SPOILER DISCUSSION
titled Horror Movies.
1.I love this shot of the guy reading a book about horror movies on the train to Auntie’s hell house. It’s almost like Obayashi cheekily reminding us that this is a horror movie in spite of what we’re going to see. Keeping the book next to Blanche feels like a connection telling us who the real monster in the movie is as well.
2. Speaking of cheeky nods that this is in fact a horror movie, is the scene where the girls remark that their predicament is ” like a horror movie”. Kung Fu responds that the idea is “out of date” and attempts to use her martial arts skills to literally fight herself out of the movie.
Kung Fu (Miki Jinbo) refuses to believe it’s a horror movie. Prof(Ai Matsubara) watches as Kung Fu attempts to turn the movie into a Kung Fu movie. Kung Fu (Miko Jinbo) gets ready to strike as the Prof (Ai Matsubara) watches. Kung Fu (Miki Jinbo) and Prof (Ai Matsubara) realize they can’t change the “genre” of the movie and are trapped in it as is.
Prof exclaims, “So this is a karate movie!” as she notices Kung Fu getting ready for her iconic fighting montage. However, for the first time in the movie the montage fails to do anything. Despite her iconic theme playing and the cuts of her action remaining the same, her power is incapable of piercing through the door. Despite it’s presentation, this is a horror movie where the girls have little to no power, in spite of the events that have transpired up up to now. The idea becomes even more interesting if you read the montage as indicate of a “present” genre of kung-fu movies, something that Obayashi remarks was popular among the youth at that time. [1]Constructing a “House.”” House, Criterion Collection, 2010. Blu-Ray.. This present is swallowed whole by the past which is represented by the conventions of the horror genre – namely that powerless characters tend to be brutally slain by vengeful spirits. Given the meticulous way he crafted everything else, I highly doubt him having the characters mention genre here is a coincidence.
3. Now I didn’t get to go into the score nearly as much as I wanted to in the review proper, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention just how infectious and iconic Godiego and Kobayashi’s work is. The music literally doesn’t stop playing from start to end and never once gets boring because of how vibrant and distinctive each song is. Each of them captures the essence of childhood whimsy and wonder, perfectly nailing the “childhood nightmare” point of view Obayashi was aiming for. Plus the songs are just fun to listen to in their own regards. In particular, the track “Eat” – Kung Fu’s montage theme song – is a track that has been a constant in my workout playlists since I first heard it.