Reincarnation (2005/Japanese Horror)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras: C- Feature: D
After
several people looked at original Grudge
franchise director Takashi Shimizu’s 2005 mess Reincarnation, we all decided that a house is not haunted no matter
how much blood, flash images, jump cuts, long hair, dirty clothes, strange
clothes or pancake make-up you use. That
it is a filmmaker making a film within a film going back to a murder 35 years
before is pretentious enough, then all the crew become targets. Maybe the ghosts saw this production coming.
When the
pattern of supernatural attack matches the script, that was the end! What a dumb flick. Shimizu is one of the most overrated
directors around and that he is responsible for the shallow cycle is no
surprise. Even the title smacks of
recycling, a word whose variant should be the actual title of this wreck.
The 1.78
X 1 image looks shot on video and is weak in detail and depth, while the Dolby
Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are surprisingly weak in the way they were
recorded. Why not shoot this nicely to
be more effective? It is typical of the
slap-together feel of this mess. Extras
include an obligatory Making of
Reincarnation featurette, deleted scenes with optional commentary and Memories of Reincarnation interview with
& introduction by Shimizu.
- Nicholas Sheffo
