Kairo

Considering horror films have traditionally reflected the attitudes of their current times, there have been a surprisingly few number of horror films about the internet. It's our generation's wheel or fire, yet its subject matter hasn't really been exploited within the horror genre. We've got Fear Dot Com, but we won't talk about that little travesty.

Enter Kairo, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's seven year project. It's pretty obvious that the successes of a certain horror film about a video tape meant that he could relaise his dream project, but let's not go into that. You can't seem to read any review without that particular film being mentioned, and I'm just as guilty as the next reviewer for doing just that. The story begins with a group of friends working at a botanical garden. One of them hasn't turned up for work lately, and so a colleague of his, Michi, is sent to find him. She discovers him holed up in his apartment, acting very distant from reality. Without warning, he hangs himself in the next room, leaving a strange black mark on the wall behind him. Soon enough, other people around Michi begin to act just as distant. Each ends up in the same way - a black mark where their body once lay.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to Kawashima. He's a computer sceptic who tries to get himself onto the internet. Whilst setting up his connection, Kawashima is taken to a website which asks him if he'd like to meet a ghost. He's then shown various web cam footage of people acting in bizarre ways, the most notable being a man sitting in a chair with a black bag over his head. Our male lead is understandably shaken by this, and so he shuts off his PC. But his computer keeps switching itself on, logging on to the same internet site continuously. He asks the help of Haure, an informatics student at his university. She too has noticed the strange behaviour of people around her, and believes that the two must be connected, along with a software program written by a fellow student to demonstrate the psychology of man.

Once again, to explain any more would be to ruin this film. Kurosawa has created an entirely different horror film by pushing into new grounds and exploring new territory. It doesn't rely on the usual scare tactics to whip up the audience, instead relying on atmosphere and tension. It's one of those films which keeps you on the edge, yet you're not entirely sure why. If you really examine it, you notice that very little happens on the screen - it's primarily what your imagination is doing to the images. It's certainly not a film which will make you jump and laugh nervously, not by a long stretch. It's a very intelligent, psychological experiment. Its main problem is that it can be incredibly slow in places. If you're bothered by subtitles, then you'll probably end up switching this off after the first 45 minutes out of sheer frustration. This really isn't a film for everyone. Gore hounds will probably loathe it as there's no gore whatsoever, and the action fans will twiddle their thumbs whilst waiting for something to happen. With a running time of around two hours, this is a very story driven film. But viewers who stick with it are rewarded with a wonderful conclusion.

The digital effects used in the film are quite ingenious. They're very minimal in their appearance, and are used to distort the reality shown in the frame. Likewise the soundtrack mirrors this, with digital hum and hiss used instead of music. It's only towards the finale when we hear real music used, and then it's only a very basic motif to enhance the action.

As for the DVD presentation, this is typical HK quality. The non-anamorphic image presented in its original 1.85:1 ratio, clear and detailed, but soft in some places. There are no signs of compression artefracts as far as I could see, and the print used was blemish free. The 5.1 sound is very clear indeed, with particular mention has to go to the use of the surround channels. There are a couple of scenes which will have you looking nervously behind you as your rear speakers pump out an eerie whisper whilst your front speakers remain silent. The subtitles here are relatively error free, although there are some bad spelling and grammatical slip ups in places. They're presented clearly, and follow the action on screen nicely.

As for extras, once again we're given nothing. A trailer would have been nice, and some previews of other titles in the same genre would have been welcome also. But once again, the price of this disc can be as little as £4 from some sites, so there's really no reason to complain.

This is really a film for Asian cinema veterans to get their hands on. For those of you who are new to the scene, then you'd be advised to check out the one about the video tape, and the one about the eye transplant first as this may put you off the whole scene. It's certainly not as immediate as Ringu... ah, bollocks! Better luck next time.

Review by Steve Smith