Marebito (2004)

39% of critics liked it
(28 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(10,329 ratings)

Terror takes on both human and mechanical form in this independent horror film from Japanese director Takashi Shimizu. Masuoka (Shinya Tsukamoto) is a freelance photographer who has become malignly obsessed with fear. Masuoka believes there is a physical component to terror, and he is determined to… More Terror takes on both human and mechanical form in this independent horror film from Japanese director Takashi Shimizu. Masuoka (Shinya Tsukamoto) is a freelance photographer who has become malignly obsessed with fear. Masuoka believes there is a physical component to terror, and he is determined to find it. While his rattrap apartment has become a shrine to documents of fear, he's particularly fascinated with a videotape of Furoki (Kazuhiro Nakahara), a disturbed man committing suicide in a Tokyo subway tunnel by stabbing himself in the face. Masuoka think if he can recreate Furoki's experience, he might be able to find out what he saw at the edge of panic, and after throwing away his antidepressants he makes his way down to the place where the suicide was recorded. Masuoka finds a mysterious passageway in the tunnel, and discovers Furoki is alive and unwell underground. Masuoka also learns of a strange breed of robots who terrify people both beneath the Earth and on the surface; he also finds a strange feral woman and attempts to rescue her, but someone else has already claimed her, and wants her back immediately. Marebito (aka The Stranger From Afar) stars Shinya Tsukamoto, himself a noted Japanese horror filmmaker, best known for his experimental feature Tetsuo (aka Ironman). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Takashi Shimizu
Written By: Chiaki Konaka
Genres: Drama, Horror, Art House & International

In Theaters: Dec 9, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Mar 14, 2006
Studio: Tartan Films

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
It's actually a pretty lousy thriller.
Richard James Havis, Hollywood Reporter
Marebito is a disturbing supernatural drama that leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Marebito is no conventional vampire movie but a speculation into the notion that ancient people could sense alien beings in their midst.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
And if the trip doesn't have the clear-cut directions of a Hollywood film, it has all the ideas -- and cold, unsettling flights of fantasy -- of a nightmare, where faceless people look and look and look, but never see.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
For Japanese horror aficionados only, and even they are likely to be underwhelmed by this stew of half-baked ideas and creepy sensations.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
An outrageous horror flick from Japan.
Mattias Frey, Boston Phoenix
It neither musters the campy horror of Ju-on nor follows through on its art-house potential.
Steve Biodrowski, ESplatter
It is far from a completely successful experiment, but it does create something with a unique enough identity to be worth exploring.
Doug Brunell, Film Threat
As creepy as it is frustrating.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It drops names such as Madame Blavatsky for gravitas, but has as little to do with theosophy as a Westerner has to do with chopsticks.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
[An] atmospheric, hypnotic digital video wonder.
Johnny Butane, Dread Central
Fans of good, creeping horror on a more intellectual level will likely enjoy this quite a bit.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
I hold no grudge. Marebito is, for Takashi Shimizu, a step up from Ju-On, but it still doesn't hold a candle to any of the man's many influences, including Suspiria.
Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly
Any profound statement that Shimizu is making gets lost in translation, if it was ever there in the first place.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
The gloppy sound effects are so over-the-top, they invite laughter, and the bloodsucking scenes are allowed to become absurdly repetitious.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's not really scary, but it reaches a level of insanity so unhinged and dispassionately wretched that it defies description.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Shimizu has done what compatriots such as Hideo Nakata have not yet managed to do: make a contemporary Japanese horror movie that has some new ideas in it.
Marrit Ingman, Austin Chronicle
Shimizu doesn't quite achieve the ostensible goal of Marebito's verite style and purposefully low-tech execution: to pervert our sense of what is real.
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
By the end, the story's ambiguities begin to cancel each other out, leaving us with no good readings rather than a multitude of valid ones.
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
The year's least frightening horror film.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lee ?

A slow but eerie and interesting bit of urban horror as a man enters a subterrainian hell via the metro system and finds a naked, animal-like woman who he brings to the surface in an attempt to tame her. There's more going on than meets the eye and it's down to the viewers… More
A slow but eerie and interesting bit of urban horror as a man enters a subterrainian hell via the metro system and finds a naked, animal-like woman who he brings to the surface in an attempt to tame her. There's more going on than meets the eye and it's down to the viewers patience to stay with it and get what you will from the plot, which isn't explained in great detail in some cases. I thought it was watchable and intriguing enough to see it through. It lacks the usual thrills that I look for in horror films, despite the occassional bloody moment. It's a decent effort overall, especially as it was made in just 8 days. But not my favourite from Shimizu, miles better than Shock Labyrinth though!
Drew S

Cryptic, self-important pabulum, Marebito is just a cheap side project between the Grudge movies, as admitted by Takashi Shimizu himself. There's nothing like hiding a low budget and a total lack of ideas behind smoke, mirrors and psychobabble; J-horror in general does this, but… More
Cryptic, self-important pabulum, Marebito is just a cheap side project between the Grudge movies, as admitted by Takashi Shimizu himself. There's nothing like hiding a low budget and a total lack of ideas behind smoke, mirrors and psychobabble; J-horror in general does this, but it seems particularly fatuous here, as the film flirts with some concepts that would make it seem deep but really are complete dead ends. It name-drops Madame Blavatsky, Kaspar Hauser AND M.C. Escher in a span of about five minutes, but the climactic action is a schoolgirl getting stabbed on video camera, so there's a clear conflict of interest here. It's as if the movie thinks it's hot shit for flashing its intellectual feathers and then turning around and SHOCKING YOU with left-field violence, but seriously, zzzzz. This isn't to discredit Marebito completely, though. Maybe it's my long-standing bias for the genre, but it does achieve a basic sense of intrigue. There are some pretty sharp visual representations of voyeurism and the unknown, and the horror imagery sometimes works (but sometimes doesn't, such as the ridiculous-looking man in sunglasses). The performances are a mixed bag. Shinya Tsukamoto is bad as the insulated, unhinged loner, unable to rein in his inherent ridiculousness. Tomomi Miyashita fares better as F, although the part's degrading and not particularly wide expressively. They don't really seem to have much chemistry, which really causes the ending to fall flat, much like Marebito's other attempts to shock. It's a little bit more brutal than most of its compatriots, but also a lot dumber and a lot cheaper, and its attempts to depict madness really just make it risible. I can't recommend this to much of anyone, unless you're a total J-horror completist.
Bruce B

There is something that?s always a litte different about Asian Horror, thou this one isn't one to send a chill up or down your spine, it does have its moments, like near the end of the film when our free lance camera man puts a box cutter in his mouth and slashes away. Story is… More
There is something that?s always a litte different about Asian Horror, thou this one isn't one to send a chill up or down your spine, it does have its moments, like near the end of the film when our free lance camera man puts a box cutter in his mouth and slashes away. Story is about this cameraman and his dwell into the netherworld or sub world in which he finds a girl chained up in a cave, he rescues her to try and save her, only to find out she lives off Human Blood, ahh so now we have a serious problem. Worth 3 1/2 stars
Kylie B

The style of the film takes a while to get into, but if you can manage it, it is worth it. The dialogue strays at times into philosophical/conspiracy theory/pretentious (depending on your view) areas, and the surrealism will turn a lot of viewers off, but aficionados of Asian,… More
The style of the film takes a while to get into, but if you can manage it, it is worth it. The dialogue strays at times into philosophical/conspiracy theory/pretentious (depending on your view) areas, and the surrealism will turn a lot of viewers off, but aficionados of Asian, 'extreme' and vampire cinema should give it a try - if only to say that you've watched it.
Tsubaki S

A very different turn to Shimizu's redundant Ju On flicks. A more Lovecraft type of story (heck, there's even a reference to him) with none other than Shinya Tsukamoto playing the main lead, which adds a bonus of extra weirdness to the whole thing. Anyone tired of the all… More
A very different turn to Shimizu's redundant Ju On flicks. A more Lovecraft type of story (heck, there's even a reference to him) with none other than Shinya Tsukamoto playing the main lead, which adds a bonus of extra weirdness to the whole thing. Anyone tired of the all the ringu derivations should give a try to this one.
alan j

strange..more like david lynch..just got bored waiting for smoething to happen..interesting concept and dark visuals...jut lost my interest with this one ..yawn
Anthony V

How much you like it depends on how you interpet the ending.
Christopher B

When I first saw this I was really impressed. The more I thought about it though, I was more and more fascinated by the story, that seems to go anywhere it damn well wants to. A brilliant film by Shimizu and a nice break from his Ju-on series. A director I will follow for life.… More
When I first saw this I was really impressed. The more I thought about it though, I was more and more fascinated by the story, that seems to go anywhere it damn well wants to. A brilliant film by Shimizu and a nice break from his Ju-on series. A director I will follow for life. Also, a great lead performance by Tetsuo director Tsukamoto.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Marebito (2004)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Lee ?

Drew S

Bruce B

Kylie B

Tsubaki S

alan j

Anthony V

Christopher B

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