REINCARNATION

Horror film director Ikuo Matsumura decides to shoot a movie about a massacre that occurred thirty-five years earlier in a now-disused hotel, where a deranged professor killed eleven people, staff and guests. At the beginning of the film's shooting, young actress Nagisa Sugiura starts having hallucinations of a girl with a doll that haunts her. During a scouting trip to the real hotel, the director admits that his real goal is not just to make a horror film, but also to bring peace to the souls of the massacre victims. Elsewhere, some people apparently unrelated to the film begin to have terrifying visions. A few years after the series "Ju-On" (both the Japanese and American versions), director Takashi Shimizu returns with a horror film that still delves into the anger of the dead, the search for peace, and the feeling of revenge. With his "Rinne" ("Reincarnation" for international distribution), he analyzes the theme of reincarnation as a means to return from the past. Like many post-"Ringu" J-Horror films, it does not stand out for its originality. Good or bad, it resembles other productions from the Far East, but addresses a theme like reincarnation in an effective way. Initially unclear, the film gradually develops, presenting us with many characters, admittedly too many, all afflicted with strange visions set inside the hotel with the vermilion roof where years earlier the massacre took place. The story is very simple. It is a meta-cinematographic ghost story in which a film is shot within the film, based on events that occurred years earlier in the Overlook Hotel of the Rising Sun. Yes, because it is a true homage to Kubrick's eternal masterpiece, starting with the hotel itself, similar in suggestion (and predominant red color), then moving on to possession by people connected to the events (or reincarnation) up to a citation of the twins inviting Danny to play with them "forever", a phrase repeatedly uttered by the gruesome doll. It is immediately clear that there is an affinity between the film's characters and the victims of the deranged professor. The director himself (of the film within the film), played by a nervous Kippei Shiina, has understood that something strange, something terrifying is happening, and believes that making the film can, in some way, placate the ghosts. At times, the screenplay is confusing, especially in the middle part, literally mixing the characters and it is hard to keep up with the complex game of associations. Some passages are not well understood also due to the high number of actors, all similar to each other. Among victims in the past, victims in the present, in life and on the set, we have a crowd that unfortunately does not help with the complete understanding of the film. However, in the end, the intention of the story is clear and it even manages to surprise because the final twist arrives unexpectedly, but perhaps, due to the usual approximation of the script typical of Eastern films, many things have to be accepted and that's it, perhaps by culture, perhaps by choice. Nevertheless, the development is intriguing and even if it will not be remembered as the most fluid film in history or the best Japanese horror, it will still leave a sense of overall satisfaction, especially regarding some well-chosen scenes. Fewer scares compared to "Ju-on" and relatives, also due to the expedients to terrify that are now always the same: sudden appearances in the elevator, presences walking behind, cadaveric girls with a threatening gaze. In this case, a doll reigns supreme, which from start to finish plays a connecting role and unsettles at just the right moment, especially in the sought-after ending. Not even death will separate us from the mistakes made, from the sense of guilt and, as the doll keeps repeating, we will be together forever. Remove half a pumpkin.