(2004/Japan)
(A.k.a Tôkyô densetsu: ugomeku machi no kyôki)
Review by Nick Frame Directed by Ataru Oikawa Starring: Sachiko Kokubu, Masahi Taniguchi, Mizuho Nakamura, Seiji Chihara and Yuka Hayashi Source: Panik House (USA) (NTSC Region 0 | 79mins | 2004)
Young and pretty Yumiko Osawa (Sachiko Kokubu) works alongside her friend Moe (Mizuho Nakamura) for an up and coming design company. As well having to put up with her difficult boss, she discovers that her friend Mika has met a great guy and they have decided to get married soon. With no boyfriend on the scene and problems at work, Yumiko is feeling decidedly down. However things get worse when she receives a letter held together with bloody piano wire from someone who purportedly wants to marry her! Unperturbed she heads along to her school reunion where she meets up with her old classmates and they are soon reminiscing about their schooldays. While there, they bring up the subject of Mikuriya, a student who was only at school for one semester, but who supposedly went crazy and can be seen in an old school photo of Yumiko staring intently at her through a school window.
It’s now that she starts to put two and two together and remembers that Mikuriya had a huge crush on her at school. She does some detective work of her own as well as hiring a private detective in order to discover where Mikuriya is and what he did after leaving school. Is he back in Tokyo, did he send these letters and more importantly what does he want with her? Unfortunately for Yumiko he may be closer at hand than she thinks!
Shot on DV, director Oikawa (Tomie) manages to create a very creepy atmosphere using the sparse and empty office blocks and apartments. This along with our beautiful female lead works in great contrast to the filthy blood soaked letters and other items that are being sent to her. It would be unfair to compare this to films like "Ring" or "Ju-On" as it uses a continuing sense of creepiness and unease rather than "jump" moments but to its credit this direction works to an extent.
Performances are pretty good all round from what I gather a pretty inexperienced cast. Sachiko Kokubu is good and quite believable as our heroine but Mikuriya verges from disturbing to unintentionally funny as the resident lunatic. Indeed at times he seems like a Manga bad guy come to life, however he should be given some credit as he has clearly thrown himself into the role and at times was very unsettling.
My main gripe with the film though is that it seems to be holding back and never quite fulfilling its promise. The film is based on real events, namely the Otaku (meaning obsessive collector) murders of 1988 to 1989 and murderer Hiroyuki Tsuchida who was said to be obsessed with the Manga series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" which led to him to murder his mother and plans to murder the rest of his family. The histories of both cases are on the DVD in the form of text essays and are quite chilling especially the Otaku case which involved the murder of children. I read up on these first and was expecting something quite horrific from Tokyo Psycho. However, while creepy it’s never that gory and going by the DVD cover as well, I was perhaps expecting something a little more extreme. Indeed the only link between the real life cases and the film was that the psycho sent letters and body parts to his intended victim. Not that I go looking for extreme or gruesome movies but I was a little let down by what was on offer.
Onto the DVD itself, and firstly we are given the option of the menus in English or Spanish, a nice touch from Panik House catering well to its US customers.
We are presented with a director approved non-anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfer that was shot on DV. To be fair it’s a strong image for a digitally shot film with strong blacks and deep colours but as you might expect it’s occasionally grainy and the picture itself can be soft at times. There is no print damage to speak of however. Overall a good effort but nothing to get overexcited about.
There are two audio options, Dolby Digital Japanese 5.1 and 2.0 along with English and Spanish subtitles. The 5.1 option is very strong with a nice balance between the dialogue and the effects. The surrounds did not get a great workout but every little effect helped to add the eerie atmosphere. Bass effects too are pretty good and there is no crackle or hiss.
Once again Panik House have come up trumps with an excellent overall DVD package. Although this review copy did not contain the front cover jigsaw puzzle some early releases of Tokyo Psycho do have this and is a really nice touch. Like the releases of "Sex and Fury" and "Female Yakuza Tale" alongside the inlay card there is a sticker of the poster art.
Onto the main extras and firstly we have an audio commentary with Panik House president Matt Kennedy and Japanese licensor Ko Mori. They discuss how they acquired the film as well going into some detail about the real life cases that inspired the film. There is also a Spanish commentary by Enrique Calvez of Cine-East.com which is not subtitled in English however.
Next is "Behind the scenes: The making of Tokyo Psycho" (6:15) which has some brief interviews with the cast members while on set. This is followed by "Tokyo Psycho Premiere" (5:37) that has the cast talking to the audience before the film and a few snippets from a Q&A with some of the cast. As already mentioned there are two text essays by Selwyn Harris that detail the real life events that inspired the movie, both very interesting reading. Rounding off the disc are trailers of "Tokyo Psycho, "Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf" and "Screwed" both directed by Teruo Ishii. There are also some poster and stills galleries, production notes plus bios for cast and crew. Also for fans of Sachiko Kokubu there is nice collection of her swimwear photo shoots after her bio!
Overall, an effective if at times slightly tame low budget flick that is definitely worth a watch. However Panik House have once again produced a great package with some interesting extras that should please those who pick up the DVD. Recommended!
Story/Film - 3/5 Bitch Slaps Picture – 3/5 Bitch Slaps Sound - 4/5 Bitch Slaps Extras - 4.5/5 Bitch Slaps Overall DVD – 3.5/5 Bitch Slaps
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