Inugami and Otogirisou

[Don Brown]

I spent most of this Sunday watching the latest Kadokawa Shoten double 
feature (Inugami and Otogirisou) at the brand spanking new Virgin Cinemas 
complex in Semboku, Osaka.  It may be yet another soulless multiplex 
furthering Hollywood's domination of the Japanese market, but it is 
undeniably a fantastic set-up, and you can see that they've really 
considered the needs of the audience in designing the theatres.  Although, 
I can never understand why these places have such large snack bars that 
only sell hot dogs, popcorn and drinks.  Would it be safe to call this the 
Japanese multiplex food pyramid?  
It's a clumsy reference, but Inugami could be described as a saucy Japanese 
version of "The Wicker Man".  There's no pompous Edward Woodward walking 
around patronising the natives, nor is there the same feeling of 
inevitability about the main characters' destiny, but it does manage to 
create similar feeling of dread surrounding a remote village which seems to 
be regressing into brutal paganism.  The supernatural elements are fairly 
subdued, with perhaps more attention paid to the sticky web of sexual 
desire and betrayal (another awkward simile, but the villagers are 
essentially Shikoku-brand hillbillies).  It's less a "horror" and more of a 
"supernatural suspense-thriller" if that means anything, but it worked 
well.  I didn't feel Harada Masato's had imposed much of his usual style on 
the film, although it is a very well crafted film, and it certainly seems 
to be out of place with the other Kadokawa horrors to date.  I was 
surprised to hear that Harada had chosen this as his follow-up to Jubaku - 
perhaps commercial pressures played their part?  At any rate, Inugami was 
certainly worth \1,800 alone (relatively speaking of course).
Otogirisou, on the other hand, felt more in line with the standard Kadokawa 
pattern.  Basically a simple variation on the haunted house archetype, it 
attempts to liven up the proceedings with a succession of sickly colour 
washes and hand-held video, and the sporadic use of a role-playing game 
narrative style.  There was nothing particularly startling about it, and 
the story required quite a large suspension of disbelief on the part of the 
viewer (for little reward).  In fact, it had that "short story stretched 
unsuccessfully into movie format" quality to it, and with more ruthless 
editing it could have easily have made a fairly routine entry for the 
Yonimo Kimyouna Monogatari anthology series.  Still, at least for 
educational value I learned how to say "St. John's Wort" in Japanese.  
Shame the title had little relevance to the movie.
Well, one out of two is an acceptable success ratio at the price, seeing 
that it only costs \1800 to see both films back-toback.  I wonder if 
Inugami would be better served by an independent release?   
Don Brown
p.s., Can anyone tell me exactly where Inugami was shot in Shikoku?  I'll 
try and look it up in the pamphlet this evening.
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