Lost Souls

Studio: New Line Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Lost Souls is certainly one of the most gorgeous-looking movies to come out in 2000. The cinematography has a striking, visual texture reminiscent of old photographs, all the color bleeding out into rich and evocative shades of grey and black. The movie doesn't quite live up to its look, though it's not without its pleasures. The broader outlines of its story--about a true-crime writer (Ben Chaplin) who discovers, through the efforts of a former victim of possession (Winona Ryder), that he's about to become the Antichrist--lack any surprises or ingenuity. But individual scenes are largely well-written, spookily directed, and acted with commitment and intensity. Chaplin is particularly good, Ryder does her best, and a crew of superb character actors (including John Hurt, Elias Koteas, and Philip Baker Hall) flesh out the skeletally scripted supporting characters with skill and intelligence. Some of the special effects go a little overboard, but the movie is surprisingly free of the cheesy, demonic posturing and portentous speeches that afflict too many religious thrillers. Fans of The Exorcist or The Omen may find Lost Souls to be a modest but flavorful variation on the "devil-is-coming-to-get-you" genre. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Not that bad..........2006-10-13

Its sad but, whenever Winona Ryder goes into a video store she hides copies of 2000's "Lost Souls" ..she is embarrassed I guess. I guess she has never seen Renee Zellweger in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Next Generation"? The cinematography is easily the highlight of the film but, I found it to be atmospheric as well as dark, which is obviously a good look for any horror movie. The acting is good also. The films weakness' are parts of the script and the ending.. a few small changes like the whole "my birthday's tomorrow" plot point should have never made it past the cutting room floor. Plus a more solid ending was much needed. Some minor changes and "Lost Souls" may have been a real winner!

Saw this in the theater: wanted my money back.......2006-04-07

My boyfriend (now husband) and I went to see this movie in the theater, thinking it would be a great horror flick about battling the devil and an impending apocalypse. It was so dull and slow-moving that he fell asleep through most of it. The ending, when NOTHING happens, was the most aggravating part of all. Don't waste your time or money on this cinematic flop.

0.25 STARS: Very disappointing attempt at a horror movie........2005-05-17

"Lost Souls" was a very disappointing attempt to make a horror movie...I thought the movie ended with a resounding THUD illustrating just how bad this movie was as a whole. If you want to watch a good movie regarding the horror of the "antichrist" then watch the classic horror movie named "The Omen", which is one of the greatest horror movies of all-time.

A masterpiece; the Blade Runner of horror.......2005-05-13

You like those dotcom commercials? The ones with sped up herky-jerky motion, and cool electro-bright colors? Or those Mercedes-Benz TV ads, with the sudden flashes of white intercutting sepia-toned shots of cars careening amidst a starkly cold environment? How about "coming of the Antichrist/Armageddon" films? Can't get enough of those?

Even wanna see an Antichrist film featuring the visuals of a dotcom commercial? Now's your chance!

This is no putdown. Storywise and stylistically, Lost Souls breathes new vibrant life into Revelations. No mean feat, considering the oh-so-many times horror (and other genres) have retold the familiar tale of the End Of Times.

Lost Souls retells the Revelation mythos from the perspective of a reluctant Antichrist. Peter Kelso (Ben Chaplin) is an atheist and best-selling author, slowly convinced by Maya (Winona Ryder) that on his 33rd birthday his body will be "taken over" by Satan. At which moment Peter will "cease to exist." (This slow self-awareness of one's own divine mission mirrors that of Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ -- although, in this case, Peter will no longer be "Peter.")

Online discussion indicates that horror fandom's opinion of Lost Souls is sharply divided. The controversy includes the story (especially its "small" ending), but is primarily directed at the film's visuals.

Regarding the story: One fan praised the film for its provocative questioning of the nature of religion, God, and Satan. I disagree that it does that, although I join the film's admirers. Lost Souls's perspective is intriguing, but not subversive. Its fundamental story is rigidly faithful to Revelations. God is all-good and all-powerful. Satan is evil, the Great Deceiver. Man (or woman, i.e., Maya) can defeat Satan with sufficient Faith in Christ.

About that "small" ending. Many viewers have a problem with it. How does one end an Antichrist film? If one's expectations derive from The Omen trilogy, The Omega Code, The Devil's Advocate, The Seventh Sign, or The Visitor, one may expect impending Armageddon. Thunder and lightning, natural disasters and military battles, eardrum-shattering music and sound effects, even melting faces and flocks of doves. But director Janusz Kaminski thwarts our expectations. His ending is unexpectedly "small." A rising buildup to ... an abrupt whimper, not a bang.

As the credits roll, you wonder: That's it? That's the end? And yet ...

His ending is deceptively anticlimactic.

Give it time. It'll linger in your thoughts, and grow. An ending that's dark and moody and somber, one that you'll still be contemplating the next day. More so than when you saw it.

Warning: Don't return the video immediately after viewing it. Not unless you must. You'll want to see Lost Souls again, the very next day.

Second warning: Lost Souls is best seen alone, in the dark. I, unfortunately, saw it with a friend. She kept interrupting, asking questions, making comments. Lost Souls has atmosphere, pace, rhythm. A bright room with loud viewers will dampen its impact. And although it has an extremely well-structured script (I saw some things coming, which is not bad), it's not a simple script. If you don't pay attention, you'll soon find the succession of events confusing.

About its atmosphere. The controversy over Lost Souls pertains less to its story than to its style, which threatens (but does not) overwhelm the story. Although Lost Souls is Kaminksi's directorial debut, he's long been a leading cinematographer (his credits include any number of Spielberg films, including Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List).

Some critics contend that Kaminksi has gone overboard in displaying his visual tricks. The film has the look of a TV commercial. White flashes punctuated by thunder, movements jarringly sped up (as though shot on video and transferred to film), a sepia-saturated world of grays, browns, and golds. A world simultaneously bright yet murky. Cold and pale. The metallic look of The Matrix, or a Wired magazine ad, or a dotcom commercial.

Here's an example of Lost Souls's hyper-stylization:

Early in the film, three priests (one, the elderly John Hurt) and Maya enter an asylum to perform an exorcism. They stride single file, slow-motion, their long steps exaggerated with a wide-angle lens, their loose clothes billowing (reminiscent of The Matrix's trenchcoats), their feet thundering with every step. Appearing as four futuristic tough-guys approaching a duel; yet this curious mise-en-scene is here applied to three physically unimpressive priests, and one slight, frazzled woman.

This contrast between style and content risks satire; yet Kaminski intends no satire, and to his credit, we're not laughing.

Equally visually stunning is a late scene, shot in telephoto: an SUV driving under a bridge, under the fiery semicircular rings of ... some sort of Men-At-Work light fixtures, a looming electronic sign reading: No Access.

Do these stylistics serve an aesthetic purpose? One can find one. Kaminski's dark, somber cinematography creates the impression of a world under a cloud (it's often raining), of an impending doom descending on humanity. The characters' jarring motions adumbrate the metaphysical and ethical disintegrations inherent in Armageddon. The thundering footsteps shot in slow motion emphasize the import of the impending confrontation. And of course, the impressive stylistics and special effects build to provide that much more contrast with the unexpectedly "small" ending.

So yes, one can aesthetically justify Kaminski's stylistics. But one is also tempted to wonder: Are these justifications the real reason for his stylistics, or did Kaminski apply them simply because they looked cool? Certainly, the film's detractors think so.

Yet, Kaminksi's stylistics work for me. And although they threaten to overwhelm the story, they do not do so. Especially when Kaminski mutes the stylistics near the end, shifting emphasis to the story.

Normally, horror works best on a low-budget; Lost Souls is an example of a big budget put to good use. A low budget couldn't deliver Kaminski's visuals.

Despite its stylistics and controversy, Lost Souls's story and structure is traditional. Maya and her priestly allies have determined that Peter is the coming Antichrist, and they must stop him. Either by working with him, or if need be, against him. Contrast that with a nontraditional (and smallish) Antichrist film: Hal Hartley's The Book of Life (1998).

Unlike Lost Souls, The Book of Life is not a horror film, not even a horror-art film. It's an indie film that bears some striking similarities to (and striking differences from) Lost Souls. Like Lost Souls, The Book of Life features nontraditional stylistics. Shot on digital video, The Book of Life features pale impressionistic visuals, and skewed camera angles. Storywise, it too features a reluctant Antichrist.

But unlike Lost Souls, The Book of Life also has a reluctant Jesus. God is the heavy, distant and cruel, because He seeks to destroy Earth through Armageddon. Jesus wishes to avert Armageddon, for humanity's sake. The Antichrist shares Jesus' goals, preferring to keep things just as they are. Together, Christ and Antichrist plot to subvert God's plans for Armageddon.

Lost Souls proffers no such theological ambivalence. Maya is wholly committed to God, her Faith strong. Through Faith in her Catholicism, she is able to ferret out Satan, recognizing his lies in the possession of a priest.

Surprisingly, Meg Ryan is credited as one of Lost Souls's producers. She does not appear in the film, so it seems she's a genuine producer here, rather than an actress using her clout to assume the title. With Lost Souls, Ryan has reason to be proud.

I predict that Lost Souls will be the Blade Runner of horror. Blade Runner was a critical and box office bomb upon release, condemned for its "style over substance," yet slowly it built a cult following, becoming one of the most admired and influential science fiction films in history.

DEVIL MAKES YOU DO IT.......2004-07-24

It's kind of frightening when you think about the number of ways movies have dealt with the coming of the Antichrist. Aside from the more popular OMEN series, there have been countless movies that have quoted different parts from the Bible and warn us about the coming of the Devil on earth.
In LOST SOULS, a quote from Deuteronomy says when a child is born out of incest, Satan will come to earth. This marked person turns out to be crime novelist Ben Chaplin, who has written novels about serial killers. Winona Ryder plays a young woman who was once possessed and exorcised by John Hurt. Now she is committed to alerting Chaplin to his fate. That's pretty much the plot...the incestuous parties are fairly predictable early in the movie, and to Chaplin's credit, we hope there's some way out for him.
Janusz Wacinski (sp) the brilliant cinematographer behind some of our greatest films, debuts with a stunning look to his film. As many reviewers have noted, it is sumptous, gorgeous and very moody. Chaplin and Ryder are quite good in the pivotal roles with some fine support from Philip Baker Hall, an uncredited Alfre Woodard, John Diehl, Elias Koteas and Sarah Wynter.
I don't know if we needed another movie like this, but this one is stylish, if somewhat tepid in its conclusion.

Average customer rating:

BAD BAD BAD
Disappointing
Don't buy it -- the cast is wasted here!
Don't spend your money!
Surprisingly good!

Stories of Lost Souls
Starring: Blanchett , Knightley , Jackman , Bettany , and Gandolfini
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A3Q7J0
Release Date: 2005-02-03

Product Description

In the spirit of the Twilight Zone, Stories of Lost Souls is a hard hitting presentation of six short stories of conquest, desperation and perseverance featuring remarkable performances by an all star cast.

Customer Reviews:

BAD BAD BAD.......2007-03-01

This DVD is torture. If you can make it through all the stories, it is a testament to your constitution. There is no purpose, no climax to any of the stories. Dspite what the CD label says. It is nothing like Twilight Zone. Even the dialogue is terrible, and mundane. Not entertaining at all.

Disappointing.......2006-06-20

In every story, I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, and it never did. The description on the DVD sounded like they should be scary, or at least a little twisted, but nothing ever really happened. As the other reviews say, the actors talent is wasted.

Don't buy it -- the cast is wasted here!.......2005-12-12

As another reviewer indicates, this is truly terrible stuff, an embarrassment to the cast for sure. It's as if the writer-directors shared the same persuasive agent, and somehow the project, despite the amateurish scripts, had great early word-of-mouth, and the actors said "yes." Poor them. It wants to be a contemporary, British Twilight Zone, and misses by a mile because of the twin evils of dreadful writing and directing, on every single vignette. My copy goes straight to ebay.

Don't spend your money!.......2005-09-30

I bought this DVD because it had several fine actors in it, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Paul Bettany. I have only watched 3 of the 6 short stories which were so poorly made, poorly photographed & directed that I wonder why such good actors participated in them. Awkward, look like home movies.

Surprisingly good!.......2005-08-09

When the blurb about this DVD says it has an all-star cast, it's not kidding. Each of these short vignettes has not one but several bona fide stars, from Cate Blanchette as a young woman coming unglued over dinner to James Gandolfini as a man waking up from a drunken stupor to find that his wife has left him and, quite literally, taken EVERYTHING. I have to admit that I didn't expect much at all from this DVD, in part because I'd never heard of it and in part because it came from the bottom of the bargain bin at Wal-Mart. However, it really is surprisingly good. The vignettes themselves are a bit uneven - my favorites were "Standing Room Only" (a wordless, nearly slapstick piece starring Hugh Jackman) and "Euston Road" (a short and clever tale of a down-on-his-luck gambler who isn't quite what he seems). Even if there are only a few of the pieces that you really, really enjoy, for the $5 used DVD price, you can't go wrong. Give Stories of Lost Souls a try.

Live From The River Of Dreams (DVD + CD)

Average customer rating:

good but...........

Live From The River Of Dreams (DVD + CD)
Director: Larry Jordan
Manufacturer: Columbia Music Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Billy Joel - The Essential Video Collection
Jimmy Buffett - Live at Wrigley Field Double Header
Billy Joel - Live at Yankee Stadium

Product Features:

CD Features "All My Life"
First Studio Recording in 14 years
Plus 3 Additional Unreleased Tracks
DVD features Live Concert with 14 songs
Dolby Digital

ASIN: B000P69ILG

Product Description

DVD Track Listing: (1)No Man's Land (2)Pressure (3)Ballad Of Billy The Kid (4)Leningrad (5)Allentown (6)My Life (7)I Go To Extremes (8)Shades Of Grey (9)The River of Dreams (10)Goodnight Saigon (11)We Didn't Start The Fire (12)A Hard Day's Night (13)Big Shot (14)Piano Man CD Track Listing: (1)All My Life (2)You're My Home (Live at Madison Square Garden 2005) (3)Honesty (Live at Madison Square Garden 2005) (4)Stiletto (Live at Madison Square Garden 2005)

Customer Reviews:

good but..................2007-04-22

This is a great DVD, but not near long enough. I would like to see that millennium concert released sometime before the next millennium. As a footnote this set is available at Walmart for ten bucks.

Treasure of the Amazon/Island of Lost Souls

Average customer rating:

Treasure of the Amazon/Island of Lost Souls
Starring: Treasure of the Amazon , and Island of Lost Souls
Manufacturer: Vci Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000QCU9T4
Release Date: 2007-05-29

Description

Treasure of the Amazon: In the depths of the lush, steamy Amazon jungle, rife with exotic life forms, a group of adventurers embarks on a quest to discover a legendary river reportedly filled with diamonds "the size of your eyes" as well as precious jewels and gold, and in the process finds itself enveloped in incomprehensible barbarism. At the mercy of this mysterious jungle labyrinth, the treasure hunters are forced into fierce battles with determined cannibals, ruthless headhunters, ferocious alligators, piranhas, a tribe of topless female warriors, and, equally disturbing - the greed of their own colleagues, raising the question "Which is more treacherous - the greed of man or the perils of the jungle?" Created by one of Mexico's most famous exploitation and action/adventure film directors, Rene Cardona, Jr., this film has been labeled "One of the best Indiana Jones style films seen." Island of Lost Souls: Based on the Best Seller by Jose Leon Sanchez, which relates the twenty years of imprisonment during which he lived on the Island of Lost Souls. The brutality of the events, nakedly narrated in the book, propelled the novel to major success in Latin America, and later to receive worldwide acclaim. The film adaptation of the heart-wrenching story went on to break box office records in Mexico, the film's country of origin. Bonus Features: Scene Selection Menu| Bios| Bonus Adventure Trailers| Original Theatrical Trailer Specs: DVD10; Dolby Digital Stereo/Dolby Digital 2.0; 199 minutes; Color; 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - R, NR; Year - 1985, 1974; SRP - $9.99.

Average customer rating:

Island of Lost Souls
Starring: Mário Almada , Eric del Castillo , Wolf Ruvinskis , Alejandro Ciangherotti (II) , and Xavier Marc
Director: René Cardona
Manufacturer: Vci Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E6GCDY
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Description

Actors: Mario Almada, Erik Del Castillo, Wolf Rubinskis, Alejandro Ciangheroti, Mariana Lobo: Based on the Best Seller by Jose Leon Sanchez, which relates the twenty years of imprisonment during which he lived on the Island of Lost Souls. The brutality of the events,nakedly narrated in the book, propelled the novel to major success in Latin America, and later toreceive worldwide acclaim. The film adaptation of the heart-wrenching story went on to break box office records in Mexico, the film's country of origin. DVD Bonus & Features: Scene Selection Menu, Bios, Original Theatrical Trailer, DVD-5, Dolby Digital 2.0, 95 min, Color, 1:85:1, NR, 1974.

Average customer rating:

Good Movie
good movie The City of Lost Souls
Beautiful Love Story...
One of the cooler movies of recent years
Fun film

The City of Lost Souls
Starring: Teah , Michelle Reis , Patricia Manterola , Mitsuhiro Oikawa , and Koji Kikkawa
Director: Takashi Miike
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005RYA2
Release Date: 2001-12-04

Amazon.com

A stylized and violent thriller, prolific director Takashi Miike's City of Lost Souls (2000) is set in the ganglands of Tokyo and pays homage to Sergio Leone, Quentin Tarantino, and, in a weird, animated cockfighting sequence, The Matrix. Mario (Teah) is the Japanese-Brazilian gunslinger fresh out of jail who, in a hilariously audacious action sequence, hijacks a helicopter to save his Chinese girlfriend Kei (Michelle Reis) from deportation. He must then secure 18 million yen to secure fake passports for both of them to make a new life for themselves in Australia. In a misconceived operation, Mario arrives at the lair of the intriguing Ko, Kei's ex-boyfriend--a self-assured, effeminate young exchange student--who is somehow head of a vicious gang of Triads. He's at the point of buying a consignment of cocaine from decadent, cold-blooded Yakuza gangster Fushimi when Mario's arrival triggers a shootout, with Mario escaping with the wrong suitcase. Now, in time-honored True Romance fashion, Mario and Kei are on the run from the mob.

Although visually tricky with some strong set pieces, The City of Lost Souls is rather hazy when it comes to story and characterization. We get little sense of the runaway couple as people. A young blind girl is introduced into the tale and there are romantic moments between Mario and Kei, but these feel like sugary palliatives to the bloodshed rather than touching moments. Better perhaps to check out Miike's Audition, a brilliantly gruesome satire on male Japanese attitudes toward womanhood. This is a flashier, faster, but less artistically satisfying affair. --David Stubbs

Customer Reviews:

Good Movie.......2005-07-22

Not Takashi Miike's best but still a solid movie. Good pacing, lots of action and some gore. Some animated sequences which can be bring the movie down a little. Rent it if you can find it.

good movie The City of Lost Souls.......2005-05-27

Chinnese against Portuguese,mafia,guns women,street brawls this is a wild ride of wierd Mike films has buetiful art direction and good cameria angles and will please audeances on dvd as did it in theaters fine and well thought out gem of a movie you wont be disapointed by this good film highly recommend

Beautiful Love Story..........2004-10-31

As my second favorite Takashi Miike film to date, it's quite a sweet love story amongst gratuitous violence and bizarre characters. In Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese, this is an ultra cool movie with a myriad of wierd Miike characters, drugs, guns and blood. You get the picture if you like the Miike, which I do...contains a ping pong scene which you won't soon forget. Remember playas, this is Takashi Miike here...my homie...

One of the cooler movies of recent years.......2004-10-22

It seems that when people in the know discuss Takashi Miike, it's not long before the name Quentin Tarantino comes up. That comparison is certainly not inapt, as Miike shares Tarantino's gift for showing viewers a world in which conventional notions of law and morality are virtually nonexistent. That said, "City of Lost Souls" is the work of a visual stylist who clearly stands on his own abilities. As one would expect from the guy who made the action classic "Dead or Alive," "City of Lost Souls" explores a dark underside of Japanese life filled with unsavory characters and violent happenings. Also like "Dead or Alive," the movie explores (though admittedly not in much depth) the interactions of different peoples in Japanese soceity, in this case the Japanese, the Chinese, and Brazilians. Perhaps most notable, though, is the presence of a high level of bizarre and even surreal elements that set Miike well apart from the action-movie pack. Of course, it's all filmed in Miike's skewed, frenetic style, which makes the movie distinctive enough on its own.

The plot, to the extent that one exists, centers around Mario and Kei, one of the more unlikely couples you'll see in a movie. Mario is a deadly Brazilian criminal who opens the movie by shooting up a bar in his home country; Kei is an absurdly gorgeous apprentice hairdresser who starts the movie on a bus waiting to be deported to her native China. That all changes, though, when Mario stages a dramatic rescue involving an assault rifle and a commandeered helicopter. While the relationsip of Kei and Mario clearly takes center stage here, it's equally clear early on that this is no ordinary love story.

It's after that rescue scene that things start to get a little complicated. Trying to get out of the country, Mario and Kei wind up getting caught between the Yakuza and the Chinese Triad when they steal some cocaine during a deal between the two sides. Pretty soon both groups are on their trail, meaning Mario, Kei, and the tight-knit Brazilian community around them are all in danger of catching a bullet at any moment. Making a bad situation worse, the Yakuza leader, Fushimi, is an unhinged sociopath staging a power grab, and the top Triad, Ko, is Kei's ex-boyfriend and still hasn't quite let go of her in his mind. So, to sum up, the Yakuza and the Triad are both after Kei and Mario, Ko is after Kei, the Brazilian community is soon after Mario, and Fushimi is seemingly after anyone who gets within shooting distance.

Naturally, Miike uses this plot and the accompanying explosive situation as a springboard for the expected series of twisted happenings and profuse bloodshed. Whatever this movie may lack in terms of plot or character development is more than made up for in sheer visual appeal. Obviously a gifted director of action, Miike also impresses with his knack for constructing the kind of set pieces that you just won't see in mainstream American action movies. Mixed in with the conventional shootings, beatings, and explosions are such decidedly unconventional elements as a cockfighting scene inspired by "The Matrix" of all movies, a scene in which Kei sets a guy on fire with some Vodka, and a ping-pong match with deadly consequences for one of the participants. Better yet, much like "Dead Or Alive," the movie hits its climax with a frenetic, shoot-'em-up finale that's sort of like a miniature version of one of John Woo's legendary denouements.

In the end, while it is a bit shallow, "City of Lost Souls" is a more than sufficiently entertaining film for those into the genre. Miike's highly caffeinated, stylish direction is perfect for those with short attention spans, and the whole movie makes a brilliant piece of eye candy. It may not be great, but it looks great, and that's plenty close enough. Any movie with this many cool shots and bullets flying around is worth checking out.

Fun film.......2004-06-26

To me this would be the most overlooked Takashi Miike film. Or to say that's it's more overlooked of his region-1 DVD releases.

This film is nothing like i've ever seen done. It takes multiple languages/cultures and clashes them in a funny, violent and all around fun film. The characters are kinda cartoonish but they all have a dark edge to them. The lead man Mario (played by japanese-brazilian porno star Teah) barely speaks thoughout the film but he has some sorta superhuman edge to him. The story here is that Mario just got outta jail and his woman Kei is risking deportation so after crashing the deportation bus and killing a few people he gets Kei, not before they envelop a plan to rip off some coke from a yakuza/triad/russian mob connection. Yeah it's confusing but easy to follow. The soundtrack is awesome, with some punkish tunes to fit the mood and more mellow songs to fit that mood. It all works well. There is violence, and lots of it, a few quick but awesome shootouts and some bloodier goings on but not as brutal as other Miike films (DOA for one). The acting is good, but like I said it's a bit cartoonish and over-the-top at times. The ending is well.... A letdown in terms of quality. But this is still a great film, with lotsa style (a CG chicken cockfight for one term), humor (a midget, slapstick humor) and just plain fun.

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Good Movie.......2005-07-22

Not Takashi Miike's best but still a solid movie. Good pacing, lots of action and some gore. Some animated sequences which can be bring the movie down a little. Rent it if you can find it.

good movie The City of Lost Souls.......2005-05-27

Beautiful Love Story..........2004-10-31

One of the cooler movies of recent years.......2004-10-22

Fun film.......2004-06-26

To me this would be the most overlooked Takashi Miike film. Or to say that's it's more overlooked of his region-1 DVD releases.

Customer Reviews:

Good episode.......2007-03-25

I had not ever seen this show on television- so I wanted to try it out on DVD. This episode of Dead Tenants involves an investigation at a home where a family is plagued by what seems to be a lot of activity. The home is on a hill near some sort of waterway and a set of railroad tracks. Without spoiling the outcome of the investigation- I can say that the investigators are able to come up with a reasonable explanation for why the activity could be occurring in this home. It's about an hour long- and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I would really have liked to see more than just the one episode on the dvd for that price. Otherwise- definitely good.

Takashi Miike Collection (Audition/The City of Lost Souls/The Happiness of the Katakuris)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Box Set
WOW!!!

Takashi Miike Collection (Audition/The City of Lost Souls/The Happiness of the Katakuris)
Starring: Kenji Sawada , Keiko Matsuzaka , Shinji Takeda , Naomi Nishida , and Kiyoshiro Imawano
Director: Takashi Miike
Manufacturer: Chimera
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000C52K0
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Description

Audition: A shy, middle-aged widower, Aoyama, decides to chose his new wife by holding a phony audition for a nonexistent film. He falls for the demure and alluring Asami (Japanese fashion model Eihi Shiina), a former ballerina with a suspect past. Their polite timid courtship takes a 180-degree turn when Asami, trumping the stereotype of the submissive Asian woman, visits her revenge on Aoyama in the most nightmarish of ways. The film morphs from romance to psycho-thriller in the bat of a pierced eyelid. City of Lost Souls: Japanese-Brazilian Mario ( Teah, Dead or Alive 2) and Chinese hairdresser Kei (Michelle Reis, Fallen Angels) are lovers. They need cash for passports and bribes in order to stow away on a ship headed for a foreign country. Even though they are risking their lives, they hatch a wild plot to steal the money during a drug deal between the Chinese Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza. During the fight that ensues, Mario manages to steal cocaine to sell, but he ends up with a bigger problem - in the scuffle, Kei is captured by the Yakuza. In the climatic battle, Mario will have to fight harder than ever before to rescue Kei and gain freedom and happiness for both of them. Happiness of the Katakuris: A mind-bending change of pace for the enfant terrible director Takeshi Miike (Auditiion, Dead or Alive, City of Lost Souls), The Happiness of the Katakuris is a cheerfully grotesque, anything goes musical comedy about a quaint family-run inn, where all the guests seem to die in bizarre fashion after checking in. Miike throws hilarious surreal claymation into the mix, along with a delusional secret agent and a host of karaoke-style musical numbers.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Box Set.......2005-07-22

Audition is definetly the best of these three. Some gore towards the end but overall not as graphic as many japanese horror films. Nice plot and some scary moments lead up to a nice ending. City of Lost Souls is a decent movie with some humorous scenes. Violent and fast paced. Another good ending. Finally Happiness of the Katakuris is a big laugh unto itself. A musical horror comedy if that is imaginable. Overall this box set is a good sampling of Takashi Miike movies and clearly shows three very different styles.

WOW!!!.......2004-11-02

This film is very disturbing, even for a former Army Sniper! Not many movies truley disturb me, some are disgusting (blood and guts) some are scary (Boo!) but this one is almost a snuff film. I wouldn't give it 5 stars because its really unsettling and not everyone should watch this movie. I ran out and saw it after seeing a few clips on Bravo and I will buy it now.

People think American's are sick, but this (and Unit 731 and Bataan...) may make people think twice.

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