Rinne (Reincarnation)
Another one of Japan's wonderful horror films, it is a film within a film. This movie is about a young woman who has been cast in a movie which is being made about a series of murders that had occurred a few decades earlier. Not only is the movie being made based on true events of horrific murders, but it is being filmed in the exact location where it happened. Yeah, that's not asking for trouble at all! Nagisa Sugiura, the protagonist, begins to have terrifying visions in this location (a hotel) about the events from years ago and about the current actors portraying the story. And to push it even more into the realm of I-wonder-how-much-we-can-screw-with-fate, the director of this true-to-life film wants all the actors to die where their real life counterparts died - and in the exact same position.
So... it's kind of like the Japanese The Shining? No, but there is this similar hotel. Oh! And a creepy little girl!
So, the murders from many years earlier were carried out by a University professor who has had a breakdown. He apparently wanted to study and understand reincarnation. In an attempt to gain this knowledge, he films himself murdering a total of 11 guests and employees of the hotels before he ends his spree by killing his own children and finally commiting suicide. Nagisa is set to play the daughter of this professor, and after she experiences these visions for a bit, she begins to suspect that she is the reincarnation of the professor's daughter. (I'm not going to say whether she is or is not the reincarnation of the daughter, as again, this is information that is part of the lure and interest of this movie.)
This guy is clearly at his happiest when filming the murders he's performing.
What happens throughout the rest of the film is that the actors are killed off, one by one, in the order that they were killed by the professor many years earlier. As each actor dies, they are dragged back to where the original person was found once dead. These reincarnations also include two young women who were not actors, but have some connection to the film. One of the young ladies has also had a vision of the hotel and the murders, though has not been involved with it in any way, while the other woman auditioned for a part in the film earlier in the movie we are watching. (Ugh, metafilm can be such a bitch to discuss!)
Rinne is sufficiently creepy while also remaining intelligent. Though I admit there is a part that quickly throws it into the B-Horror movie realm towards the end (trust me, you will know which part I'm referring to). However, even with this added bit of cheesiness, the movie is well done and will surprise the audience. It does not end how you think it will end, which is an added part of its charm. I highly recommend the movie, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
You're the main character, what are you afraid of?
Go forth in fear!
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