now she looks ghostly with bloody teeth and says there's no escape. I liked the grainy look and record skipping sound which added to the atmosphere. It was kind of funny, and they did balance a bit of horror into the mix as well.

Copy Machine: When two girls are hanging out after class, they wonder where their third friend is at. Looking at some photos, the girls notice that every picture their friend was in has a weird blur covering her face. Believing the problem to be with the copy machine, the two girls go to print out new photos, but they come out the same as before. Then the copy machine begins to print photos that show their friend walking down the street and being beaten to death by some guy dressed up as Chef Boyardee. I really liked the animation effect, and it was reminiscent of "Ju-on: The Grudge 2" in a way. The girls then see, what appears to be, the ghost of the girl coming out of her own body before disappearing in the photos. The last thing that happens is the dead girl's spirit emerges from behind the copy machine unseen by the girls. This was decent, and I liked the idea, I just don't get what was with Chef Boyardee killing the girl for no reason.

Greetings: For some reason Ai is interviewing an old man about various life experiences including encounters with different forest spirits. Eventually the two walk past another old man, played by Isao Yatsu, who is a very recognizable actor from a ton of J-horror movies and TV. When Ai and the old man pass Mr. Yatsu, they notice him appearing once more in the distance. This cycle repeats a few times with the two old men having the same conversation with each passing. Ai questions what the hell is happening, and the old man explains that this may be some kind of trick from a fox spirit and it's best to play along. The two old men finally turn to each other and clap--which I'm assuming has something to do with stopping these godforsaken spirits. The two old men discuss how they thought the other was a fox spirit, but are interrupted by the laugh of a tengu (yet another pain in the ass kind of spirit). Ai is scared as she looks at the old men creepily staring at her. The segment ends with the old men coming at her as, I'm assuming, she dies once more. I think this would make more sense to me if I had more contextual knowledge, but I think I can understand it enough.

Animal Odor: Ai is up to her old tricks visiting some other relative who is pregnant. Ai notices many air fresheners scattered about and the relative explains there is some phantom odor. When the relative's suspicious-looking husband comes home, Ai is immediately overwhelmed by the pungent stench coming from the man. As the husband goes about his every day activities, Ai has visions of the man, when he was a child, killing various animals and the enjoyment it gave him. These visions cause Ai to momentarily pass out and she then confronts the husband regarding this while the relative is preoccupied. Ai tells the guy he will be haunted by the smell for eternity, and the guy simply says not to tell his wife. And that's the end. What the hell? We needed a level of closure I think.

The Last Train: After partying with her friend all night, a girl comes home late to an angry mother. Trying to explain herself, the girl expresses the notion that it's not that late as they traveled by the last train. Realizing something is off, the girl notices the morning paper and looks outside to find it's suddenly daytime. While sitting outside, the girl receives a call from her friend who appears to be in the same situation and wondering how it's daytime already. When the girl goes back inside her home, the interior has changed to a worn out and abandoned look and the mom is nowhere to be found. Hearing voices coming from the door, the girl opens the door to find pitch blackness. When the girl wanders into the darkness we see the door slam shut behind her. Hmm, missing time and shenanigans...I'm going to call aliens on this one; or maybe a dimensional rift or something beyond imagination.

Noose Snap: A tutor notices that one of his students is frequently distracted and questions what is going on with the kid at the end of class. Instead of answering, the kid simply looks at the same place he had when distracted, except the tutor sees a man hanging from a noose. After investigating the sight, the tutor only finds the noose but no man hanging. The next night at class, the tutor further questions the kid, thinking it was some kind of joke, but the kid asks whether the tutor can see the ghost. The following night, the kid is absent but this time a girl claims to see something too; another girl explains that someone committed suicide in the building. The tutor sees the hanging man again, but this time when he investigates the spirit gives him a creepy smile. On the final night, we see the kids gathering around as the school has been closed, and the boy from earlier now sees the tutor hanging alongside the first man. Hanging alongside the asshole that killed me for eternity isn't exactly the kind of fate I would like to have.

Mai's Voice: The presentation of this segment is a bit odd since we see a pop-up bubble of a man telling the story and voicing the characters while the action plays out. A husband and wife are in mourning after the death of their young daughter and we get a disturbing shot of the dad bathing with the daughter. As the parents try to move forward, they hear the daughter speaking to them and encouraging them. At one point the husband visits the wife at the bar she works at and sees her dressed up like a schoolgirl (not bad, not bad). Apparently they are having a costume party and this depresses the husband, for whatever reason, and also angers the daughter's spirit. By chance, the husband then runs into an ex-girlfriend, who looks like ten times better than his wife, and the two semi-hook up. I don't know, the girl is in the shower, but he is fully clothed still so who knows. After seeing the daughter's ghost, the guy leaves the ex-girlfriend hanging and heads home to the wife. The wife says that her friends from the party ended up being killed and she thinks the daughter was responsible. Then they hear the daughter say one more thing before apparently never being heard from again. Uh, I don't know about this one. What were they going for with this?

The Ghost of Ohatsutenjin: While being tutored by Ai, some kid is getting really horny; it doesn't help that she's teaching English and talking about "I love you" versus "I rub you." Ai, Mei, Ms. Kurokawa, whatever you prefer, you can tutor me any day! Also, when Ai leaves, the kid conveniently notices a couple outside his window making out and groping one another. That night, when having a wet dream it would appear, a sexy ghost girl appears and starts fondling and kissing the kid. I'm dead serious here, they cutaway with the complete implication that this kid fucked the ghost! The next day, Ai's sixth sense kicks in and she warns the kid not to mess with ghosts or you could die. Trying to hide in his closet, the ghost comes to the kid once more and he of course goes along with it. The kid's father hears the commotion and catches the kid with the ghost--he knows the ghost's story since apparently the same thing happened to him as a kid; so dad was fucking the ghost too! In the end, the dad simply explains that it's okay for now until he grows up and encourages the kid to keep fucking. The story ends with the dad saying he envies the kid. This story is hilarious! Was it supposed to be serious though? Maybe it was meant to be some kind of allegory. Oh well, you have got to love the ridiculous and outlandish nature to this tale.

The Promise: One summer, when spending time with his grandma, a boy asks the grandma that if she should ever die that he would like her ghost to visit him. The grandma and the boy make a promise that if the boy sees the ghost he's not allowed to be scared or he loses; not sure what the stakes are but okay. Years later, when the grandma has died, her ghost does appear to the, now grown, guy and steals his blankets. The guy freaks out and only afterward remembers the promise the two had made together. Vowing not to be scared a second time, the guy waits for the final day he believes the grandma's spirit will remain in this realm and hopes she will return. After waiting all night in anticipation, the grandma's spirit does not return and the guy is somewhat disappointed. However, when he opens a door, the grandma appears and he tries to keep his shit together but loses it when many dead relatives appear as well. The guy laughs and admits defeat but vows to win on the anniversary of her death. This was both comedic and meant to be heartwarming, so I will cut it some slack for being corny.

Hair Pins: After moving into a new apartment, a guy notices a hair pin lying about and believes the previous tenant must have been a woman. After falling asleep watching TV, the guy finds two hair pins on top of the remote and begins to grow a bit troubled. When he wakes up the next morning the guy is sprinkled in hair pins and now he becomes worried. When cracking an egg to eat, and there's a hair pin inside, the guy becomes genuinely frightened. He then hears the sound of the hair pins hitting the floor and notices they create a trail that leads into the bathroom. When he enters, he sees the bathtub is full of large clumps of hair and the water is red with blood. The guy runs out of the apartment and gets a drink from a vending machine, but he ends up drinking a hair pin instead. Kind of creepy, but it would have been nice to see a ghost or something.

The Music Box: Okay, the first two volumes ended with a whimper and the third volume was only so-so...will this last volume take us out on a high note (pun intended)? Thankfully, yes, and this is actually one of the cooler stories to boot. I think it goes without saying, Ai makes one last appearance since she has traveled with us this entire volume. The premise is that Ai is visiting an old teacher when all hell breaks loose. And, oh man, do they set up a terrible innuendo when Ai says everything was going fine until "he pulled it out." Oh Ai--only you! Apparently when shopping at an antique store, the teacher was drawn to a mysterious music box that he bought. The music box has a hand crank and it plays "Moonlight Sonata" when wound which is a nice touch. The teacher says that if you listen closely while the music is playing you can hear the voice of a man coming from the music box. The more the teacher cranks, the louder the man's voice becomes until they hear footsteps coming from the second floor; when the teacher stops playing the footsteps stop. Ai tries to leave but the music box starts playing on its own and the footsteps resume, seemingly, getting closer. The teacher stops the music box and they sense that the footsteps stopped at the top of the stairwell. The music box tries to play on its own as the teacher fights to stop the crank from winding. With each note that slips through the teacher's fingers, they see the feet of a ghost able to walk that much closer to them. The teacher is unable to maintain his grip on the crank, and, with the playing of the music, the ghost is able to run at them--presumably Ai is killed for the final time. This was a great story and pretty scary--definitely made the whole volume feel better ending it with one of the best segments.

Overall, I have to say I'm impressed with this volume in particular, and the collection as a whole is great. The variety to the tales and the uniquely Japanese-feel is excellent. The production quality in this segment is the best of the four and didn't feel low budget at all especially when compared to the first two volumes. Considering how many stories you get for the price, I definitely recommend getting this series; and if you can only get one volume then this is the one you should choose. I'm just surprised they didn't continue making more of these when things were increasingly getting better. Oh well, I suppose all good things must come to an end.

Notable Moment: During "The Ghost of Ohatsutenjin" segment when the kid is screwing the ghost and the dad is okay with it. I mean, this story does not even come close to fitting the tone of the series and is disturbing in so many ways. Funny though.

Final Rating: 6.5/10

Ms. Kurokawa in a makeshift screenshot: