6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When a woman, able to read the thoughts of others, comes to help survivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, she encounters a girl with Multiple Personality Disorder whose dangerous 13th personality, Isola, must be stopped.
Starring: Yoshino Kimura, Yû Kurosawa, Ken Ishiguro, Makiko Watanabe, Satomi TezukaForeign | 100% |
Horror | 86% |
Psychological thriller | 16% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the
J-Horror Rising set from Arrow Video.
When a set like J-Horror Rising offers someone like the venerable Tom Mes freely detailing how at least some elements that combined to
create what is commonly
called J-Horror (at least vis a vis J-Horror as it's about to be defined, below) might be likened to American B movies or even direct to
video or made for television efforts, there may be a bit of a subliminal
warning
to be gleaned,
all of which is to say, perhaps expectations need to be reasonably set when approaching some and potentially all of the films in this set. Mes
unabashedly lists Ringu (the original Japanese Ring film, for the uninitiated)
as
a defining J-Horror
landmark, at least within the context of the films offered here, in that none of these films probably could be imagined and almost certainly wouldn't
have been made without the influence of the celebrated Hideo Nakata outing. It's also salient to note that several of the films in this collection
were
first exhibited as the "down ticket" item on "double features", sometimes not so coincidentally under main attractions like Ringu 2 and/or
Ringu 0. As Mes overtly mentions in his overview of J-Horror included in this set, the wake left by Ringu was wide, but it
wasn't particularly deep, at least as evidenced by how quickly this particular "rage" ebbed, and so as such even the Rising part of the title
of
this collection might be slightly misleading, since as Mes describes, by the time these offerings came along, things may have already been fading.
Note: Those interested in this release may want to also check out Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories, from Radiance, which is streeting the same day as this
collection.
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following minimal information on the transfer:
The films in this collection were remastered in high definition and supplied by Kadokawa.Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's not a ton of technical information on the shoot on the IMDb as of the writing of this review, but this is a decent looking presentation within the confines of what looks like a low budget and kind of haphazardly shot feature. While large swaths of the presentation offer a reasonably accurate looking palette, there's quite a bit of material that has a rather strange blue cast to it, which materially affects detail levels along with just the general perception that something is slightly off with regard to color timing. Aside from that peculiarity, detail levels are rather good, all things considered, at least in studio bound material or shots featuring close-ups. Grain can look slightly splotchy at times.
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl is presented in 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo sound. Additional remastering work was completed by R3Store Studios, London.
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl features either DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or LPCM 2.0 options in the original Japanese. The surround track nicely opens up both ambient environmental effects, while also adding just a dash of low frequency energy in the kind of quick "earthquake effect" in the film's opening moments. A glut of outdoor material also offers good opportunities for side and rear channel engagement of surrounding sound effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Jasper Sharp and Amber T are much more enthusiastic about this film than I am, and there is a definitely spooky undertone here given the after effects of a devastating earthquake, but the whole "mystery" of Isola is kind of clumsily handled, and this is another effort that seems almost tangentially related to what is commonly thought of as "classic" J-Horror. Video encounters a few passing issues, but audio is nicely full bodied, and the commentary track in particular is a worthwhile supplement, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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