Akuryo Byoutou (2013)

When I was a child, I thought I was going to have a heart attack watching this movie called Ju-on. It as basically the first j-horror movie I have ever watched. Ju-on was on a whole other level of scary. I do not watch horror dramas often, I prefer other drama. However, I had to check out Akuryo Byoutou for myself.
Akuryo Byoutou is basically about cute nurses working nightshift in a hospital where they have to walk around the dark corridors at night with only a small flashlight and there is an old abandoned ward with no electricity.
Akuryo Byoutou is filled with staples of the j-horror genre ranging from woman in white to dead schoolgirls to silent ghosts that just stand there. Its my favourite thing about the j-horror genre, the camera pans around you see a short glimpse of a head at the window thinking 'wtf was that' and it pans back and its not there. Less is scarier.
I also liked how the early episodes are told as flashback. Something happens to a character at the end of an episode and the next one we find out what actually happened and how they are connected to Kaho's character, Runa.
Unfortunately after the halfway mark, Akuryo Byoutou stops being scary when things start getting explained and the show is forced to show more. Ghosts/monsters are scary when you don't see the whole thing and only see a glimpse. Imagination is scarier than the real thing.
Second half is more of a Blair Witch and zombie movie and the finale is something else entirely. I had fun watching, but I will never return to this drama. Horror drama should be scary. This drama is more funny than scary.

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I normally am quite a fan of Japanese horror, of which I tend to really appreciate the atmosphere, the ability to frighten without having to be gory (quite the opposite, actually!) and last but certainly not least the normally nice and ethical message they manage to convey.
It was thusly with pretty high expectations that I've watched this "Akuryo Byoutou", even more so considering my beloved Kaho stars in it (and at least she didn't let me down in the least, gorgeous and brilliant as always, seriously! ^____-).
The rest of the cast provided mixed performances (as is to be expected of this genre, let's face it).
The music and the rest of the "packaging" (direction, editing, photography, etc.) were OK.
Unfortunately, the story ended up being the weak point of the series; way too many flashbacks in the first half of the drama (to the point that you'd watch an episode, think nothing of it, and then appreciate some details only through next episode's flashbacks - rinse & repeat) and way too few good ideas in the second half.

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