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Poetic

I was expecting a grudge/ring type film but its not, and its better for it. Dissapointed to see negative reviews for this. Its about Japenese culture (and wider but thats my interpretation), especially the technological aspects isolating people - friends on the internet are not real friends - and lonliness creeps up to wipe out humans. I didn't fully get the ghost realm linkage bit here, except to say that humans often live their lives as ghosts, and yes the film can be a little confusing - BUT, this stays with you and offers far more than Grudge ever could. An intelligent, poetic film.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Ring without the tingle

If your'e a film student or a strokey beardy guardian reader who wants to wow dinner guests over a lentil bake then rent this movie. If you want a Japanese horror flick in the same mode as The Ring or The Grudge then you will be disappointed. This movie is about the alienation and dehumanisation which modern society and modern technology create. The characters are terrorised by a nebulous threat which at various points in the movie appears via a webcam offering glimpses at the suicides of associates and then as a hidden room sealed with red tape into which the protagonists are irrestistebly drawn to be met with ghost/zombies reenacting their own deaths. The flow of the story is not strictly linear and the locations and context are never fully explained. At times the story takes place an abandoned factory, an empty city or a seemingly empty university library as if to reinforce the sense of loneliness that pervades the film. None of the characters ever really connect with eachother or with the audience, which I suppose is the point. The movie is eerie without being terrifying and the ultimate feeling is one of desolation rather than horror.