Saturday, June 4, 2011

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)
Loft / ロフト(2005)

Genre: Horror
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring: Miki Nakatani, Etsushi Toyokawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yumi Adachi
Duration: 115 min.
Rating: 5.8

Summary:
Suffering from writer's block and some curious ailments, Reiko, a celebrated writer, moves to a countryside villa at her editor's beckoning to quietly work on her next novel.  However, her new environment turns out to be anything but peaceful...



Loft is a Japanese film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa that premiered at the 2005 Pusan International Film Festival.  Like much of his previous work, this is a horror film with an incredible dreamlike atmosphere.  It moves with a slow and brooding pace, filled with expertly crafted haunting and eerie scenes that cleverly play on the expectations of the audience.

The visuals are stunning, and include some intensely creepy locations, including a mist covered lake and swamp, a remote and decrepit old house, and a seemingly abandoned university facility.  The camera moves slowly or not at all, and the scenes are often filmed with the emphasis of doorways, windows, and mirrored reflections in the frame.  Contributing to the intense mood of the film is the brilliant soundtrack, subtle and frightening without employing the usual manipulative cues of a horror movie.  Quite often the low rumbling music does not even start until just after the scare sequence and this really multiplies the sense of dread.

With all the brilliant setup, the film is sadly let down by both the story and the acting.  The plot moves awfully slowly, lacks coherence and frequently switches between what seems like a serious horror and a parody of a horror film, and in the last half even includes a silly and over the top romantic sequence that borders on being hilarious, and would definitely elicit laughter in a crowded cinema.  The acting, especially by lead actress Miki Nakatani, is just terrible.  With the strange nature of the screenplay, perhaps this was an intentionally bad performance, but this entirely betrays the carefully built atmosphere of the film.  One that had great potential to be a masterpiece of modern horror, but instead remains largely forgettable.

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

Loft (2005)

11 comments:

Andrew Buckle said...

You always review very interesting films! While this one seems to have some flaws, it is a film I have never heard of, and am somewhat intrigued about. Great observations.  

Maria Sofia da Costa Teixeira said...

I haven't seen many japanese films, but this one sure seems interesting. And they are the best in horror, most american remakes aren't even close to the japanese quality. Though maybe it's for a different audience. I know I like the originals better :)

Biff Tanner said...

 Great film!

Thenitefalls said...

I wish the trailer had English subtitles =/. The movie doesn't have a eery atmosphere and the song at the end of the trailer sounds like it would be used in a anime lol

Adalmin said...

I had to do a double take when this post showed up, because I thought you were covering the other Loft film again. A lot of Japanese movies do have the problems you posted in this review though - I've watched TONS of them on Netflix and they are almost always very methodically shot and yet badly plotted/acted.

Arnie O. said...

i have been desperately trying to find some asian horror flicks. thanks for sharing this

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks.  I do like to mix it up and try to avoid covering the same films that a thousand other blogs have already reviewed.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I know, sorry I couldn't find an English trailer for this one.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I have noticed that lately too.  They've lost much of the quality that the first films of the J-horror wave like Ringu and Ju-on had.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

You are welcome, I hope you like it more than I did.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I prefer the originals too, but they aren't all great films, they make a lot of lousy films you never hear about.

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