TOMIE vs TOMIE
(2007, Japan, Tomie x Tomie)
(2007, Japan, Tomie x Tomie)
I thought we'd seen the last of the movies about Junji Ito's creepy creation. But then came the eighth entry in the Tomie series (there's a guide to them here). It's been out on DVD in Japan since 2007, but I found an official (?) Chinese DVD in Malaysia, pictured above, with English subtitles, sort of.
With Tomie's unnatural ability to completely regenerate from dismembered body parts, it's surprising she hasn't had to face herself before...
Two factory workers are tangling with Tomie, but two different Tomies. One young man is recovering from the death of his girlfriend, but is being pursued by a Tomie who has a gaggle of his colleagues at her bidding. Unknown to him, his friend is helping another Tomie through a difficult regeneration.
In this 'episode' in the saga, Tomie is more in control than usual, manipulating many men around her in a small factory. But both the Tomies have a serious problem, with decay...
The traditional mayhem, obsession and violence ensues. But the promised confrontation of the two Tomies is far too brief and falls short of the bizarre heights of the series. But this is still a creepy, coherent and occasionally bloody tale. It's an above-average but small-scale Tomie film, but far better than the last two (Revenge and Beginning), and achieves the paranoid atmosphere of the best Tomies, of being in a bad dream.
Framed 16:9, it appears to have been shot on HD video, but is far better photographed than the previous two entries, with careful lighting and composition. It's well directed by Tomohiro Kubo, an assistant director on Tomie: Forbidden Fruit and Hideo Nakata's Sleeping Bride, who adds visual layers to the many mysteries.
With consistently creepy music and creative shock moments, this is a Tomie that's worth releasing in the west (Kadokawa Pictures USA has got the power). You certainly wouldn't want the Chinese DVD...
This was the first time I'd seen Tomie vs Tomie anywhere with English-subtitles, but they are very poor quality, as if they'd been translated in an online website, rarely making grammatical sense. Short sentences translate OK, but confusingly the characters' names have also been translated - the word 'Tomie' never appears in the subtitles, it's always 'rich river' instead.
Naturally, there's a trailer on YouTube...
With Tomie's unnatural ability to completely regenerate from dismembered body parts, it's surprising she hasn't had to face herself before...
Two factory workers are tangling with Tomie, but two different Tomies. One young man is recovering from the death of his girlfriend, but is being pursued by a Tomie who has a gaggle of his colleagues at her bidding. Unknown to him, his friend is helping another Tomie through a difficult regeneration.
In this 'episode' in the saga, Tomie is more in control than usual, manipulating many men around her in a small factory. But both the Tomies have a serious problem, with decay...
The traditional mayhem, obsession and violence ensues. But the promised confrontation of the two Tomies is far too brief and falls short of the bizarre heights of the series. But this is still a creepy, coherent and occasionally bloody tale. It's an above-average but small-scale Tomie film, but far better than the last two (Revenge and Beginning), and achieves the paranoid atmosphere of the best Tomies, of being in a bad dream.
Framed 16:9, it appears to have been shot on HD video, but is far better photographed than the previous two entries, with careful lighting and composition. It's well directed by Tomohiro Kubo, an assistant director on Tomie: Forbidden Fruit and Hideo Nakata's Sleeping Bride, who adds visual layers to the many mysteries.
With consistently creepy music and creative shock moments, this is a Tomie that's worth releasing in the west (Kadokawa Pictures USA has got the power). You certainly wouldn't want the Chinese DVD...
This was the first time I'd seen Tomie vs Tomie anywhere with English-subtitles, but they are very poor quality, as if they'd been translated in an online website, rarely making grammatical sense. Short sentences translate OK, but confusingly the characters' names have also been translated - the word 'Tomie' never appears in the subtitles, it's always 'rich river' instead.
Naturally, there's a trailer on YouTube...
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