Marebito (2004)
Review by Fatally Yours
The film Ju-On terrifies me…the sounds, the movement of the ghosts…brrrrrrr, it gives me the shivers even on this warm spring day. So, when I found out the director of Ju-On, Takashi Shimizu, had directed another horror tale, I was beyond ecstatic.
This new horror movie is called Marebito and has a decidedly different tone than Ju-On. It tells the tale of cameraman Masuoka who is constantly videotaping everything, just waiting for something to happen. Then one day Masuoka films a man in the subway who commits suicide by gouging his own eye out.
Masuoka becomes obsessed with what terrified the man so much to make him stab out his own eye. He seeks out this terror by returning to the subway with his videocamera. He descends deeper and deeper into the subterreanan sects that lie beneath Tokyo. He stumbles across a naked girl who is chained up, and hoping to help, her he brings her home.
While underground, he sees the Deros, who look like albinos and scuttle around on all fours. He is told by a homeless man that if they catch you they will kill you. They are pretty creepy, but mewl like little kittens.
Back at Masuoka’s apartment, we see that he has videocamera equipment everywhere. To keep an eye on the girl, whom he names F, he watches her via his cell phone while he’s at work. She won’t eat or drink anything and is only up for a few hours each day.
One day Masuoka cuts himself and discovers that F loves blood. He figures she’s not human but of the netherworld, and lets her feed on him. He starts bringing her home fresh blood from animals and treating her like a pet.
Before long, we see that Masuoka is a little bit crazy – F is actually his daughter, whom he has kidnapped from his estranged wife. He kills his wife and feeds her blood to F. He films his killing of a schoolgirl, but claims her terror of death was fake and continues to look for a more pure kind of terror.
This film is more psychological thriller than horror movie, as it observes a man slipping into madness. There aren’t many chills or thrills (except if you count the Deros, who are somewhat creepy), so don’t expect a movie like Ju-On.
It is extremely slow and drawn out, but wow, is it unsettling. I watched it right before going to bed, expecting some Ju-On-like scares, but instead went to bed feeling disturbed. I even had nightmares.
I can’t decide if I like this movie or hate it, but don’t believe the Netflix description which reads:
Masuoka a fragile cameraman who’s afraid of the unknown that he’s certain lurks around every corner, is the last person one would expect to rise to the occasion when courage is needed. But that he does when he winds up with an assignment that has him looking into an urban myth about specters that supposedly haunt Tokyo’s subterranean travel system in this fantastical film directed by Takashi Shimizu.
Either something got lost in the translation in the film or Netflix is bonkers…I’m betting a little bit of both. The cameraman doesn’t come off as “fragile,” just maybe a little weird, and he certainly goes looking for terror on his own accord. The film doesn’t even focus on the “specters” Netflix mentions – the Deros take up less than a minute of screen time.
If you decide to watch this movie, be prepared for slow pacing and hardly any scares. It sure is a trip, though…
Check it out on Amazon
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