Karaoke Terror: The Complete Showa Era Songbook (2003) Movie Review

Early twentysomething, Ishihara (Ryuhei Matsuda) one day makes friends with a most peculiar group of friends. All male, and of similar ages who all seem to share a love of voyeurism, karaoke sessions set to decades old pop tunes, and most unusual, older women. Led by the clearly troubled, Sugioka (Masanobu Ando), these boys continue their quirky lifestyles. That is until until one day, the knife-wielding leader commits murder after being turned down for sex. Sugioka, now gloating about his deed to his seemingly amazed friends, unbeknownst to him, has incurred the plotted wrath of a close-knit group of divorced, karaoke-loving middle-aged ladies known as the Midoris. It is in this one young man's act, that not only is a bizarre blood feud of sorts spawned, but a grudge match between two generations seems ready to come to a devastating head.


Based on the 1994 novel by satirist, Ryu Murakami, Karaoke Terror is that all-too-common duck that takes a twisted approach to illuminating contemporary metaphor, but finds itself at odds with how to make it work. And in this case, the war between Sugioka's band of aloof sociopaths and the aimless, yet now determined Midoris make for a potent look at the 1990s sense of deep enmity between adults and kids, but takes it into the more rarified territory of the May-December romance (essentially romantic affairs between younger men, and elder women), making this an all the creepier affair. The film wastes no time in establishing Sugioka's clearly paranoid mind, but once the inciting murder is committed, director Tetsuo Shinohara and company can't seem to figure out a means toward making the ensuing conflict make any deeper impact than a few unique images and grotesque yuks. Being a definite product of the post Battle Royale cult-cinema high Japan was going through after the horror boom ended, the film at times feels torn between extremes, and always at odds with the source material's need for emotional immediacy.



In some ways, Karaoke Terror delivers some memorable characters, particularly in the main members of the Midoris. Most standout are Kayoko Kishimoto, and Kanako Higuchi who create something of a believable backbone for the remainder of these women on a mission. Kishimoto's take being that of the sexually liberated Hemmi, and Higuchi as the magazine editor who's assignment to meet these ladies led to the formation of this group years ago, grant some semblance of class to the film. Sometimes, one cannot help but wonder if a more subdued black comedy about the lives of these characters might have made for something far more engrossing than what we do have here. As the Midoris come across as the film's closest thing to a beating heart amidst all the blood and explosives on display, one wonders if Shinohara was even the right choice considering the cartoonish nature of the violence, which does reach absurd proportions by the finale.




The script adaptation by Sumio Ohmori seems almost ready to carry Murakami's warped yet telling themes to fruition, but the largest problem seems to lay square in the lap of Shinohara, who seems to be attempting to direct a completely different film- or at least isn't as ferocious as the themes call for. Even as we are privy to the lives of the karaoke-loving cretins who start the film, enjoying watching a woman across the way striptease with windows undrawn, and in full-lit abandon, we never really get a glimpse into who they are as the borderline mentally stunted drones they seem to be. Ando's Sugioka seems to be the only one worth writing home about, and he doesn't last past the first half of the film. To make matters more difficult, the pacing is almost unbearably staccato; often stopping after a surreal joke, or violent zinger to draw out the story which is already fraught with forced story beats. The means by which both factions implicate each other throughout the film is often by way of wildly improbable leaps of convenience. It hardly matters how, but rather that they do find each other, and draw weapons. The big problems here, are that tales like these require a more visceral amount of action and humor to buoy the ensuing escalation of violence. Without this, what we have here are a series of fun, quirky cul-de-sacs barely held together by anything. And the at times too clean, pretty cinematography by Hiroshi Takase contradicts all that is happening between these often less than attractive characters.




So when thinking about it, Karaoke Terror is something of a deeply acquired taste. It does offer some handsome production values, a decent number of kooky moments, punctuated by instances of hyperbolic violence that can attract those merely ready for a unique night watching movies. But in a post-Fight Club cinema environment, one wonders what this would have been like if animated and directed within more constrained circumstances. What could have been a tight, provocative, and savagely funny voyage through contemporary Japan's war of the generations, merely plays as a leisurely blueprint of weird. 

Nightmare Detective (2006) Movie Review

After a series of grotesque suicides linked by eerie cell phone calls confound newly transplanted detective Kirishima (hitomi), and her team, they are forced to resort to seek out the assistance of a tortured, unstable young man (Ryuhei Matsuda) capable of inhabiting the dreams of potential victims. Hindsight can be a brutal thing, even regarding those that continue to inspire us. Which is why indie icon Shinya Tsukamoto's first foray into the J-horror mainstream remains an incongruous mix.  For all the seemingly jackpot perfect material the premise of a dream-diving misfit at odds with a psychopath with similar abilities, Akumu Tantei, despite spawning a sequel, is something more akin to a style exercise wrapped in a half-formed story. While much of the same, often cold, frenetic beauty Tsukamoto's films have been known for remains intact, the story never feels ready to come out of second gear. 

Having become the only woman to join the city's violent crimes division, the often prickly Kirishima herself is something of a tormented character despite often being relegated by way of script to wearing heels to a murder scene, and at times seeming completely clueless as to her new position at the department. Even amongst her new peers, which include the skeptical elder, Sekiya (Ren Osugi), and younger, more supportive Wakamiya (Masanobu Ando) , her transition is potentially something that could easily be seen as a prime target for the film's thesis, but once the crew sets their sights on having Matsuda's character in Kagenuma assist them in stopping the killer, in come the requisite chase n slash, which could easily have been more effective had the story been given more consideration. Another major subplot of the film involves detective Kirishima's personal difficulties with sleeping, and perhaps the troubled past that haunts her constantly. There seems to be an attempt being made to help this mean something throughout the course of the story, but it ultimately never achieves such a goal. And given the fact that much of Tsukamoto's most powerful works have done so well in the exploration of urban life, and the inherent feeling of alienation it can engender, what happens here seems so much less personal, and more like a preview to the "Greatest Hits" compilations that were to come soon after.


The murders having been connected by way of each victim seemingly last calling "0" on their phones, come courtesy of yet another creepy turn by director Tsukamoto, who has essentially made a career of playing characters such as these, feels much less like an actual character or even threat, so much as an admission of his own complicity in a work that has much less agency. So when it comes time for him and crew to deliver some classic Kaijyu Theatre-style antics in the murder/chase sequences, they are as rough and occasionally exhilarating as ever. Truth be told, several moments and images courtesy of some truly surreal nightmare logic come to fruition. The problem of course comes back to the meat that is binding these scenes together. And despite all that is being done to remedy the holes inherent in the script, Tsukamoto's "0" character rarely gets any chance to become terribly compelling despite everything. And coming off of a much more disturbing role in Takashi Shimizu's Marebito(2004), this is almost seen as a customary expectation rather than a character.

But possibly the biggest stumbling block the film suffers from the near anemic casting of singer, hitomi in the role of Kirishima. We can again just blame the script for this, but when one spends additional time observing her, it becomes clear that even some acting could have risen a small notch over the material. A lot if not all of her scenes feel awkward, even by Tsukamoto standards. It was as if director and actor were simply having trouble making the dialogue and motivations work. After having seen the director utilize actresses to astonishing effect in other films, a turn like this is in many ways telling of why she did not return for the second film in this series. But again, to be fair, this script remains the most egregious issue with the film as everything else around the production borders on immaculate from the photography, editing and music that do their part to gloss over what simply isn't on the page. Which all the more makes the more commonly angelic presence of Ryuhei Matsuda seem all the more jarring in many ways. For a title character, he seems more like a dark parody of many a broody anti-hero, but never seems to become more than a chuckle-delivering one-note, which is also a bit of a letdown.

Now while all of this may seem to be very disparaging to someone who has grown as an ardent admirer of Tsukamoto's works, Akumu Tantei is also a technical marvel that retains much of the same independent spirit, despite obviously being flirted by colorless corporate interests. It feels much like a hijacking of yet another violent terebi-drama, but with only middling results. It also proves just how soulful the work of "the iron man" can actually be when unfiltered.