Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro: Yûrei manshon (2005) User Reviews

Somewhat all over the place, but still a good watch.

[theo0079 · 6/10 · 28 February 2023]

This movie is about a haunted apartment building. While this is a decently common trope and typically pretty easy to make interesting, the plot was a bit all over the place.

There are a number of elements to the plot that seem unnecessary, or perhaps just needed more time to flesh it out better. The plot was a bit all over the place at times and seemed to try to fit too much into that short of a time window.

Some things were a bit over the top in a way that felt like they were crammed in just to attempt to make it a bit more creepy. While they did add more oddities and such, they felt out of place and unwarranted at times.

There is a small twist at the end that you can't really see coming though.

As for the acting, it was kind of a half and half situation...Some certainly shined more than others to say the least.

Since it isn't that long of a movie, you can easily watch it without wasting much time. I've rewatched it a couple of times over the past few years. It isn't a perfect movie to say the least, but this certainly is a B-grade J-Horror, and sometimes that is what I want to watch. If you're into B J-horror, you'll probably like this.

Started off very interesting.. and then went to complete trash

[omg_a_baby · 4/10 · 23 June 2010]

Im a huge fan of horror movies, and coming across this movie really delighted me. The summary was interesting enough to pull me in, but about halfway or 3/4 into the movie I was struggling to stay awake, forcing myself to finish the movie to see whatever horrible trash ending was awaiting me.

The movie starts off very interesting. Its a father and daughter moving into these new apartments, and you notice that the tenants are extremely friendly and eager to help them move in...pretty fishy right? The story starts unraveling slowly and you find out more about the tenants in the apartment. Each tenant has their own history with the "haunted apartments." Some of their experiences with the ghosts are kinda lame or just really weird and ummm...what?, and some actually have some frightening experiences. What can I say, little Asian kids are usually the scariest part of these Asian horror movies :P. All the tenants have to follow a golden rule though; they must be home before midnight (I believe) or they die.

As the movie progresses, you find out the history of the apartments and so on. Im pretty disappointed in the way the movie ended. It had such a great build up only to be brought down by a completely random and far fetched twist that not even M. Night can rival. The twist was so incredibly stupid, and it just came out of no where! If you watch the movie, you will whole heartedly agree with me that they just stuck it in there so they can have that kind of stupid ending.

Well overall, this movie wasn't -that- terrible. It had some pretty good suspenseful parts, but the terrible ending screwed it all up. >_< What a let down! If you're bored and have nothing better to do, give this movie a try. If you're looking for a good thriller, on the other hand, its best to stay away from this movie.

I was actually scared

[Fayt08 · 9/10 · 10 June 2007]

Not many movies i see today actually make me scared, this movie though that I accidentally happened upon actually made me very frightened. I was looking for a good scary movie to watch, I found this movie. This movie had one of the most original plots i had ever seen, even though it sounds like something you might see commonly in Japanese folk lore it was quiet a new concept to me.

This girl and her alcoholic father move into a new apartment complex not to long after her mother dies. As soon as they move in they can tell things aren't normal. The tenants seem to act in a very strange manner. They later learn what is going on with the complex. It is haunted and they aren't allowed to move out, or stay out past 12. The only way they can move out is if they are the oldest renting tenant. If they move out too early, or stay out past 12 they are killed mysteriously. I don't wanna tell the whole story but it is extremely well made and very well written with a great plot twist at the end which will turn your whole outlook around completely. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone craving either a good plot, or a nice scare. I would not recommend it to anyone who hates subtitles, wants to see a lot of character development, or action.

Make sure you have all your movie supplies ready and close while watching , it will paralyze you with fear.

Scarry one.

[AshokePrabha · 8/10 · 22 June 2008]

I started liking Japanese horrors from 'the grudge'.. I have seen the ring in the English version but still like to see the original 'ringu'. Since the language is Japanese you have to follow the story by the subtitles. But that did not deviate me much.

In those good Japanese horror lists this haunted apartment can surely be added. It is not as horrific as Grudge. But different. No great special effects, no cheap tricks to jump you out of the seat. But certainly the story does as it unfolds into the apartments.

One teen girl Aimi, and her father move in to an apartment after the girl's mother was dead in a car accident. The apartment complex they moved in is the haunted one by a girl's ghost who died of the same age. And the curse that surrounds the apartment and the mystery behind it. The script is the best thing that makes the movie stand. Acting, photography, music and direction are all supporting the script and brought to a good level.

There are no unnecessary gore into the scenes. But the script is good and thrilling until the end. Even the music is played not to scare but to aid the story. The ending was an unexpected shock which I could not guess it at all. If you are a fan of horror stories and is OK with not much of gory effects then you'll definitely like it.

Little heard of, but this Asian ghost story hits all the right marks

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 25 July 2016]

As more and more cheesy, unoriginal horror films emerge from Hollywood to bore their audiences rather than frighten them, some cinema goers are turning more and more to the east for their frights and chills. For approximately a decade now there's been a real renaissance in terms of Asian horror flicks, films which champion subtlety and old-fashioned fear over dodgy gore and rubbishy CGI. HAUNTED APARTMENTS is one of these films, a feature-length spin off of a television series called TALES OF TERROR from Japan. At first sight, it's a familiar-looking tale indeed; the ghostly antagonist is a teenage girl with long black hair who pops up to scare the leading characters. However, HAUNTED APARTMENTS is different enough to provide more than enough new scares for even the most jaded viewer.

For starters, I liked the freshness of the plot. It's simple and it works: if residents go outside of their apartment building after midnight, they die. Plenty of exciting situations are built out of this idea, along with the more traditional hauntings which take place within the building. There's a ton of very scary moments, whether they come from the hideously rotted spirit coming for its victims or the poltergeist-style weirdness that torments the inhabitants at night. One scene, with a little boy being dragged along the floor by an unseen presence, is the scariest thing I've seen in ages. No jarring music, no fancy special effects work, no overacting from the cast; just solid frights that tighten the chest and constrain the breathing.

The cast is quite wonderful. Following in the Japanese tradition of understated acting, Kurokawa leads things as the investigative schoolgirl, a fragile yet determined character. The actor playing her father handles a subtle role very well, while the assorted characters playing the other inhabitants make for an engagingly weird bunch. There's even a shocking moment when they gang up on our protagonists, bound together by common hatred; their subsequent NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-style attack on the apartment is sure to have the pulses pounding. Things culminate with an outré twist that seeks to explain the back story to this film; it's not perfect but it does wrap things up nicely. A genuinely great example of Asian horror cinema.

very well done

[SamKivett-1 · 9/10 · 25 August 2008]

first of all i would like to say this is the first film I've seen since REC that had me wishing i was'nt watching alone in the dark. just finished this and wow! very well done, i was glued to the screen. typical kind of set up girl and father move because the mother has just passed away, but apart from that i found everything to be quite original. The apartment block is quite creepy as are the other residents. There are no real special effects or blood but i think thats a good thing because the script is excellent and the atmosphere and surrounding's are so dark and depressing it's not needed, and the ending wow, wow, and wow! totally unexpected. overall not quite as good as ringu but not far off i would recommend to anyone who likes Japanese horror and people who don't. p.s first comment and just getting used to new computer so sorry about spelling and grammar.

Very good and intelligent horror movie, despite of low budget

[Catharina_Sweden · 8/10 · 25 September 2012]

When I started watching this, at first I thought it was too low-budget and too amateurish to be worth watching. As so many Asian movies, because one cannot help comparing them with big Hollywood productions. Especially, I think it was a mistake of the movie-makers to put that scene with the family with the small children so early in the movie. Because then one got the impression, that this should be another of those hackneyed poltergeist-and-exorcist movies - but with much worse technical effects than the American ones.

But I am glad I hang on, because it turned out to be really exciting - with a rich story, a very intricate mystery, and some good scares.

I realized as much from the beginning, that the body of the ghost girl must be hidden somewhere in the building. But I could not see the end coming anyway - I mean the explanation in the crime that we all know exist, but which is taboo. I think it is a good thing, that a movie that very many young girls will watch dares to touch upon that subject, so that they who are themselves victims realize that they are not alone. Then, maybe it becomes easier for them to talk about it and apply for help.

All in all, this movie was well worth watching!