Dream Cruise

While the first episode contributed by a Japanese Director, Takashi Miike's "Imprint" (Season 1, Episode 13) stands out as the absolute highlight of the entire "Masters Of Horror" series, this thirteenth episode of the second season, and second 'Japanese' MoH episode, Norio Tsuruta's "Dream Cruise" is mediocre at best. While one has to admit that "Dream Cruise" delivers acting talent, atmosphere and even genuine creepiness, the episode completely lacks one important element - originality. An avid lover of Japanese cinema, I am personally still not too fond of the majority of the recent Horror-output of this great cinematic country. There are many exceptions, of course (such as Miike's Horror films), but it seems that ever since the doubtlessly original "Ringu" had such huge success, the same formula has been repeated to a tiresome degree. And seeing "Dream Cruise" is just another repetition of the countless "Ringu"-clones, many of which instantaneously get remade as annoying Hollywood blockbusters. While the episode definitely has its creepy moments, everyone familiar with recent Japanes Horror films will inevitably have the impression to have seen it all before. Japanese Businessman Eiji (Ryo Ishibashi) takes his wife Yuri (Yoshino Kimura) and his American business-partner Jack (Daniel Gillies), who is also Yuri's lover, on a cruise. While the wife and the business-partner are not sure whether or not the husband knows about their relationship, the luxurious Yacht also seems to be haunted by something else... As stated before, the episode has its moments and the imagery is often chillingly creepy, but the lack of originality still lessens this one's value a lot. Ryo Ishibashi, who is probably best known for his role in Takashi Miike's "Audition" (1999), is a brilliant actor and he is once again great here, as is beautiful Yoshino Kimura as his wife. I can't say Daniel Gilles' performance impressed me, but he wasn't bad either. The greatest praise has to go to Miho Ninagawa, who is incredibly creepy in her role. Still, this does not entirely save this. The lack of originality is tiresome, and there is a stupidly sentimental sub-plot which annoyed the hell out of me. Even so, this is worthwhile for fans of the series.

Absolutely terrified of the sea, an American lawyer reluctantly goes on an ocean cruise to be near the wife of a client, with no idea of the grim situation that awaits them all.

This film was made by people involved in the making of "The Grudge", "The Ring" and "Dark Water", so if you appreciate these films in any way you are already on the right page for enjoying this story. And as far as stories go, this one is alright. (Is it out of coincidence that both first and second season placed the Asian horror episode last? Would season 3 have been the same?)

This film worked precisely because it was an Asian horror film. That might seem an odd thing to say, but I will try to explain. In American horror films, things need explanations. Even if they are really abstract, American audiences expect some sort of logic behind what they see. Asian films (Japanese in particular) are more loose with this. Strange things just happen, and we are supposed to go along with it. People get possessed, reincarnated, spirits float around and this is normal. But American films cannot do this without trying to create elaborate back story.

All the acting is fine, although the woman seemed very odd. I think this was more due to her English rather than her acting, but she was an awkward character. There is also a subplot of infidelity that seems to be a driving force, but I was not clear on how it all tied in. You can draw your own conclusions, as some of the evidence one way or the other is not till much later in the story and I will not reveal it.

Asian horror, and this one is no exception, is also good at leaving disturbing images in your mind. "The Eye" did this, "The Ring" as well (at least the first American film, not the second). There is a spirit in this movie that is just really creepy and in real life would scare me half to death. While American films tend to have decent gore (on occasion) they do not often leave you feeling grossed out (with "The Sixth Sense" being an exception that comes to mind).

"Dream Cruise" was a worthy finish for the second season. Strong story, decent characters and a distinctly unique feel. Perhaps not the best episode, but far from the worst.

The DVD is well worth picking up. Although the case says it is 60 minutes, that is incorrect -- you actually get the full 90 minutes that were shown in Japanese theaters, which adds something more. You also get a great audio commentary, where Mick Garris explains how he sees himself as a "cheerleader" and has no influence on the production.

Unfortunately, there is no director commentary -- he speaks no English, which makes such a commentary difficult for American releases. Do they make subtitled commentaries? But if you think about this language barrier, it makes the film even more interesting -- the principal actor speaks no Japanese, so the director had to have complete faith that lines were being delivered correctly. And it works. Somehow it works.

To me, this episode was pretty freaky, but I think it's more to my fear of an open sea than to the quality of the film itself. The story isn't bad, but it doesn't bring anything new. Not only is the ghost practically copied from "The Ring", but the a complete plot is already seen more than once. However, the realization and acting are at a decent level, the film is tense and holds attention, and there are also a few quite interesting and terrifying scenes.

6/10

Let me say first off that the fact that this episode is a slow build had nothing to do with my giving it a low rating. I love a film that builds its story and suspense. Some of the best horror films do this. My problem with Dream Cruise is that its all been done before. What we have here is your standard Japanese ghost story (see The Ring, The Grudge, ad nauseum) combined with a limited cast on a boat (see Dead Calm, etc.). In fact, there's really not a lot going for this episode in my opinion. Oooo spooky Japanese ghost with long hair. That's scary. Mediocre acting from a so-so cast. Wow. The only thing I really enjoyed about this episode was the end. As in it was over. The episode looks great, but looks alone can't save a ship from sinking. Leave this one in dry dock.

I was surprised when I watched this episode (on DVD), that it's running time, almost hit the 90 minute mark. Generally the episodes don't even hit the hour mark, so for an episode to be that long, it was unusual to say the least! But longer=better does not really apply to that episode. Quite a few will say the exact opposite.

And while there has been quite a few J-Horror movies around to satisfy most people, many have already started to get annoyed by them. The actors in this are not exactly helping. Though the Japanese lead man, is very well known (I have seen him in a couple of movies), he can't help this episode rise and be great.

Still, there is something to the story, that I really liked. And despite it's many flaws (many mentioned above, from acting, to length, to also predictability), it has something unique. While it can't shake it's (TV)roots off, this still might be something for you, if you can accept the slow build-up.