Archive for April 14th, 2008

It starts as a primitive civilization doing their typical primitive stuff – hunting, building fires, finding beautiful lovers with perfect teeth, etc.

But the truth is, this was a good movie.

However, in order to enjoy this movie, you must truly suspend reality.

What’s interesting is the way this movie attempts to tie the primitive notions of “Africa” circa-10,000 B.C. with the great civilization of Ancient Egypt around about the same time. In this sense, it was a little bit of a groundbreaking story. We typically see Ancient Egypt as a standalone subject, sometimes with the occasional tie-in to Greece or Rome, but never in contrast to the rest of Africa.

If you cried at the end of Moulin Rouge or City of Angels (like me) because of the tragic ending, you will feel about the same towards the end of this movie. Don’t worry, this is not a complete spoiler – there is an interesting twist!

If you go expecting a horror story, you will be disappointed. This is more a somebody did somebody wrong song, and a tale of revenge wrought by a ghost. Not a very original theme, but told with more restraint than most ghost stories. So the horror factor wasn’t there, but the story had a few twists that made it worth the 85 minutes spent.

There likely is a magazine publishing fake pictures of ghosts trying to connect with the living. There likely is a medium or two in Japan who can discern what a ghost is trying to communicate. These lie in the realm of possibility, given the premise that ghosts are a reality. Even if there is no such thing as revenge seeking ghosts, there are certainly enough believers to make the publishing of the magazine and the vocation of medium lucrative. I would like to know what the medium said to the couple in this film you’d think he would speak English so the wife would be able to understand. After all, the warning was for her, and with his preternatural sensibilities he should have known.

The telekinetic special effects were restrained as well, in comparison to other films in this genre. Personally, I found this made the story more believable. I was somewhat disappointed with the ending, as it reminded me of a Disneyland ride, the Haunted House. But it seemed a fitting and final revenge.