| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Tomie Collection, The
BCI Eclipse // Unrated // September 19, 2006
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
I'm sure I don't need to remind you with the release of The Ring, The Grudge, and their sequels that followed, that we're getting a pretty heavy dose of Japanese horror films all over the world. Those are only the most prime examples of Japanese horror to be subjected to the rest of the world outside of Japan, as there are countless others.
If you love Japanese horror films and you're tired of seeing Ringu, Ju-On, and their Americanized remakes, there's always the horror section at your local video store. One that I had seen around on the shelves in particular had been Tomie, and this series had its own little following of sequels beside it as well. I wanted something different so I decided to give this franchise a try now that the entire collection is available for a pretty decent MSRP of $29.98. There are five discs, one for each Tomie feature.
The entire series is about a girl by the same name of the title. She's not so much of a girl as she's a demon that thrives off of driving men to the edge of insanity, so much so that they kill her from a fit of jealousy or rage. Any guy who lays his eyes on her instantly falls in love. The current boyfriend if one could call him that, becomes outraged and so out of touch with their blinded love, they have to kill her. If I can't have her, nobody can! Not a very original premise, but it certainly has the potential to be a pretty decently executed horror film, or it can be a below average episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Does Tomie work the story well enough to its advantage? Or does Tomie simply play off of the success of its similar Japanese counterparts? Ringu had a decent thing going for itself with the first film, yet slowly tapered off from there. Ju-On was effective with its 'oh crap there's a ghost that suddenly appeared' scares, even with its minimal plot. Predictably the sequel played out the very same concept and we got less than desirable results. Let's take a look to see if Tomie can rise up to the challenge or simply fall into the same cracks any other Japanese horror franchise has fallen through.
Tomie
The first film in the series follows a mystery behind a girl named Tsukiko who is suffering from a pretty bad haze of amnesia from a few years ago. She's taking some hypnotherapy which is reminiscent of what we've seen in the second Exorcist film, in order to try and recover those lost thoughts. Tsukiko has always been told her amnesia is the result of a bad car accident, but questions start to arise once she starts saying the name Tomie while under the trance of her therapist.
In the meantime, somebody has found a severed head in a bag that appears to have been alive. Are these incidents related? What will become of the girls head that had been found?
Asking these questions bring out the biggest flaw in this movie, because it's not very long before our questions are answered by a snoopy detective that already knows everything. A great deal of dread can come from the unknown, and Tomie completely throws it all out the window. The detective informs us right off the bat about how Tomie is a demon girl that has complete control over any guy who looks at her. The boys will fall head over heels for this dame, and then they'll kill her only to have her rise from the dead again.
This takes away a great deal from the film. Where's the intrigue? Where's the mystery? For a film to make such a bold move, you'd have to up the ante with the scares in order to make it interesting. There's not much to the back story of Ju-On for example, but it works thanks to its scare tactics. Tomie doesn't even accomplish this very well. Everything that's supposed to be scary is actually pretty lame to be quite honest with you. There are a lot of movies that will give you something to set up a scare. After being tortured for a certain amount of time we would eventually get the big scare. In this film, we really don't get anything that makes our heart race. It's rather disappointing. It all gets tied off with a twist ending that almost feels as if it was thrown in 'just because' to be able to say it had a twist.
I must say I wasn't impressed or even that entertained with this film in the least. One down, four to go. That worried me some…
Tomie: Another Face
This was released the same year as the original feature film, and I'm willing to put my money down that this was a television feature. It runs at 72 minutes as opposed to the 95 for the original Tomie. We're treated to three separate tales of 'demon girl who makes boys both homicidal and suicidal' goodness.
The first tale is about a love triangle that predictably doesn't fair very well when Tomie gets involved. Tomie had stolen a school girl's boy toy. Tomie disappears and is eventually found dead. The old girlfriend decides that tact isn't really in the cards with how Tomie wedged herself in her boyfriend's life, so she thinks it's about time for her to rekindle her old flame. Just as she's about to though, Tomie comes around again acting like nothing ever happened. Somewhere in the middle is a man wearing an eye patch that's trying to kill Tomie. It was a pretty random scene to be thrown in there, but more on that later.
Next up is a photographer who was enamored long ago by a girl who stood facing the sunset in the park. It was his inspiration and for years he hasn't been able to find anything that inspired him as much as that girl. He comes back to town for a little while to see if some of the places he remembered would bring back some kind of memories to inspire him once more. To his surprise, he finds a girl that looks exactly like the one from the park! Her name of course, is Tomie. He gets her to do a photo shoot with him, but eventually finds that he's gotten himself into more than he bargained for. Another random scene with the one eyed Tomie assassin makes an appearance.
In the final story we finally get to make some sense about the assassin that popped up briefly in the other two tales. He worked in a morgue and on one typical evening making sure the corpses are safely frozen, Tomie gets brought in. She had come back to life on the table and escaped, but not before taking this mans eye. Quite simply, 'patches' is on a streak of vengeance hoping to rid the world of the demon known as Tomie, once and for all.
This method of using short stories for Tomie has worked a little better in my humble opinion. The first film came up very short of producing anything it should have, but with the short story television version of Tomie, we get a lot of the fat cut off. Lord knows the first Tomie had a ton of it. Not only that but there's actually a sense of some tension here within these stories, especially the second one. There's a bit more atmosphere to speak of here than in the original Tomie. It's quite shocking that the cheaper and shorter three-tailed version of Tomie ended up being a bit more entertaining than the full length theatrical film. Comparing something to the original Tomie doesn't really say all that much though, as this fares to be just average as well.
Tomie: Replay
This is the proper theatrical follow-up to the original Tomie. A six year old girl is brought to the emergency room with something growing in her stomach. An ultrasound reveals that a severed head is inside the girl's body. Ring the victory bell if you guessed it was Tomie! During the process of removal, a surgeon slices his hand open and becomes infected, only later on to disappear from the hospital entirely. Tomie's head is placed in a tank and over time it grows into the full bodied, beautiful demon girl.
Fast forward a short amount of time to Yumi, daughter of the surgeon that disappeared. Throughout the film she digs herself deeper and deeper into the Tomie rabbit hole, sure that there's a connection between Tomie and the sudden disappearance of her father. She keeps digging until she finds herself face to face with the demon and the final pieces of the puzzle she's been searching for. Unfortunately for Yumi, her boyfriend is under Tomie's control and could be her biggest obstacle.
I have to say that this installment of the series has won me back! There was great atmosphere, decent visuals, the acting was better than the prior installments, and there was an unfolding story that was still predictable but I kept watching to see the final outcome all the same. This is easily the best installment of the series, and I think at some point I'll be watching this one again just for the heck of it. Saying this flick was better than the first two installments doesn't say much considering I didn't think very much of them to begin with, but I found Tomie: Replay to be an enjoyable film. It's a shame that the series couldn't have started off with such a bang. This third installment (second theatrical) had the atmosphere and the freaky imagery that a film such as this really commands.
It's not very often a sinking ship gets the buoyancy it needs to rise back up to the top again, so it's refreshing to see a third installment in a series give Tomie a successful return. There are some minor gripes about how some of the imagery really rings true to some of what you would expect to see in a Ring film, or the fact that the ending didn't do the rest of the film justice. All in all, I would still recommend this title to anybody who wants to rent a decent Japanese horror film.
Tomie: Rebirth
Imagine you and a friend are walking into your buddy's house to say hello and maybe have a few drinks and some good times. Instead, you walk into a scene or terror. Try to picture your friend slumped over a bloodied sheet that's covering a body. What do you do? What do you say?
These two friends decided to help make sure their friend's name stays clear. They helped bury the girlfriend he's killed, Tomie. A little later on they go out partying to try and forget that terrible evening. Eventually the party really picks up once Tomie arrives. All the guys are swooning for her, to the point where the rest of the ladies at the party decide to bolt because of such a despicable display. When Tomie's murderer realizes who she is, something from the darkest depths inside of him awaken and he ends his life.
Tomie is back to make the lives of those who helped her murderer miserable. She comes between a son and her mother, and in between a relationship the other friend has. She succeeds quite well at being the biggest bitch we've seen her be yet. She gets killed time and time again, and just won't stay dead.
I applaud this film for continuing to throw elements into a story that keep us wanting to watch for the full length of the film. There's haunting imagery to cheer about here once again, and enough to keep us hooked between the stories revolving around the lives that Tomie has touched in a way that obviously works to her advantage. This would probably be the second best in the series, and a decent follow up to Replay. So far, I'm glad I stuck it out to see these last two films.
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
This time around we get an innocent girl by the name of Tomie. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are! It's a good thing she's not the evil Tomie we've known throughout the series thus far, as she's teased by her friends at school and probably would have stolen a boyfriend or three by now. Before long, we meet another girl by the same name that appears to be the typical Tomie we've almost come to want to kill ourselves. The father of the nice Tomie is shocked when he meets the evil Tomie. He can't believe his eyes because evil Tomie is familiar to him from his childhood.
We have another interesting premise here. It's another predictable flick but an interesting premise behind it none-the-less. Unfortunately this film isn't upholding the status the last two films left us off with. Tomie: Forbidden Fruit seemed to be nothing more than some project to pull in a bit of money from those who were still hot for the idea of Tomie. Except for the first film the Tomie's we have seen were pretty darn cute. It doesn't take a rocket scientist with the likes of American Pie: The Naked Mile on its way to understand why it might be good business to make a film that's really not necessary. Put some hot girls together kissing and teasing some sort of sex scene the viewers won't get, and horny guys will eat it up! This film doesn't bring anything to the table that's worthwhile. It's pretty yawn-able.
Video
Overall in the entirety of the series, there's not much to complain about in the way of artifacts or pixilation. There's some issues in the beginning of the first Tomie, with some minor pixilation in the darker areas. Other than that, all the prints are pretty nice when it comes to artifacts. If it wasn't for the following issues, the picture quality would probably be quite acceptable.
The rest of the transfer is pretty bad when it comes to black levels and sharpness. The darkest black you're going to get on all of these releases is gray unfortunately, and the picture is really soft. These films would have had even more of an impact on me if every scene didn't look to me like they were filmed with the studio lights on! For five titles that rely heavily on mood and atmosphere, you would think that we'd at least get proper black levels to help convey that feeling. Unfortunately we're stuck with the gray and have to do our best from there. All are presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer except for Another Face, which is presented in a 4:3 'full screen' ratio.
Audio
We have an 'alright' Dolby Digital 5.1 track for each release, with an option for English subtitles. I certainly don't know a lick when it comes to Japanese so they came in handy! These films don't sound too bad overall. You're not getting a real workout with your surround though. Expect more from the front channels than anything, but when the films have some atmospheric music or sounds coming from somewhere we can't see, the rears are used appropriately. Again, for films that rely on their mood and suspense, I don't know why we didn't get better soundtracks for all five of these titles.
Extras
Each film features chapter selections (usually around 12), and trailers for all five Tomie films.
The first film features a 'Making Of' documentary that's just over 28 minutes in length. It has interviews with the directors, actors, and the original creator of the manga these films were spawned from, Junji Ito. We also get to see some shots behind the scenes. With the lack of quality when it came to video and audio, I didn't expect to see something that was informative at all. Surprisingly there is a nice helping of information here for anybody who is interested.
The second film doesn't feature any additional features to the trailers or chapter selection, but the third film includes a gallery of some original Tomie art done by Junji Ito.
Next for Rebirth are some storyboard to film and special effects comparisons weighing in at just over 22 minutes. Also included are some interviews with the director and cast which isn't as lengthy or informative as what was provided for the first film, weighing in at just over 13 minutes.
Last but not least for Forbidden Fruit contains another 'Making Of' special, which doesn't really have anything informative for it. It pretty much just shows you the actual 'behind the scenes' footage and that's about it. So overall, there's nothing too spectacular here with the extras to feed your brain if you're really interested in learning everything there is to know about this series. If you're on the same page as me though when you watch all five discs, you're probably not too concerned about engorging yourself with everything Tomie.
Final Thoughts
Tomie could have shined spectacularly if they could have kept up with the way the third and fourth films were done. Unfortunately we got a pretty poor beginning, a made for TV flick that wasn't much better, and the final film of the franchise was a dud. There are a lot of questions you're left with after seeing all five films. After five flicks you'd hope you wouldn't have any questions but there are some obvious holes in the plot. Tomie is an evil demon girl that practically begs to be killed! She'll get these poor boys to fall in love with her, and just when they're over the moon for her she crushes them. No wonder they kill her! That's all fine and dandy since she brings fear to all once she returns from the dead. The problem though is that we often see Tomie complaining about being killed. She's tired of having the bugs crawl through her head when she's buried, she's tired of being killed. Yet she comes back from the dead and treats another guy like a piece of crap until she gets killed, again! Talk about not learning your lesson after touching a hot stove! At other times, she's practically fine with being killed because she's able to replicate once she dies. If this is true though, why is it at one point we see her destroy a 'Tomie' that existed before her? It just all doesn't add up.
Here's the thing though, it's got a pretty nice MSRP for five films. And that's just the MSRP. I've seen it in certain stores for $21.99. For the price, it really isn't a bad buy. The overall set isn't terrible as there are a couple of features definitely worth seeing. You could probably buy those two films separately, but for a couple extra bucks, you'll get the entire set and those of you who love being 'complete' with your collections can let loose a sigh of relief.
That being said, I do have to keep my recommendation at just a rental. The entire collection is cheap, yes, but there's not good enough quality in picture, audio, or extras to make this worth a purchase for most people not familiar with the franchise.
If you love Japanese horror films and you're tired of seeing Ringu, Ju-On, and their Americanized remakes, there's always the horror section at your local video store. One that I had seen around on the shelves in particular had been Tomie, and this series had its own little following of sequels beside it as well. I wanted something different so I decided to give this franchise a try now that the entire collection is available for a pretty decent MSRP of $29.98. There are five discs, one for each Tomie feature.
The entire series is about a girl by the same name of the title. She's not so much of a girl as she's a demon that thrives off of driving men to the edge of insanity, so much so that they kill her from a fit of jealousy or rage. Any guy who lays his eyes on her instantly falls in love. The current boyfriend if one could call him that, becomes outraged and so out of touch with their blinded love, they have to kill her. If I can't have her, nobody can! Not a very original premise, but it certainly has the potential to be a pretty decently executed horror film, or it can be a below average episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Does Tomie work the story well enough to its advantage? Or does Tomie simply play off of the success of its similar Japanese counterparts? Ringu had a decent thing going for itself with the first film, yet slowly tapered off from there. Ju-On was effective with its 'oh crap there's a ghost that suddenly appeared' scares, even with its minimal plot. Predictably the sequel played out the very same concept and we got less than desirable results. Let's take a look to see if Tomie can rise up to the challenge or simply fall into the same cracks any other Japanese horror franchise has fallen through.
Tomie
The first film in the series follows a mystery behind a girl named Tsukiko who is suffering from a pretty bad haze of amnesia from a few years ago. She's taking some hypnotherapy which is reminiscent of what we've seen in the second Exorcist film, in order to try and recover those lost thoughts. Tsukiko has always been told her amnesia is the result of a bad car accident, but questions start to arise once she starts saying the name Tomie while under the trance of her therapist.
In the meantime, somebody has found a severed head in a bag that appears to have been alive. Are these incidents related? What will become of the girls head that had been found?
Asking these questions bring out the biggest flaw in this movie, because it's not very long before our questions are answered by a snoopy detective that already knows everything. A great deal of dread can come from the unknown, and Tomie completely throws it all out the window. The detective informs us right off the bat about how Tomie is a demon girl that has complete control over any guy who looks at her. The boys will fall head over heels for this dame, and then they'll kill her only to have her rise from the dead again.
This takes away a great deal from the film. Where's the intrigue? Where's the mystery? For a film to make such a bold move, you'd have to up the ante with the scares in order to make it interesting. There's not much to the back story of Ju-On for example, but it works thanks to its scare tactics. Tomie doesn't even accomplish this very well. Everything that's supposed to be scary is actually pretty lame to be quite honest with you. There are a lot of movies that will give you something to set up a scare. After being tortured for a certain amount of time we would eventually get the big scare. In this film, we really don't get anything that makes our heart race. It's rather disappointing. It all gets tied off with a twist ending that almost feels as if it was thrown in 'just because' to be able to say it had a twist.
I must say I wasn't impressed or even that entertained with this film in the least. One down, four to go. That worried me some…
Tomie: Another Face
This was released the same year as the original feature film, and I'm willing to put my money down that this was a television feature. It runs at 72 minutes as opposed to the 95 for the original Tomie. We're treated to three separate tales of 'demon girl who makes boys both homicidal and suicidal' goodness.
The first tale is about a love triangle that predictably doesn't fair very well when Tomie gets involved. Tomie had stolen a school girl's boy toy. Tomie disappears and is eventually found dead. The old girlfriend decides that tact isn't really in the cards with how Tomie wedged herself in her boyfriend's life, so she thinks it's about time for her to rekindle her old flame. Just as she's about to though, Tomie comes around again acting like nothing ever happened. Somewhere in the middle is a man wearing an eye patch that's trying to kill Tomie. It was a pretty random scene to be thrown in there, but more on that later.
Next up is a photographer who was enamored long ago by a girl who stood facing the sunset in the park. It was his inspiration and for years he hasn't been able to find anything that inspired him as much as that girl. He comes back to town for a little while to see if some of the places he remembered would bring back some kind of memories to inspire him once more. To his surprise, he finds a girl that looks exactly like the one from the park! Her name of course, is Tomie. He gets her to do a photo shoot with him, but eventually finds that he's gotten himself into more than he bargained for. Another random scene with the one eyed Tomie assassin makes an appearance.
In the final story we finally get to make some sense about the assassin that popped up briefly in the other two tales. He worked in a morgue and on one typical evening making sure the corpses are safely frozen, Tomie gets brought in. She had come back to life on the table and escaped, but not before taking this mans eye. Quite simply, 'patches' is on a streak of vengeance hoping to rid the world of the demon known as Tomie, once and for all.
This method of using short stories for Tomie has worked a little better in my humble opinion. The first film came up very short of producing anything it should have, but with the short story television version of Tomie, we get a lot of the fat cut off. Lord knows the first Tomie had a ton of it. Not only that but there's actually a sense of some tension here within these stories, especially the second one. There's a bit more atmosphere to speak of here than in the original Tomie. It's quite shocking that the cheaper and shorter three-tailed version of Tomie ended up being a bit more entertaining than the full length theatrical film. Comparing something to the original Tomie doesn't really say all that much though, as this fares to be just average as well.
Tomie: Replay
This is the proper theatrical follow-up to the original Tomie. A six year old girl is brought to the emergency room with something growing in her stomach. An ultrasound reveals that a severed head is inside the girl's body. Ring the victory bell if you guessed it was Tomie! During the process of removal, a surgeon slices his hand open and becomes infected, only later on to disappear from the hospital entirely. Tomie's head is placed in a tank and over time it grows into the full bodied, beautiful demon girl.
Fast forward a short amount of time to Yumi, daughter of the surgeon that disappeared. Throughout the film she digs herself deeper and deeper into the Tomie rabbit hole, sure that there's a connection between Tomie and the sudden disappearance of her father. She keeps digging until she finds herself face to face with the demon and the final pieces of the puzzle she's been searching for. Unfortunately for Yumi, her boyfriend is under Tomie's control and could be her biggest obstacle.
I have to say that this installment of the series has won me back! There was great atmosphere, decent visuals, the acting was better than the prior installments, and there was an unfolding story that was still predictable but I kept watching to see the final outcome all the same. This is easily the best installment of the series, and I think at some point I'll be watching this one again just for the heck of it. Saying this flick was better than the first two installments doesn't say much considering I didn't think very much of them to begin with, but I found Tomie: Replay to be an enjoyable film. It's a shame that the series couldn't have started off with such a bang. This third installment (second theatrical) had the atmosphere and the freaky imagery that a film such as this really commands.
It's not very often a sinking ship gets the buoyancy it needs to rise back up to the top again, so it's refreshing to see a third installment in a series give Tomie a successful return. There are some minor gripes about how some of the imagery really rings true to some of what you would expect to see in a Ring film, or the fact that the ending didn't do the rest of the film justice. All in all, I would still recommend this title to anybody who wants to rent a decent Japanese horror film.
Tomie: Rebirth
Imagine you and a friend are walking into your buddy's house to say hello and maybe have a few drinks and some good times. Instead, you walk into a scene or terror. Try to picture your friend slumped over a bloodied sheet that's covering a body. What do you do? What do you say?
These two friends decided to help make sure their friend's name stays clear. They helped bury the girlfriend he's killed, Tomie. A little later on they go out partying to try and forget that terrible evening. Eventually the party really picks up once Tomie arrives. All the guys are swooning for her, to the point where the rest of the ladies at the party decide to bolt because of such a despicable display. When Tomie's murderer realizes who she is, something from the darkest depths inside of him awaken and he ends his life.
Tomie is back to make the lives of those who helped her murderer miserable. She comes between a son and her mother, and in between a relationship the other friend has. She succeeds quite well at being the biggest bitch we've seen her be yet. She gets killed time and time again, and just won't stay dead.
I applaud this film for continuing to throw elements into a story that keep us wanting to watch for the full length of the film. There's haunting imagery to cheer about here once again, and enough to keep us hooked between the stories revolving around the lives that Tomie has touched in a way that obviously works to her advantage. This would probably be the second best in the series, and a decent follow up to Replay. So far, I'm glad I stuck it out to see these last two films.
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
This time around we get an innocent girl by the name of Tomie. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are! It's a good thing she's not the evil Tomie we've known throughout the series thus far, as she's teased by her friends at school and probably would have stolen a boyfriend or three by now. Before long, we meet another girl by the same name that appears to be the typical Tomie we've almost come to want to kill ourselves. The father of the nice Tomie is shocked when he meets the evil Tomie. He can't believe his eyes because evil Tomie is familiar to him from his childhood.
We have another interesting premise here. It's another predictable flick but an interesting premise behind it none-the-less. Unfortunately this film isn't upholding the status the last two films left us off with. Tomie: Forbidden Fruit seemed to be nothing more than some project to pull in a bit of money from those who were still hot for the idea of Tomie. Except for the first film the Tomie's we have seen were pretty darn cute. It doesn't take a rocket scientist with the likes of American Pie: The Naked Mile on its way to understand why it might be good business to make a film that's really not necessary. Put some hot girls together kissing and teasing some sort of sex scene the viewers won't get, and horny guys will eat it up! This film doesn't bring anything to the table that's worthwhile. It's pretty yawn-able.
Video
Overall in the entirety of the series, there's not much to complain about in the way of artifacts or pixilation. There's some issues in the beginning of the first Tomie, with some minor pixilation in the darker areas. Other than that, all the prints are pretty nice when it comes to artifacts. If it wasn't for the following issues, the picture quality would probably be quite acceptable.
The rest of the transfer is pretty bad when it comes to black levels and sharpness. The darkest black you're going to get on all of these releases is gray unfortunately, and the picture is really soft. These films would have had even more of an impact on me if every scene didn't look to me like they were filmed with the studio lights on! For five titles that rely heavily on mood and atmosphere, you would think that we'd at least get proper black levels to help convey that feeling. Unfortunately we're stuck with the gray and have to do our best from there. All are presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer except for Another Face, which is presented in a 4:3 'full screen' ratio.
Audio
We have an 'alright' Dolby Digital 5.1 track for each release, with an option for English subtitles. I certainly don't know a lick when it comes to Japanese so they came in handy! These films don't sound too bad overall. You're not getting a real workout with your surround though. Expect more from the front channels than anything, but when the films have some atmospheric music or sounds coming from somewhere we can't see, the rears are used appropriately. Again, for films that rely on their mood and suspense, I don't know why we didn't get better soundtracks for all five of these titles.
Extras
Each film features chapter selections (usually around 12), and trailers for all five Tomie films.
The first film features a 'Making Of' documentary that's just over 28 minutes in length. It has interviews with the directors, actors, and the original creator of the manga these films were spawned from, Junji Ito. We also get to see some shots behind the scenes. With the lack of quality when it came to video and audio, I didn't expect to see something that was informative at all. Surprisingly there is a nice helping of information here for anybody who is interested.
The second film doesn't feature any additional features to the trailers or chapter selection, but the third film includes a gallery of some original Tomie art done by Junji Ito.
Next for Rebirth are some storyboard to film and special effects comparisons weighing in at just over 22 minutes. Also included are some interviews with the director and cast which isn't as lengthy or informative as what was provided for the first film, weighing in at just over 13 minutes.
Last but not least for Forbidden Fruit contains another 'Making Of' special, which doesn't really have anything informative for it. It pretty much just shows you the actual 'behind the scenes' footage and that's about it. So overall, there's nothing too spectacular here with the extras to feed your brain if you're really interested in learning everything there is to know about this series. If you're on the same page as me though when you watch all five discs, you're probably not too concerned about engorging yourself with everything Tomie.
Final Thoughts
Tomie could have shined spectacularly if they could have kept up with the way the third and fourth films were done. Unfortunately we got a pretty poor beginning, a made for TV flick that wasn't much better, and the final film of the franchise was a dud. There are a lot of questions you're left with after seeing all five films. After five flicks you'd hope you wouldn't have any questions but there are some obvious holes in the plot. Tomie is an evil demon girl that practically begs to be killed! She'll get these poor boys to fall in love with her, and just when they're over the moon for her she crushes them. No wonder they kill her! That's all fine and dandy since she brings fear to all once she returns from the dead. The problem though is that we often see Tomie complaining about being killed. She's tired of having the bugs crawl through her head when she's buried, she's tired of being killed. Yet she comes back from the dead and treats another guy like a piece of crap until she gets killed, again! Talk about not learning your lesson after touching a hot stove! At other times, she's practically fine with being killed because she's able to replicate once she dies. If this is true though, why is it at one point we see her destroy a 'Tomie' that existed before her? It just all doesn't add up.
Here's the thing though, it's got a pretty nice MSRP for five films. And that's just the MSRP. I've seen it in certain stores for $21.99. For the price, it really isn't a bad buy. The overall set isn't terrible as there are a couple of features definitely worth seeing. You could probably buy those two films separately, but for a couple extra bucks, you'll get the entire set and those of you who love being 'complete' with your collections can let loose a sigh of relief.
That being said, I do have to keep my recommendation at just a rental. The entire collection is cheap, yes, but there's not good enough quality in picture, audio, or extras to make this worth a purchase for most people not familiar with the franchise.
-About the Author- Michael Zupan is primarily a film guy, but has a variety of places where you can enjoy his work otherwise. Check Bytesizeimpressions.com for video game op-ed pieces and podcasts, and be sure to check out the sister site, Byte-Size Cinema, linked up top. This writer also contributes significantly to in-print magazines such as Minecraft Explorer and Fortnite Explorer!
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||