I honestly wasn't expecting too much going into KIREI? as I'm a big fan of the Director's (Katsuya Matsumura) ALL NIGHT LONG series, but was pretty disappointed with his film SCHOOLGIRL IN CEMENT. I had a feeling that KIREI? could go either way, and although it isn't a "great" film - it was entertaining enough, and some of the themes and the basic story-line of the film was original enough for a newer J-horror film...
Yoko is a young and successful plastic-surgeon. Materialistic, shallow, ambitious, beauty-obsessed - the personification of the stereotype of someone in her field. Yoko runs into trouble when a strange woman named Yoshie pays her a visit for a consultation. Yoshie is everything that Yoko is not - ugly, self-conscious, and timid...the only thing she DOES have, is a lot of cash for reconstructive surgery. Yoko, sensing a huge pay-day, agrees to work on Yoshie after-hours and fix her face. But when the face is not enough, Yoko is caught-up in Yoshie's delusions and obsessions and things begin to go hay-wire when Yoshie can't be appeased or satisfied by the surgeries...
KIREI? is a decent film that deals with legitimate subjects such as humanity's obsessions with beauty, money, power, etc...There are some tense moments in the film as the audience can feel the tension between Yoko and Yoshie, and knowing that the situation will not turn out happily. The performances are passable, though nothing truly noteworthy - and the film isn't quite as splattery as I'd have hoped, though there were a few "good scenes" towards the end. J-horror fans will probably dig this one, but those familiar with Matsumura's other works shouldn't expect the nihilistic splatter-fests of the ALL NIGHT LONG FILMS, nor the ultra-dark, violent tone of SCHOOLGIRL IN CEMENT. KIREI? - though "strong" at points, is a far more "mainstream" type of J-horror film...7/10
Yoko is a young and successful plastic-surgeon. Materialistic, shallow, ambitious, beauty-obsessed - the personification of the stereotype of someone in her field. Yoko runs into trouble when a strange woman named Yoshie pays her a visit for a consultation. Yoshie is everything that Yoko is not - ugly, self-conscious, and timid...the only thing she DOES have, is a lot of cash for reconstructive surgery. Yoko, sensing a huge pay-day, agrees to work on Yoshie after-hours and fix her face. But when the face is not enough, Yoko is caught-up in Yoshie's delusions and obsessions and things begin to go hay-wire when Yoshie can't be appeased or satisfied by the surgeries...
KIREI? is a decent film that deals with legitimate subjects such as humanity's obsessions with beauty, money, power, etc...There are some tense moments in the film as the audience can feel the tension between Yoko and Yoshie, and knowing that the situation will not turn out happily. The performances are passable, though nothing truly noteworthy - and the film isn't quite as splattery as I'd have hoped, though there were a few "good scenes" towards the end. J-horror fans will probably dig this one, but those familiar with Matsumura's other works shouldn't expect the nihilistic splatter-fests of the ALL NIGHT LONG FILMS, nor the ultra-dark, violent tone of SCHOOLGIRL IN CEMENT. KIREI? - though "strong" at points, is a far more "mainstream" type of J-horror film...7/10