#Masayuki Ochiai

[sacredwhores]

Masayuki Ochiai - Parasite Eve (1997)

[beingharsh]

Parasite Eve (1997), dir. Masayuki Ochiai

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[mater-argento]

Posters for Japanese hospital horror "Infection" (2004)

[cappedinamber]

Shutter (2008)

Directed by Masayuki Ochiai

Cinematography by Katsumi Yanagijima

[ddzzaaii]

parasite eve dir. masayuki ochiai

[knowyourbmovieactors]

OCTOBER HORROR MOVIES (DVD EDITION) #4

SHUTTER

OCTOBER HORROR MOVIES (DVD EDITION) #4 SHUTTER

After the success of "The Ring" and "The Grudge", movie producers were desperate to secure the rights to that next great Japanese vengeful ghost story that they could thoroughly water down with an American remake. One set of producers snapped up the 2004 film "Shutter", which had been a number one box office smash in its home country… of Thailand. OK, so it's not a Japanese original, but we're pretty confident an American audience won't notice the subtle cultural differences as long as it's set in America and features nothing but pretty blonde people. But, you know what? Let's get Masayuki Ochiai on board to direct. With a Japanese director known in his own country for doing spooky supernatural stuff, that should at least give it that good ol' "Ringu" flavor, right? What's that? He wants to cast Megumi Okina from "Ju-On" (the original Japanese version of "The Grudge"). OK, I guess that's doable. The rest of the cast can still be a bunch of pretty Americans doing all their vengeful ghost stuff in America… What's that? He's not comfortable shooting in America, because he doesn't speak English very well? Um…

And that, friends, is how we get the 2008 version of "Shutter": an American adaptation of a Thai film shot in Japan. (And what the hell, let's cast a Tasmanian actor in one of the leads while we're at it.) The world is now truly flat.

The resulting film is OK, if a little too long. It's a pretty standard vengeful ghost story, in the tradition of "The Ring" and "The Grudge". In this case, the twist is that the aforementioned vengeful ghost lets its presence be known through the medium of spirit photography, i.e. blurry white marks on photos that could have just as easily been caused by any number of picture-taking mistakes, but which people immediately attribute to ghosts. In our story, the newlywed American couple relocates to Japan. Husband is a professional photographer who got a high profile job through a couple of old buddies who work over there. Wife is wife. We get one line where she mentions she's certified to teach 6th grade English, but other than that we get no hint that she has any kind of job or identity outside of her husband. He has previously worked in Japan and speaks the language. She has not and does not.

It's actually a pretty good metaphor for a woman trapped in an abusive relationship. She's been cut off from her friends and family. The only information she can get from her surroundings has to be filtered through her husband. His old buddies in Japan are douchey frat-bro expats from America, and you get the hint that he used to behave just like them. Between the way the camera frames his interactions with every pretty woman in his vicinity and the fact that all his photo shoots seem to revolve around Western fetishized depictions of Japanese women, it paints the picture of a guy who's got more than a few little Asian fantasies dancing around in his head that she wasn't aware of. She has no job, no friends, and no way to way to support herself aside from this guy who is hanging out more and more red flags every day.

And of course, there's the ghost that's stalking them through photographs. As the supernatural stuff becomes increasingly difficult to ignore or explain away, Mr. Photographer Husband is forced to dribble out more and more information about his past, none of which looks very good for him. The ghost wriggles her way through the scene, pale faced, with long, lanky black hair, in scenes very reminiscent of "Ringu" and "Ju-On". The dirtbag bros get their comeuppance, the wife is freed, and the ghost--while not exactly put to rest--gets what she wants. It's alright. By the time "Shutter" was released in 2008, the novelty of this particular sub-genre had worn off in America, and the movie doesn't really up the ante in any way. Still, a decently solid film.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE DVD EXTRAS This DVD that I bought (the "UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT EDITION") has almost as much in special features as it does in actual movie. There was no way I was going to watch all of them, but here are some highlights: -In the "Inside the Lens" featurette, a lot of non-Japanese people talk very confidently about how Japanese ghosts are different from Western ghosts. (There is one short clip of a Japanese "expert" in spirit photography who seems, frankly, quite bored) Very few of them mention the fact that this is actually adapted from a Thai movie. -There is a short feature about the history of spirit photography, which is absolutely riddled with factual errors; not least of which being their failure to mention that the first guy to "discover" spirit photography was very publicly outed as a fraudster. -Immediately after the short telling you how spirit photographs are totally real, there is another short that teaches you how to fake one with Photoshop. Both of these shorts are narrated by the same guy.

[gbhbl]

Horror Movie Review: Infection/感染 (2004)

A doctor's mistake unwittingly creates horrific consequences for the staff at the hospital.

SInfection (感染) is a Japanese horror film directed by Masayuki Ochiai, releasing in 2004. After seeing Ringu (1998) at a somewhat tender age, I developed a bit of a J-horror obsession. I’d seek out any film that was distributed by “Tartan Asia Extreme” as this was usually the seal of approval that I was in for something great. One such movie was the one I am reviewing now, Infection. The film is…

[moviesandmania]

THE J-HORROR VIRUS (2023) Documentary being shown at FrightFest

The J-Horror Virus is a 2023 British documentary film that explores the influence of Japanese horror around the world. Directed and produced by Sarah Appleton (also editor) and Jasper Sharp. From its origins in Teruyoshi Ishii’s 1988 fake documentary Psychic Vision: Jaganrei (1988) and Norio Tsuruta’s seminal Scary True Stories (1991/92) straight-to-video series, through such key titles as Hideo…

[sacredwhores]

Masayuki Ochiai - Parasite Eve (1997)

[beingharsh]

Parasite Eve (1997), dir. Masayuki Ochiai

[thewomanofrevelation]

Genesis 3:17., Parasite Eve/dir. Masayuki Ochiai/1997.

[japanfilmclub]

Parasite Eve (1997) 『パラサイト・イヴ』 Written by Ryoichi Kimizuka 君塚良一 Directed by Masayuki Ochiai 落合正幸

[lullabiesinaglasswilderness]

[justfilms]

Hynosis

[ddzzaaii]

Infection dir. Masayuki Ochiai