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Released by: Adness
Released on: 6/14/2005
Director: Toshiharu Ikeda
Cast: Yuichi Matsuo, Hitomi Miwa, Koji Matsuo, Asumi Miwa, Mikio Osawa
Year: 2001
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The Movie:
I've seen a couple of films from Toshiharu Ikeda - Evil Dead Trap and Angel Guts: Red Porno - and I've enjoyed them, so when one of his latest efforts, Shadow Of The Wraith, was announced I was pretty eager to check it out. The fact that it sounded interesting from the back copy didn't hurt, and I'm always a sucker for a good ghost story. Sadly, my hopes were quickly dashed. Actually dashed it too tame a term, they were more or less ripped out of me and crapped on. Shadow Of The Wraith, while an interesting technical achievement, is a dismal failure.
The film focuses on the exploits of two brothers, Ryoji and Kazuhiko, who spend their spare time playing bad ass rock and roll tunes like 'I Only Want To Be With You' (with the lyrics changed to reflect how they don't like grown ups) in a band called Martial Law. They've got many teenage fans despite the fact that their music is about as bland as wet cardboard, and life is good for them… until now (cue ominous music here)!
In the first story, we learn Ryoji's story. When he's making out with his girlfriend Mariko in the back room of the school gym after school one day, he gets the feeling that someone or something is watching them. He's a little spooked by this, but he soon forgets about it and gets back to bringing the rock. The next day at school Mariko has a strange run in with a quiet girl from his class named Asaji (not to be confused with Asahi, which is a fine beer). When Ryoji and Mariko talk about Asaji outside of class later that afternoon, glass flies from the window and sends Mariko to the hospital. Asaji soon starts latching onto Ryoji who, intentionally or not, starts to return her affections a little bit at a time but when Mariko winds up impaled on a fence post, he soon realizes that Asaji may not be exactly who he thinks she is.
The second story takes place after the events of the first one and it focuses in on how Kazuhiko deals with the conclusion (I won't spoil it for you here) of that story. Devestated by the aforementioned events, he's now staying with his sister Naoka, a new girl in town, has also moved into the same building and she and Kazuhiko soon become friends. What they don't realize is that there's some sort of evil spirit running rampant in the building, and it's after them. When Kazuhiko learns the truth about what's happened in some of the apartments, Naoka and her family find themselves in very dire straits indeed.
Shadow Of The Wraith looks great. When watching his films, Evil Dead Trap especially, you'll notice that it looks like his visual style was influenced by some of the better Italian horror directors like Dario Argento and Mario Bava. The use of color in Evil Dead Trap and the slick camera work are slightly reminiscent of Suspiria and at times Blood and Black Lace, and thankfully, Shadow Of The Wraith continues that tradition of using the European influence in terms of the visuals and adding a uniquely Japanese slant to them. Sadly, that unique Japanese slant comes in the form of a pair of pop singers who aren't at all convincing in the lead roles and who don't add anything to the film except for some bad music.
That being said, Shadow Of The Wraith does look very nice. There are some creepy visuals in the film and the camera work is as slick as you'd expect, but it isn't enough. The first story (and to a lesser extent, the second one) has a decent start and I'll admit that the premise is interesting but too much focus is put on the pretty-boy leads and not enough emphasis goes to the actual intricacies of the narrative.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film benefits from the very slick 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer presented on this DVD. Black levels stay strong and deep and the shadows used throughout the movie look quite good. Some of the smokier looking scenes do show a slight bit of compression and there is some mild edge enhancement but the colors look decent and the skin tones look lifelike and natural. There's a very pleasing level of foreground and background detail present and there are no problems with print damage or heavy grain.
The Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround track gets the job done with ease. Some of the more tense moments in the film would have benefited from some surround sound action but other than that there's nothing to complain about here. Nice and clean dialogue, bouncy and lively music and distinct sound effects all come together to form a nice soundscape that does help the movie out a bit. Optional English subtitles are included that are clean, clear and easy to read.
Aside from some liner notes from Jim Harper which detail the film's background, there are also trailers for the feature film and a few other Adness releases: Resurrection Of Golden Wolf, Shikoku, Inugami, Isola, and Never Give Up.
The Final Word:
Shadow Of The Wraith looks nice, and sounds good but the movie is ridiculous and very painfully obviously geared towards the teen crowd. The music and characters are too sacrine to be interesting and the ghost, while an interesting idea in and of itself, isn't enough to carry the film. Adness' DVD looks and sounds pretty nice though.