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Gojira (1954)
Gojira(1954): Movie Review
Gojira is a 1954 kaiju (giant monster) film produced by Toho studios, originally released in Japanese with English subtitles the film was re released in America with English dubbing and additional scenes. Directed by Ishirō Honda and starring Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura the film follows the rampage of a giant radioactive lizard and the effects it has on the city of Tokyo. The film spawned a whopping 27 sequels spanning a 50 year period and remains one of the most iconic characters in Japanese culture.
The film opens (as many Godzilla films do) with a small fishing boat being attacked whilst out at sea, after another ship is sunk mainland authorities and scientists soon flock to the small island of Odo to investigate. Amongst the investigators is Dr Yamane (Shimura) his daughter Emiko (Kochi) and her fiancé, and fellow scientist, Dr Serizawa (Hirata). Not long after the arrival of our protagonists, Odo island experiences a massive storm at which point Godzilla reveals himself to the characters and the viewer. After some quick research the official scientific opinion reached is that Godzilla is a giant lizard that has been mutated by nuclear radiation.
Comparitively the folklore angle is that Japan is being punished by the Gods for meddling with nature and experimenting with nuclear bombs. Either way Godzilla makes a break straight for Tokyo and ,over the course of 2 nights, lays waste to the city (despite an ingenious pylon electric fence). Luckily Dr Serizawa has developed the deadly "oxygen bomb", an aquatic weapon designed to destroy the oxygen atoms in water and suffocate any nearby creatures. After seeing the destruction caused by the monster all three characters head out to sea to confront a submerged Godzilla and put an end to the destruction.
A lot of people's impression of the Godzilla franchise is the inherent silliness of watching two men in rubber suits wrestle each other whilst smashing tiny buildings. The tone of the original film couldn't be further from that. A bleak and poignant allegory of nuclear technology, a mere 9 years after the events of the events of Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Godzilla is punishment for man inflicting suffering on his fellow man. A particularly sombre moment occurs when Dr Serizawa is refusing to use his oxygen destroyer for fear of more repercussions, however is convinced by seeing a news report on the television documenting Tokyo's devastation set to an eerie children's choir. When he uses the oxygen destroyer he insists that all knowledge be erased and Dr Yamane's final anti-nuclear monologue chills the viewer to the bone.
The design of the monster is absolutely timeless. The look of the suit, the atomic breath and the iconic roar all contribute to the impact of the film and the franchise's longevity. The action sequences are as impressive now as I'm sure they were in 1954, sure you can see that the buildings and vehicles are miniatures but the grainy black and white style and epic classical score are more than enough to suspend your disbelief. The film also paces itself well and firmly establishes the moral of the story by the time Godzilla unleashes his fury on the city, which makes it all the more dramatic. As with most foreign films it is advisable to watch it subtitled to get the most engaging experience as dubbing only has the ability to make the film seem like a parody of the genre.
I've only seen around a third of the 28 Godzilla films, and only in the last few years which makes me somewhat of novice with the franchise, but I started with the original and it's still one of the best of the series and of the 50s science fiction era. Whilst the other films can be a lot of fun none were able to deliver such a harrowing fable whilst simultaneously featuring a giant monster smashing up the landscape. Most of the Godzilla films have never gotten a DVD release in the UK but this one has, so go check it out and see where the legend began.
5 Stars ***** How many Godzilla films have you seen? Have you seen the original?
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)
Don't be Afraid of the Dark
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is a 2011 remake of the 1973 made-for-TV horror film. Directed by Troy Nixey starring Guy Pearce (Memento) and Katie Holmes ( wife of Tom Cruise) the movie is really a Guillermo Del Toro vehicle as he produces and co-writes the script. Del Toro himself admits he became involved in the project as he was terrified by the original film when he was a child and brings the story forward 39 years as a professional couple and small child move into a 19th century mansion with more than a few secrets beneath the floorboards.
The child in question is 8 year old Sally (Bailee Madison) who's been sent to live in Blackwood Manor with her architect father Alex (Pearce) and interior designer Kim (Holmes), Sally's potential wicked step-mother. Soon enough Sally starts to hear strange voices from the walls and vents telling her to "come and play with us Sally" which inevitably prompts her to explore the house and yes, go down to the basement. She finds that the voices are originating from the houses sealed ash pit and decides it'd be a great idea to unseal said ash pit, this unleashes hordes of "scary gnomes" (actual dialogue) who proceed to terrorise her in order to obtain her teeth.
That's right, it would appear that these small creatures are actually modern day manifestations of the tooth fairy and they will stop at nothing to obtain children's teeth. Quite rightly Alex and Kim think that Sally is suffering from a case of juvenile insanity and immediately get the psychiatrist in to set things straight. However eventually the little imps soon become a bit too big for their impy boots and start attacking the adults as well, leading to a final confrontation by the ash pit.
As you may have already concluded this is a profoundly silly film and it should be noted that there were no mentions of the tooth fairy in the original film (though the creatures were still very impy). It is Del Toro's obsession with fairy tales, exhibited in the greatly overrated Pan's Labyrinth (2006), that drags this film down attempting to add an unnecessary dimension to a perfectly serviceable concept. Conversely in the original film it was the Kim character who was being tormented by the creatures and the addition of a daughter-stepmother dynamic is certainly a welcome one. In fact Bailee Madison is the star of the film acting circles around a dull Holmes and a wooden Pearce and is one of the few enjoyable elements on offer here.
As silly as the concept of the fairies is the creature design and special effects are outstanding. Looking halfway between a rat and a monkey (a Sumatran rat-monkey perhaps) the creatures still manage to look quite intimidating despite their small stature. This is certainly an improvement on the original creature design which I can only describe as tiny men in gorilla suits with peanuts for heads. As a result of the effects and the brilliant set design of the mansion there is a certain eerie quality to the film but apart from that it's not in the least bit scary and in fact quite boring.
If Hollywood has to remake movies it's certainly better to pick obscure low-budget TV movies however I would maintain that the original is superior. The bold changes made are ambitious and if you can watch a movie about tiny killer tooth fairies with a straight face then this may be for you. This film is bad, but unfortunately not so bad it's good and as a result there was minimal enjoyment to be had here. 2 Stars ** Did you like Don't Be Afraid of the Dark? Have you heard of the original?
Kairo (2001)
Kairo aka Pulse(2001)
Kairo aka Pulse is a 2001 Japanese psychological horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and starring Haruhiko Katô and Kumiko Aso. The film(produced by the legendary Toho studios) is a modern day ghost story set in urban Japan which follows a group of young adults who are at the centre of a paranormal epidemic.
The film follows the two parallel story lines involving Kudo (Kato)and Kawashima (Aso). Kudo is a young woman who works at plant shop and starts to notice something very wrong with her friends. After witnessing her friend Taguchi inexplicably hang himself at the beginning of the film, one by one Kudo's friends fall into despondent trances and lose the will to live. The victims often receive phone calls from the recently deceased who can only utter the words "help me" and Kudo soon starts to notice doorways lined with red tape appearing all over Tokyo.
The Kawashima storyline offers more a of an insight into the mythos of the ghosts and explains that the spirit world has somehow found a portal to spill over into our world via the internet. Kawashima himself discovers a strange website which shows grainy snuff-like web cams featuring depressed individuals which asks the chilling question "Would you like to meet a ghost?". Through consulting university staff Harue and Yoshizaki it is further revealed that it is the isolation in Japanese youth culture that is creating these suicides, and that after realising there is no life after death people simply lose the will to live. The string of deaths eventually escalates in to an apocalyptic situation by which time the two story lines converge as Kudo and Kawashima try and escape the city and it's ghostly inhabitants together.
Kairo is a very subtle and underplayed horror film, it won't necessarily make you jump or scare you as you watch it but the imagery and concept will stay with you long after the film finishes. It is certainly the look and feel of the film that gives it it's unique quality, the amateur webcam footage, the slow-mo effects and the look of the ghosts themselves. Instead of the over used pale-faced, long-haired Japanese ghost the film makers opt for a more classical style. For the most part the ghosts are simply shadows, against walls, lurking in public places etc. This is a brilliantly simplistic approach as it encourages the viewer to use their imagination and really engage with the themes of the film. Thematically speaking the film is very rich and philosophical, to understand the film fully though it is important to have some background knowledge on Japanese culture. Hikikomori is the Japanese phenomena referring to young adults who withdraw from society and isolate themselves in their houses, couple that with the well known suicide problem in Japan and you start to see what the film is really about. Which makes it all the more sinister.
The trouble with Kairo however is no matter how metaphorically interesting it is or how eerie and unsettling some of the sequences are it is still, at it's core, a faintly silly premise. This was something much more apparent in the hideously misjudged American remake (Pulse 2006) but it's still there. The atmosphere and dread built up in the first half of the film is somewhat undermined by absurd conversations later in the film about how the spirit world is now full to the brim so now ghosts will invade our world and kill anyone they come into contact with. Simply putting red tape around a doorway seems like quite a flimsy safeguard against this and along with a number of other things is never really fully explained. It's a real disappointment that after engineering such a smart and thoughtful concept for a horror film that the execution feels a little bit clumsy and underdeveloped.
If you can suspend your disbelief then Kairo is a great psychological horror film much in the same vein as Ringu (1998) or Dark Water (2002)with genuinely meaningful metaphors behind the scares. The fractured narrative is typical of the Japanese style and does require extra focus but if you let yourself be engaged you will be scared out of your wits. The film perfectly encapsulates the feelings of isolation, loneliness and despair which are certainly not exclusive to Japananese youth and also reflect a time when there was still much aprehension about the internet and it's effects. For these reasons Kairo should definitely be given a chance and just to reassure you, that shadow in the corner of your bedroom is definitely not a ghost.
4 Stars **** Have you seen Kairo or Pulse (remake)? Did the film affect you?