Given the general thinness of these things, it makes sense to write about the entries in this Japanese POV horror series in bulk. They’re interesting – and typically fun to watch for the hour most of these run – but they’re not exactly deep.
Formally, the series increasingly leaves behind the “Where’s Waldo?” (or should that be “Where’s Sadako”?) one camera angle pieces in favour of a surveillance camera bit followed by a POV horror style investigation by the fake crew of the show, during which they interview witnesses – only seldom with blurred-out faces –, pop in with their occult consultant, the witch/warlock/wizard (depending on the subtitle of any given entry) KATOR – always in all caps – and poke around in dark places. On one hand, this shift into the method every other Japanese POV horror fake documentary series operates by is a bit of a shame, on the other, there’s only so much you can do with a single, nailed-on camera view, so it’s probably for the better.
The series gains another unique selling point, however, in that it turns increasingly comedic from about part 5 on, with a weird off-beat humour you’ll either loather or love. So suddenly, there’s a pretty bizarre sequence where the intrepid crew plays catch with an invisible man but has problems following simple left and right instructions; another one about a man suffering from “spiritual allergies” that make him incredibly easily possessed by ghosts and ghoulies, protecting himself by covering his whole body in nylon stockings; the curious tale of the dude who catches ghosts in garbage bags and collects them just like any other nerd would, while his mum looks on sighing yet indulgingly. Not to speak of part 7’s high point/low point, the tale of a chicken that lays wish-granting eggs and is accidentally hounded to death by our reporters.
It’s not quite as mad and wonderful as what Koji Shiraishi gets up to on any given day, but it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, if you like your cheapo POV horror with a dollop humour.
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