Pet Peeve / Seeds of Anxiety / Fuan no Tane 不安の種 (2013)

Pet Peeve (International Title) / Seeds of Anxiety (Japanese Title)   

Japanese Title: 不安の種   

Romaji: Fuan no Tane

Release Date: July 20^th, 2013

Running Time: 87 mins.

Director: Toshikazu Nagae

Writer: Masaaki Nakayama (Original Manga), Toshikazu Nagae (Screenplay)

Starring: Anna Ishibashi, Kenta Suga Koudai Asaka, Kanji Tsuda, Shimako Iwai, Kurea Mori, Hitomi Kurihara, Ryosuke Kawamura,

Pet Peeve is a really awful title for a film, any film, and it is best to pay attention to the Japanese one, Seeds of Anxiety (Fuan no Tane) which sums up the content perfectly.

Moving towns is something a lot of us go through and it can be daunting but spare a thought for a group of outsiders settling in the rather strange Funuma city.

Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night パラノーマル・アクティビティ 第２章／TOKYO NIGHT (2010)

Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night is an independent remake/sequel to the 2007 American supernatural horror film Paranormal Activity directed by Oren Peli where not a lot happens while it is recorded like a fake documentary.

Haruka Yamano (Aoyama) is in Tokyo after a trip to San Diego, America ends with a car crash that leaves Haruka with two broken legs. Her younger brother Koichi (Nakamura) is wandering around with a video camera instead of studying for university entrance exams. While their father is away on a business trip Koichi has to take care of Haruka who will be in a wheelchair for another six months. Soon strange things happen around the house like Haruka’s wheelchair being moved from the side of the bed into another room and salt placed on the floor to expel evil spirits is scattered on the floor. Koichi records these events but things start getting weirder with noises at night, psychic friends scared away and the spirit is getting increasingly threatening.

Ghost System ゴーストシステム (2002)

Based on a light novel by Toshikazu Nagae, Ghost System is a low-budget, digitally shot film which has four actors, three locations and zero atmosphere. It has an interesting concept but no supernatural aura.

Misaki and Mai are inseperable friends and even when Mai gets a boyfriend named Wataru, the twosome happily becomes a trio. Until Mai disappears. Some time after the disappearance Misaki receives an email on her mobile from Mai. So has Wataru. The email contains a photograph of some woodlands and the message “I’m coming home”. Misaki and Wataru decide to investigate and track down the exact location where there is no mobile signal but there is an abandoned facility. The two venture into the decaying building where a mysterious female scientist is investigating what happens to a person after death but her system is breaking down.

I’m not sure if this film aims to be full blooded horror movie. The story plays out as a teen friendly supernatural mystery but while its blend of sci-fi and supernatural in the eponymous Ghost System is interesting as a concept it is underexplored because the whole movie is underwritten. Most damingly though it’s the lack of atmosphere.