J-Horror became a major force in American Horror at the turn of the century when the Hollywood studios were eager for more female-centric nightmare cinema. The Ring, The Grudge and Dark Water brought this new sensibility to scares at the multiplex. Horror fans during this time pondered if Hollywood had redone all the movies that had frightened the teens of Tokyo. Turns out there were a lot more J-Horror films that didn’t get adapted. Last month, Arrow Video released J-Horror Rising with seven titles. Now they’re back with Tomie about the woman who just won’t go away no matter how hard you try to cut her off.
Detective Harada (Tetsuo: The Iron Man‘s Tomoro Taguchi) is assigned to a case where schoolgirl Tomie Kawakami (Dolls‘ Miho Kanno) has been murdered in a brutal fashion. What makes the case even more unusual is that her teacher and nine other students have either gone insane or done themselves in. His fact-finding mission goes completely into bizarre territories when he gets the records for a Tomie Kawakami that had been murdered three years before. The older dead girl looks like his dead girl. This isn’t just a common name confusion. The two Tomies are not the only girls named Tomie Kawakami associated with a homicide. There seems to be a lot of them in the records and all of them were killed in nasty ways. What is it about this young woman with the beauty mark under her lower eyelid that makes her a constant victim? This is not going to be a simple case for the detective. He meets with classmate Tsukiko Izumisawa (Blood and Bones‘ Mami Nakamura). This could have been of help to the investigation except she has zero memory of anything that happened for the months before Tomie’s death. One of her neighbors is rather suspect. He’s feeding baby food to some hairy things in a box. It gets weirder with the thing in the box “maturing.” Is this the next Tomie? Will she meet the fate of so many previous Tomies? Why does this keep happening to her?
Tomie sets an extremely creepy tone on the screen. This isn’t a fright fest with jump cuts to have you bounce in your recliner with a shock. There’s a subtle unnerving nature to the horror attitude. When the guy is “feeding” the hairy thing in the box, the sound effects should made me cringe. Tomie does have plenty of grotesque moments because of the way she keeps coming back. The relationship between Tomie and Tsukiko is what makes this film special. Tomie doesn’t merely chase around the final girl with a weapon. There’s more to her attack. Amnesia adds to the excitement and anticipation when the two classmates meet once more. Will Tsukiko finally remember why she cut Tomie loose? Or will she end up like the rest of her classmates? Tomie is a well-executed alumni horror film.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The high definition 1080p presentation really brings out the detail in the rather dim settings. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo. This is a quiet film so it’s good to hear the small background noises. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio commentary by critic and Japanese cinema expert Amber T. She’s excited to talk about Tomie since she’s obsessed by Japanese horror. Around this time, horror in Japan went from gross and violent to unnerving involving young woman. She mentions a lot of J-Horror that hasn’t quite come out in American releases. We are warned about an Italian restaurant chain in Japan.
It’s a Girl’s World (34:58) is a recent interview with director Ataru Oikawa. He sees this as a youth film. He gets into adapting the film from a Manga. How did he want Tomie to feel when going from page to the frame. He didn’t want to just trace the images.
Scream Queen (15:43) sits down in a theater with Mami Nakamura. She sees how this is more than just an entertainment that’s supposed to scare you. She had worked with Miho Kanno before and was happy to collaborate with erh once more.
From Manga to Screen (12:46) is a fresh interview with producer Mikihiko Hirata. He talks about setting up things to get a film company interested in Tomie. We learn about the sequels and the demise of Daiei. We also discover the reason why they haven’t made a new Tomie film in a long time.
Making Of (27:48) is a vintage bonus feature showing the film in production. We learn about how Manga creator Junji Ito knew the perfect artist to cast in the lead. He also discusses his cameo. We see how the Tomie head was created.
Trailer Gallery includes Tomie (1:08), Tomie: Another Face (1:23), Tomie: Replay (1:39), Tomie: Re-birth (1:13) and Tomie: Forbidden Fruit (1:45) gives you a sense of the first five installments in the series. There have been nine movies in the series so far.
Image gallery has 10 images of the poster, press photos
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new essays by Zack Davisson and Eugene Thacker
Arrow Video presents Tomie: Limited Edition. Directed by Ataru Oikawa. Screenplay by Junji Ito & Ataru Oikawa. Starring Miho Kanno, Mami Nakamura, Yoriko Dôguchi, Tomorô Taguchi, Kôta Kusano, Kae Minami, Kenji Mizuhashi & Yôichi Nukumizu. Running Time: 95 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 19, 2024.
