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Premonition Actor: Daisuke Ban Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 95 minutes Studio: Lions Gate Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-07-05 Buy from Amazon |
From Description They are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see...death. Foretelling ill-omened fate of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the event... or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out other like himself, searching for a way to change the future. |
"Great!" This is the second movie in the J-Horror series - the third releases in January in Japan. And it's a Shimizu! Anyways, I thought that this was much much better than Infection. I thought the story was original and old/traditional in the way that it was a long time in the making. Anything else you need to know, you can find in SOIA1979's review which is detailed and pretty flawless- so not much else I can say! "this was filmed at the same time as juon..." it reminded me of the ring only instead of a phone call you get a newspaper. original? not really. scary? nope. tense moments yes. should be enjoyed if you are into this horror asian movement going on right now. "Fear Newspaper" Lions Gate Films recently cut a deal with a Japanese company and created a small sub-division within LGF aptly named J-Horror. The purpose of this division was to make 6 Japanese horror flicks specifically for the American DVD market. 'Premonition' is one of the first of these films released(the second, released simultaneously, is called 'Infection' and is also very much worth checking out). The basic set-up goes like this: a couple and their daughter are driving home from a vacation. They stop along side the road at a telephone booth so the husband can attach his laptop to the phoneline so he could email some paperwork to his job. While in the phone booth, he finds a newspaper clipping that predicts his daughter dying in a motor vehicle accident. His wife exits the car to talk to him. Once the wife is out of the car, the husband freaks out over the newspaper, but before he can do anyting a dumptruck smashes their car(with daughter still inside)and the newspaper disappears. The car immediately explodes killing the little girl. Not long after, the couple divorces mostly due to the wife not believing her husband's claims about the newspaper. The husband starts receiving more newspapers predicting the future over the next six or so years and all the while the wife(now his ex)is doing research into the paranormal and the possible existence of this newspaper. The couple gets back together to try and figure out the escalating events... 'Premonition' is based on a thirty-or-so year old Japanese story called 'The Fear Newspaper'. Apparently over there, its pretty well known . Anyways, the acting is good and the special effects are very well done. The plot, while having some similarites to 'Ringu'(especially the original novel by Koji Suzuki), is pretty interesting. The ending, as Asian horror films tend to do, leave you feeling slightly confused. 'Premonition' though doesn't leave you hanging as badly as some others. The extras on the disc are actually pretty good. They're all subtitled, with the best feature being the one on visual effects. Its very interesting. All in all, 'Premonition' is a nice little addition to any Asian horror fan's collection. Its a nice, tense, well-acted little film. While not completely original, its still a good flick. There's not really any gore to speak of; this is pretty textbook J-horror. If you dug 'Ringu' or 'Juon', I'm sure you will like 'Premonition'. "And you thought your local paper was full of bad news" Premonition is the second entry in the J-Horror series, which are a special series of Japanese horror films made with a special eye toward American audiences. Each of the projected six movies is independent from its fellow J-Horror offerings - different stories, different directors, different everything. This is made quite obvious by the fact that Premonition is a completely different film from the first film entry, Infection. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed in this movie. Infection was fantastic, a tad confusing but full of gore. Premonition works on a psychological level, and one could argue that it's hardly a horror film at all. The ironic thing about this film is the fact that I'm sure it will play better to Japanese than American audiences. There would seem to be at least some root to the story in Japanese culture, and it's very sparing in terms of action sequences. Besides being pretty disjointed, the film (in my opinion) takes things too far in the final sequences. It leaps completely off the pages of logic and delivers a whole series of jarring twists that will make many Americans say "Enough already!" The basic premise at play here is a "Newspaper of Death" that foretells the grim immediate future. It's never clear where this news actually comes from, but it is the curse of some individuals to be involuntary subscribers to it. This is the story of a teacher who finds a newspaper article foretelling his five-year-old daughter's death; at the time, he's inside a phone booth, and by the time he sees how and when the death is supposed to happen, it's too late. Then we fast forward three years. Now divorced, the main character sort of shuffles along through life trying to avoid newspapers, while his ex-wife is heavily involved in paranormal research. The two are drawn back together just as the man is pushed to the breaking point by a continuous supply of newspaper warnings - in fact, sometimes he just starts scribbling down soon-to-be tragic stories out of thin air. Torn by his indecision just prior to his daughter's death, he now faces the obvious question: should he act to prevent tragedies or simply ignore the premonitions he keeps receiving? Evidence suggests that either course of action will result in extreme unpleasantness. That decision is basically made for him, though, and this sets off a real whirlwind of an ending. If you liked Infection, that doesn't mean you'll like Premonition - or vice versa. These two films could not be more different. Premonition is more in the Ju-on tradition (with Ringu elements to it), but I would say it's significantly better than The Grudge. There are some effectively disturbing images here, but they are few in number, and that leads me to believe that casual horror fans will find Premonition a little less than exciting. There is no bad guy to center your feelings around, and this sort of amorphous source of horror plays better to those with an interest in the genre. There's also a sort of déjà vu feel to the story; it just feels like you've seen elements of this film somewhere before, and that prevents Premonition from really delivering an effective blow that will stay with you a while. Premonition is a well-made, interesting horror movie - but it doesn't really leave a lasting impression. "If you see it, you will die..." This is a well done Japanese film! I saw this down In cochrane, with one of my cousins. It was late so we decided to put on a scary movie. We rented it and it was great. STORY: Hideki, a college teacher, regreats the death of his daughter 3 years ago. And scary thing is: A newspaper foretold the death. So Hideki, and his divorced wife set off to find out about this "Newspaper of death" theory. then one day, Hideki saves her from a death foretold by the newspaper and then, this newspaper theory is not what it seems... THOUGHTS: WHATS WITH ALL THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS!!!!!!!! I liked it! IT is more plot than horror, which is good, because it its the opposite, then its just corny. So go rent it! today! UPDATE: 9/26/05 You guys seem to hate my review. Well. Because its short dosent mean you have to hate it. |