Gravy Hallowyyn

Right, back to the proper horror of Aokigahara Forest with this rather more straightforward spooky movie.

Maiko wants to go back to the forest where her mother committed suicide and put her spirit to rest. On Halloween, of course, but other than the date, this has little to do with that particular coincidence. With her goes a small group of student documentarians, as well as three pranksters. They meet a friendly guide, get pranked, and then finally weird things happens as the pranksters get their come-uppances. Then weird things continue to happen to the four, until finally Maiko gets her chance with her mother, and isn't it everything we expect it to be?

I can see why people are saying The Forest was based on this. A young woman goes into the forest to seek out someone, starts seeing hallucinations, undergoes revelations about her past, and then gets a happy ending? But the approach is completely different, in this movie the person is also dead, that that other script is just a lot tighter with the characters.

This is also a mash up between Japanese horror and American horror, and the Japanese parts are well done. We get some atmosphere, and decent effects ala JH, and we are treated to more subtle displays of horror. Unfortunately, it then mixes in the American horror, which is more about killing off stupid Americans one by one, and stupid over the top villains, which is completely on display here.

Yeah, this is why I prefer to stay with just Japanese Horror...

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