Tokyo Evil Hotel at Sydney Underground Film Festival – review
Tokyo Evil Hotel is playing at the Sydney Underground Film Festival. Addy Fong checks it out for us:
Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Tokyo Evil Hotel shines a neon-tinged light upon evil’s existence in both the supernatural and the physical realms to create a visually appealing world heavy on special effects, body horror, and gore. Nishimura, known for his body horror and splatter intense visuals, treats audiences to an exciting array of squirm-inducing monsters who feed on the vulnerable, a key element to the film’s overall plot and seen in most horror – the story of a vulnerable person trapped by circumstance and good eventually overcoming evil. Familiar tropes as seen in Japanese horror are scattered throughout, a cursed hotel, unexplained suicides, the appearance of monsters and ghosts, and creepy doll like women, elements which make the film visually intriguing may unfortunately leave audiences feels strangely empty and as if the film lacks substance.
Digging deeper however, beyond the neon lit walls and overly saturated special effects, what lingers past the film’s conclusion is societal commentary on Japan’s conformist society and objectification of women as exploited and sexualised, a performative learned helplessness used as a way to survive. Nishimura hints at this tangible and real fear felt by many, the fear of the unknown and the desire of many to escape the reality of which they find themselves in.
As with all cursed locations in the horror genre, the hotel itself appears alluring and inviting at first but quickly turns sinister. The main character (Natsumi Tadano) – whose desire throughout is to be wanted and loved, particularly by an attractive male prostitute (Masanori Mimoto) – exchanges herself as commodity for connection, allowing the possession of her body in both the physical and supernatural sense, consumed by her obsession with him to somehow save her. Throughout the film, Natsumi’s character is constantly thinking about him, perhaps as a form of escape or a life line in the place she is trapped in. Again, a female’s learned helplessness and vulnerability is solved by the presence of an attractive man! Great.
Perhaps due to Nishimura’s flipping of scenes between reality and supernatural, and the past and present occurrences, the film feels a bit disjointed, weakening its appeal. There are however, elements which work as discussion points, commentary on horror and society, the idea of generational trauma existing in parallel to a horror’s curse, the house being a metaphor for those feeling trapped in certain situations, and the desire to escape it all.
Tokyo Evil Hotel, a visually beautiful fever dream adorned with monsters, special effects and grotesque gore, is faithful to Nishimura’s specialisation as a horror director, particularly showcasing the practical gore and prosthetics of which he is known. The film’s weakness is however, is that the narrative feels hard to follow, and as intriguing about the glamourisation of seduction, the desire for intimacy, and the exploration of human suffering and exploitation of self may be, it’s a trope too common in horror that unfortunately leaves audiences feeling like the film just misses the mark.
Tokyo Evil Hotel plays at Dendy Newtown on 12th September. Details here.
Check out the full SUFF schedule.
Review by Addy Fong.
