Pray (2005/Korea/Tartan/DTS)

 

Picture: C     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C+

 

 

The strange, unexplainable phenomenon of young girls who are either white or Asian with long black hair, saying little, popping up from out of nowhere, supposedly haunting other characters and usually in a cheap white dress that could be a long shirt, cheap dress, bed sheets or maybe a bad Halloween costume continues with TV director Yuichi Sato’s feature debut Pray.

 

In what has become one of the all-time dumb jokes and symbols in all of the history of supernatural thrillers, the idea of such a young lady showing up out of nowhere happens at a school in Korea this time, and drags on and on for most of the 92 somewhat sincerely acted minutes.  Is she a ghost of Korean Civil War to come?  Was she inspired by Audrey Rose or Kubrick’s The Shining?  Does event screenwriter Tomoko Ogawa have any clue what this is about?  The answer to all is no and when the anti-climactic pay-off happens, the audience is left once again wondering why they wasted their time.  As obnoxious as the M.C. Hammer song of the same name.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is weak, with poor color, definition, detail and Video Black.  Despite the stereotypical atmosphere, a few shots do work, but the majority are annoying and the transfer offers limited rewatchability.  Akihiro Kawamura’s camerawork is sub par.  The DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are foiled by poor on-the-spot recording, combining for one of Tartan’s less spectacular presentations.  Extras include two featurettes, a Q & A piece on the film and trailers for it and four other Tartan DVDs.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo