Over Your Dead Body
Directed by Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike puts his own meta spin on a legendary Japanese ghost story. When a beautiful actress stars in a new play based on a classic horror tale, she pulls some strings to get her lover cast. With the cast in place, rehearsals begin, but off stage, some begin to develop their own obsessions. Trapped between the play and reality, they are horrified to find that a grudge can cross the blurred line.
Fiction and reality bend for actors performing a classic Japanese ghost story.
Cast: Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Itô, Ebizô Ichikawa
Member Reviews
The story was very artistically done and i feel that the gore didnt subtract from it at all.
This film succeeds in blurring the lines between reality and fiction in this meta tale, but somehow also leans a bit too far into surrealism that it becomes confusing. Because of the random shots of the crew viewing the 'acted out' scenes of the play, I had to ask myself whether or not I was watching a legitimate theater performance. In a sense, that's quite impressive to evoke that kind of reaction, but it was also highly distracting. Miike is considered a 'Master of Horror' but I can honestly say that he's been far more miss than hit since peaking with 'Audition.' The performances here are good, but in typical Miike fashion, none of it will be remembered over the 'shock factor' of bloody fetuses. Seriously, what's with Miike and bloody fetuses? This isn't the first time he's had a taste for that kind of thing. And don't get me wrong, the effects are great, but like everything else with this movie, it sometimes feels out of place or further adds to the confusion. The climax is so balls to the walls bonkers with graphic violence that it is surely enough the erase the slow paced convoluted story before it with viewers. And while I don't blame anybody for that, it just goes to prove my initial thoughts that roundup Miike's career as a whole: "try something new, but make sure to pad it with that signature Miike bloody fetus style, just in case."
Pretty gruesome. Good story too.
Slower paced but gets progressively more insane as it moves on. Kind of confusing at the end even if you’ve been paying close attention throughout the whole movie. Still a surreal film, one of my least favorite Miike movies but still decent.
Bizarre and surreal. I really enjoyed it