ACF 2025: APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO is now available from VIZ

Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo (AYASHI) 

by MIYABE Miyuki

© 2000 MIYABE Miyuki

All rights reserved.

VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU IMPRINT RELEASES

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR MIYUKI MIYABE’S

APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO

Edo, Birthplace Of Japan’s Modern Age, Is Also Home To Vengeful

Ghosts Of The Past In A Gripping Horror Collection By Acclaimed

Author Of BRAVE STORY And ICO: CASTLE IN THE MIST

VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint has announced the North American release of famed Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe’s chilling collection of ghost stories – APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO. The new release carries an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

An eBook edition is also available for $8.99 (U.S. / CAN) for the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book Store, and the Kobo eBooks Store.

Haikasoru publishes some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences, and is the first imprint based in the U.S. dedicated to Japanese science fiction and fantasy in translation.

In old Edo, the past was never forgotten. It lived alongside the present in dark corners and in the shadows. In these tales, award-winning author Miyuki Miyabe explores the ghosts of early modern Japan and the spaces of the living world – workplaces, families, and the human soul – that they inhabit. Written with a journalistic eye and a fantasist’s heart, APPARITIONS brings the restless dead, and those who encounter them, to life.

“Miyuki Miyabe turns her thorough knowledge of Japan’s rich tradition of horror and genuinely creepy folklore into a unique collection of terrifying stories set amidst the darker shadows of Japan’s old capital in APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO,” says Nick Mamatas, Editor, Haikasoru. “The days draw shorter, the nights longer and more ominous, and it’s a perfect time to take in this remarkable collection of ghost stories set amidst the bustling merchant culture of the classic Edo period!”

Author Miyuki Miyabe's first novel was published in 1987, and since then she has become one of Japan's most popular and best-selling authors. In 2007, Miyabe's novel, BRAVE STORY (also published North America by Haikasoru), notably won the Batchelder Award for Best Children's Book in Translation from the American Library Association. Her fantasy novels ICO: CASTLE IN THE MIST and BRAVE STORY are also available from VIZ Media’s Haikasoru imprint. APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO is her newest book to be translated into English.

For more information on APPARITIONS: THE GHOSTS OF OLD EDO and the Haikasoru imprint, please visit www.haikasoru.com.

For more information on other titles available from VIZ Media, visit www.VIZ.com.

ACF 1821: GHOST STORY OF YOTSUYA to kick off new film series

Ghost Story of Yotsuya / Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan

Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa

Japan, 1959, 76 minutes

When: Wednesday, February 27 at 8:00 PM

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, NY

Between 1st and 2nd Avenues

Map and visitor information here

New York Premiere

Ghost Story of Yotsuya is the opening night film of Into the Shintoho Mind Warp: GIRLS, GUNS & GHOSTS from the Second Golden Age of Japanese Film, the latest Globus Film Series at Japan Society NY. The series, which runs through March 10th, will feature eight rarely screened features from the studio that was created in 1947 as an offshoot of Toho. (Yotsuya, as best I've been able to determine, refers to a neighborhood in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, where part of the story is set.)

Nakagawa's film is but one of the more than thirty cinematic adaptations of a classic kabuki play written in 1825 by Tsuruya Nanboku; it is widely considered to be the best film version.

The story centers on the ambitions of a master-less samurai named Iemon Tamiya (Shigeru Amachi). When his plans to marry the lovely Iwa ((Katsuko Wakasugi) are thwarted by her father's lowly regard of him as a libertine, Iemon resorts to murder. His marriage to Iwa, which has produced a son, does not improve his lot in life nor lead to personal happiness. A weak man, Iemon is spurred on by his attendant Naosuke (Shintaro Emi) to murder again. The result is that he is haunted by his victims, driven mad and consquently commits even more acts of carnage.

Director Nakagawa has here produced a film that ranks close to, if not right up there with, Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu, ghost-themed films that are better known in the West and both of which are available from The Criterion Collection. (Indeed, I'm beginning to see this series of Shintoho films as a promising candidate for Criterion's Eclipse series. Here's hoping.) The emotions of the main characters, Iemon and Iwa, are magnificently brought forth by stellar performances from Amachi and Wakasugi, respectively. And Nakagawa's use of colors, particularly reds and greens, is masterful, providing visual metaphors to emotional and physical states of being.

ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; very highly recommended.

Wednesday night's screening of Ghost Story of Yotsuya will be followed by the Enka Ecstasy party. Guests are encouraged to wear black-and-white outfits, with two accessories of color, in keeping with the spirit of the retrospective and to celebrate the six black-and-white and two color(ful) film rarities the series is showcasing. The party features a live performance by New York-based Japanese soul music band Neo Blues Maki.

For information about the complete GIRLS, GUNS & GHOSTS film series and to order tickets, click here. The series is comprised of selections from Nudes! Guns! Ghosts! which was curated by film critic and author Mark Schilling for the 2010 Udine Far East Film Festival. After its run in New York, the series will tour North America at Philadelphia's International House (March 28-30), San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (dates TBD) and Vancouver's Pacific Cinematheque (dates also TBD).

Also be sure to check out the terrific series trailer by Benjamin Wright.

ACF 766: "Onibaba" at Japan Society, New York this Friday, November 12th, 2010

Nobuko Otowa (left, in mask) and Jitsuko Yoshimura
in Onibaba © 1964 Toho Co., Ltd.

Onibaba
Written and Directed by Kaneto Shindo
With Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Sato,
Jukichi Uno, and Taiji Tonoyama
Japan, 1964, 103 minutes, B&W
In Japanese with English subtitles
Showtime: Friday, November 12, 2010 at 7:30 PM
(Print Courtesy The Japan Foundation with permission Janus Films)

Japan Society (333 East 47th Street, between 1st and 2nd avenues, NYC) will be presenting this classic film on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 7:30 PM.

Kaneto Shindo's tenebrous classic puts the spotlight on the savage appetites of two women. Nestled in a seemingly endless sea of swaying reeds during the war-ravaged days of 16th century Japan, a hard-bitten mother (Nobuko Otowa) and her young daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) lead the nefarious existence of marauders, murdering the stray soldiers and lost samurai who wander into the wilderness surrounding their hut, selling their war gear for rice, and dumping down their corpses down a deep, dark pit.

Yoshimura, Otowa, and Sato (lfeft to right)

When their rough and rugged neighbor (Kei Sato) returns from war, conflicting ferocious passions threaten to shatter the women’s sinister partnership, and soon… the newly formed trio’s precarious cohabitation.

Intensely erotic and steeped in Buddhist symbolism, Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba is both a macabre parable on modern-day consumerism, and a lyrical morality play on the dark power of primal desires.

Otowa (top) & Yoshimura (below) asleep on a hot evening

TICKETS:
$12 general public/$9 Japan Society members, students & seniors

Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

Part of the Zen & Its Opposite: Essential (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House film series.

Each film illustrates one or several of the "Six Planes of Existence"—a Buddhist concept commonly referred to as “Six Paths” (Rokudō or Rokudō-rinne) in Japan—within “the realm of Birth and Death” (Samsara).

Yoshimura gleefully runs through the tall grass

Onibaba
The Realm of the Animals: a condition of servitude in which one is governed by instinct, and in which one has no sense of morality and lives only for the present. In this state, one will not shrink from preying on weaker beings for personal gain.

ACF comments: Kaneto Shindo is a prolific screenplay writer and film director. At the age of 98 (!) he and his 45th directorial effort Postcard were recently honored at the Tokyo International Film Festival with a special jury prize. (Read more about that at the Toronto J-FIlm Pow-Wow blog by clicking here.)

Shindo also wrote the screenplay for Hachiko monogatari, a movie about the incredible dedication of a dog to its master. That film was recently remade as Hachi: A Dog's Tale, a very good movie, even though it starred Richard Gere for whom I usually have no use.

Onibaba is most-certainly the film that Shindo is best known for here in the West. Although the Demon mask is perhaps the single thing with which the film is most associated, it's really a movie about survival and sensuality. And it's a cinematic masterpiece. It's available on DVD from Criterion, if you can't make it to Friday's screening, so you have no excuse for not seeing it. And see it you should.

ACF Rating: 4 out of 4 stars, highest recommendation, an absolute must-see.

ACF 743: OBAKE! An Evening of Ghosts, Spirits, & Fun at Japan Society

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
The Ghost of Asakura Tōgo Attacks Orikoshi Masatomo
Color woodblock
American Friends of the British Museum
(The Arthur R. Miller Collection), 19612

OBAKE!
AN EVENING OF GHOSTS, SPIRITS, & FUN
Japan Society

Friday, October 29th, 2010, 7:00 PM
With a special film screening of House / Hausu at 7:30 PM

Kick off your Halloween weekend—Japanese style— at Japan Society, New York. Put on your Japan-inspired attire and enjoy a special evening at Japan Society. Watch a ghostly film, take night gallery tours, indulge in Japanese treats and libations, and meet fellow lovers of Japan.

Special gift courtesy of Kidrobot for the best costume!

Schedule:
7:00-10:00 PM - Food, drinks and music by DJ Aki
7:30-9:00 PM - Screening of House (Hausu) by acclaimed director Nobuhiko Obayashi
8:00-8:30 PM - Gallery tour with docent extraordinaire David Moors
9:00-9:30 PM - Second gallery tour
9:30 PM - Best costume prize announcement

About House:
Alice in Wonderland meets Beetlejuice and Dario Argento: Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House is a hallucinatory take on the classic haunted house story.

Tickets: FREE for Japan Society members / $15 non-members.

Members, please call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258 to reserve your complimentary tickets.

Non-members: Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

House is Not Rated. Please be advised that there are images of violence in the film. Alcoholic beverages will be available only to those over 21 years of age. ID required.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY.

ACF 730: Kobayashi's Kwaidan kicks off new film series at Japan Society tonight

Kwaidan
(Kwaidan [Kaidan] © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Japan Society

Zen and Violence Unite in Japan Society's New Film Series
Zen & Its Opposite: Essential (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House

Timed with The Sound of One Hand: Painting and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin (October 1, 2010–January 9, 2011), Japan Society's major exhibition of 17th century Zen paintings, the Zen & Its Opposite film series launches tonight, Friday, October 15, with Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan at 7:30 pm. Another 4 films will be shown monthly through February 13, 2011.

Kwaidan (a.k.a. Ghost Stories) is one of several magnificent movies that Kobayashi (1916 - 1996) directed. Some other significant titles are Samurai Rebellion (1967), Harakiri (1962) and The Human Condition, an epic trilogy of which the first two parts were released in 1959 and the third in 1961. (These, like Kwaidan and the other films in the Zen & Its Opposite series, are available on DVD from Criterion, for you non-New Yorkers.)

Kwaidan is comprised of four stories based on the writings of Lafcadio Hearn. Of Greek and Irish ancestry, he came to the U.S. in 1869, but later moved to Japan, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1895 and changed his name to Yakumo Koizumi.

The four tales were filmed primarily on huge studio sets, which gave Kobayashi and his crew total control over lighting, which is exquisitely used to great effect. Many of the sets themselves are physically stunning in and of themselves.

Kwaidan won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. It's a masterpiece and will be shown in its 161 minute Japanese version. (When released in the U.S., it was cut to 125 minutes. There also were versions just over 180 minutes long, but the additional 20 or so minutes of footage are no longer available.)

ACF Rating: 4 out of 4 stars. An absolute must-see.

So give yourself an early Halloween present and see Kwaidan tomorrow night at Japan Society. If you're not in the NY metro area, or just can't get there, buy the Criterion DVD or rent it from Netflix. But see this movie!

ACf 729: "In A Cup Of Tea" episode of KWAIDAN at Japan Society tomorrow

"In A Cup Of Tea"
The 4th episode in Kwaidan / Kaidan
(Kwaidan [Kaidan] © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Japan Society

This, the final episode in Masaki Kobayashi"s Kwaidan (1965), is a story in which a writer/narrator (Osamu Takizawa) recounts the tale of Kannai (Kanemon Nakamura), a samurai who notices something strange when he goes to drink a cup of tea. Namely the reflection of another person, not his own, on the surface of the liquid!

Kannai gets totally freaked out when the apparition appears in full three-dimensional form that evening. And things get even more bizarre when three other spirit warriors materialize and Kannai's sword strokes prove totally ineffective against them as well.

For more info about this film series at Japan Society, click here.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY.

ACF 728: "Hoichi, The Earless" episode of KWAIDAN at Japan Society this Friday, October 15th

Both images are of Katsuo Nakamura
in Kwaidan (Kaidan) © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.

"Hoichi, The Earlless"
The 3rd episode in Kwaidan / Kaidan
(Kwaidan [Kaidan] © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Japan Society

Hoichi, The Earless is the third of four episodes in the film KWAIDAN, which will kick off Japan Society's next film series, ZEN & ITS OPPOSITE: ESSENTIAL (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House. This is the easily longest episode in the film. think of it as the "main course" after the "soup" and "salad" of the first two and before the "desert" of the final segment.

Hoichi (Katsuo Nakamura) is a talented blind musician. He is called upon to perform songs of a long ago sea battle between the Heijke and Genji clans, The trouble is that the invite comes from insistent ghosts and his perfromances take a terrible physical toll on him. To combat this evil influence, the head priest (played by Takashi Shimura) has Hoichi's entire body painted with holy verses. Unfortunately, two small areas are inadvertantly left vulnerable.

For more info about this film series at Japan Society, click here.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY.

ACF 725: "The Woman Of The Snow" episode of KWAIDAN at Japan Society this Friday, October 15th

Minochi (Tatsuya Nakadai) and the Woman of the Snow (Keiko Kishi)

The Woman Of The Snow"
The 3rd episode in Kwaidan / Kaidan
(Kwaidan 怪談 (Kaidan) © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Japan Society

The Woman of the Snow is the second of four episodes in the film KWAIDAN, which will kick off Japan Society's next film series, ZEN & ITS OPPOSITE: ESSENTIAL (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House.

A pair of woodcutters are forced to seek shelter in a shack when a fierce snowstorm engulfs them on their way home. The elder one's life is taken from him by a supernatural female, but the younger one, Minochi (played by Tatsuya Nakadai, who in my opinion runs a close second to Mifune as the all-time greatest Japanese actor), is spared. However, the phantom woman charges him with the injunction never to speak to anyone of what happened.

Minochi (Nakadai) and Yuki (also Keiko Kishi)

After having returned to his village, he one day encounters the lovely Yuki (Keiki Kishi, who also plays the specter). The two fall in love, marry, have children, and live a wonderful life together. Strangely though, even after the passage of several years and having given birth to three children, Yuki's appearance has not altered in the least.

One night, in a relaxed mood, Minochi forgets himself and recounts the horror he witnessed when he woke up in the shack and found this strange woman taking the life-force from the elderly woodcutter. Consequences ensue, but not exactly what the viewer might expect. Another great tale in the cinematic anthology that is Kwaidan.

For more info about this film series at Japan Society, click here.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY.

ACF 723: "The Black Hair" episode of KWAIDAN at Japan Society this Friday, October 15th

The "Good" First Wife (Michiyo Aratama)

"The Black Hair"
The 1st episode in Kwaidan / Kaidan
(Kwaidan 怪談 (Kaidan) © 1965 Toho Co., Ltd.)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Japan Society

The Black Hair is the first of four episodes in the film KWAIDAN, which will kick off Japan Society's next film series, ZEN & ITS OPPOSITE: ESSENTIAL (& Turbulent) Japanese Art House.

The Black Hair is the story of a destitute but ambitious samurai (Rentaro Mikuni) who leaves his faithful, loving wife for a position far away, one that promises advancement. Unfortunately part of the deal necessitates his marrying a selfish, most unpleasant second wife. Things finally become too much for him and he leaves her and his position.

The "Bad" Second Wife (Misako Watanabe)

When he returns home, he finds his dutiful wife apparently unchanged. But, as one can well imagine, things are not truly as they seem.

For more info about this film series at Japan Society, click here.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY.

ACF 714: Obake! An Evening of Ghosts, Spirits, & Fun at NY's Japan Society

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
The Ghost of Asakura Tōgo
Attacks Orikoshi Masatomo
(Detail of color woodblock)
American Friends of the British Museum
(The Arthur R. Miller Collection, 19612)

Japan Society (NY) has a terrific evening planned to start this year's Halloween weekend:

Kick off your Halloween weekend—Japanese style—and join us as we thank our members for their support and welcome our new friends. Put on your Japan-inspired attire and enjoy a special evening at Japan Society. Watch a ghostly film, take night gallery tours, indulge in Japanese treats and libations, and meet fellow lovers of Japan.

Special gift courtesy of Kidrobot for the best costume!

Schedule:
7:00-10:00 PM - Food, drinks and music by DJ Aki
7:30-9:00 PM - Screening of House (Hausu) by acclaimed director Nobuhiko Obayashi
8:00-8:30 PM - Gallery tour with docent extraordinaire David Moors
9:00-9:30 PM - Second gallery tour
9:30 PM - Best costume prize announcement

TICKETS
FREE for Japan Society members / $15 non-members.

Members: Please call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258 to reserve your complimentary tickets to this performance.

Non-members: Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

Japan Society is lovcated at 333 East 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd avenues), New York, NY 10017

ACF 433: Two episodes of Korean Ghost Stories to screen at The Korea Society

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
(Building entrance on SW corner of 3rd Ave. and 57th St.)

The second installment of The Korea Society's Korean Ghost Stories mini-series features two spine-tingling episodes. Haunted House and The Reincarnated Princess will be shown this Thursday, December 17, 2009, starting at 6:30 PM. Both were originally shown on the KBS television series Korean Ghost Stories, which was also known as Hometown of Legend. They will be presented in Korean with English subtitles.

This is the second of the two-part mini-series. The first, on November 19th, featured a fascinating and informative introduction by Heinz Insu Fenki, both an author and the director of Interstitial Studies Institute at Suny New Paltz. This was followed by a screening of Nine-Tailed Fox, a marvelous tale of a clan that uses the harshest means imaginable to hide a dark secret about some of its women.

Haunted House

In Haunted House (starring Lee Duck-hwa, Lee Min-woo, and Yoo Hye-jung), the ghost of a young woman haunts the family members who sold her into a life of corruption.

The Reincarnated Princess

Two sisters return from the grave to seduce and punish the men who killed them in The Reincarnated Princess (starring Lee Jin, Kang Sung-min, and Lee Ji-hyun).

For further information, click here.

Korean Ghost Stories is a presentation of The Korea Society with support from

ACF 038: Ghost Gate

Don't bother with this movie.
There you have it in one simple five word sentence. However, since I spent the 90 or so minutes it took to watch the whole thing, I might as well offer a few comments. Feel free to read on, or to check out another of my postings. Frankly, I suggest the latter, but here goes.
Ghost Gate is a recent J-Horror release about five youths, three girls and two guys, who enter a mansion where a murder took place fifteen years earlier. A famous novelist's female assistant/secretary had been killed in a locked room, and the novelist had disappeared at the same time. The youths hope to solve the mystery and to claim the large reward that's been offered.
Of course, they start dying one-by-one. And of course, there's a female ghost with long straight hair, though at least it doesn't hang down in front of her face.
The main problem with this movie, which was shot on video and has a standard TV 4:3 aspect ratio, is that it isn't the slightest bit scary! The film also violates the second most important rule for this genre, which is that the young females must show some skin! Not nudity necessarily, but at least some flesh for us horn-dogs to feast upon. Alas, all three girls, while nice looking, are ultra-conservatively dressed.
Beyond that, the dialogue - to use the term loosely - totally sucks. For example, upon entering a room, one character asks, "Where are we?" You're in a room, dummy!
At another point, one of the guys asks one of the girls, "Why'd you ask me that question?" The female replies, "What question was that?" And after a pause, the guy says, "Yes." Scintillating!
And take my word for it, the "acting' is on a par with the dialogue, totally amateurish.
Somewhat amusing was the inconsistency of there being cobwebs that the youths have to brush aside, yet all the surfaces in the house were totally dust-free.
Info about this horrible movie is hard to come by. The film is not listed at imdb. I did come across one indication on the web that the director is a Makoto Yamaguchi, whoever he or she is. There are three people by that name listed at imdb, but it's not evident if any of them are this director. One of the actresses is Miho Yabe, who at least has a listing at imdb, though it's pretty minimal.
The DVD of Ghost Gate is being distributed by Laguna Productions, a company that specializes in releases for the Latino market and that is obviously looking to expand into other genres. It's not likely that this release is going to help in that regard.
If for some bizarre reason you're interested in checking Ghost Gate out, be advised that some info, including the Laguna website and amazon.com, indicate that it's in Japanese with English subtitles. However, the screener I received from Laguna was English-dubbed only, so I have my doubts.
The one thing I don't have a doubt about is that there are way more better things that you can spend your time and money on. Just because I squandered 90 minutes watching this in its entirelty so I could be sure about it, you don't have to to.
Ghost Gate gets a 1/2 out of 4 star ACF rating; strongly not recommended.

ACF 029: Ghost Train (Otoshimono)

Not all passengers ride inside the Ghost Train!

Nana (Erika Sawajiri) and her younger sister Koriko(Images copyright 2006 Ghost Train Film Partners)

All aboard ! ! ! . . . . the Ghost Train ! ! !

Weird things are happening in the Mizunashi Station and the nearby train tunnel. A lost rail pass keeps turning up. Passengers disappear. Bodies are seen on the tracks, then are gone. A strange phantom can be seen - or can she? - on the video monitors. And a spectral voice insists, "I want what's mine."

All of which doesn't bode well for soon-to-graduate high school student Nana (lovely Erika Sawajiri, who was seen as Hotarubi in 2005's Shinobi). And her plate is already pretty full. Her father is dead, or at least not around. Her mother is in the hospital. Several of her "hipper" female classmates are giving her attitude. Then her younger sister Koriko has to go and disappear from the train platform! What's a girl to do?

Well, for spunky Nana, it's some persistent detective work that reveals the disturbing history of part of the tunnel near the station, then into the deadly realm itself on a dangerous mission to rescue her sister. In all this she is assisted by her friend Kanae; by an ex-train conductor/engineer who was demoted to office work for seeing things on the track that his bosses insisted weren't really there; and by a mysterious one-eyed woman.

Now, horror movies are not my favorite genre, but I enjoy a good scare as well as anyone, I guess. I've seen and enjoyed a number of the recent J-Horror films, such as Ringu (Ring), Ju-On (The Grudge) and Kairo (Pulse), though thankfully not their Hollywood remakes.

Ghost Train, the second film directed by Takeshi Furusawa (who was assistant director on Kairo), is not in the same league as these, but not many films are. Still, I found it quite entertaining. Some genuine scares and good comic relief, including one hilarious line about that repeatedly lost rail pass I mentioned earlier.

I saw the film on May 7th at its East Coast Premiere sponsored by New York - Tokyo and ADV Films. The screening took place at the very fancy Tribeca Grand Hotel in Manhattan. After some really hairy stuff had been happening near the end of the film, I said out loud, "I am so taking a cab home tonight!"

This elicited a huge wave of laughter around me. Then I heard a guy off to the side ask, "What did he say?" Someone repeated my utterance pretty much verbatim, and a second wave of laughter erupted.

I say any film that can turn a small, fancy screening room in an ultra-swank Tribeca hotel into an old 42nd Street Grindhouse, if only for a few moments, is alright in my book.

There'll be several opportunities for you to decide for yourself. Ghost Train will be screening June 6-13, 2007 at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater on East 3rd Street in New York City. On the West Coast, I've been told there'll be a screening at the 4 Star Theatre in San Francisco on July 6th.

And in any case, the Ghost Train DVD is scheduled for release by ADV Films on July 17th.


Links:
Ghost Train: imdb
Takeshi Furusawa, director: imdb
Erika Sawajiri, actress (Nana): imdb
Chinatsu Wakatsuki, actress (Kanae): imdb
Shun Oguri, actor (ex-train conductor/engineer): imdb