There’s a reason this 1998 J-horror film is finally appearing on U.S. Blu-ray, and it has little to do with the film. Based on horror manga artist Junji Ito’s first published book, the film is riding a new wave of interest due to Ito’s massive surge in U.S. popularity. Ito seemingly has a new bestselling hardcover manga collection published every month through Viz Media, and his manga Uzumaki served as the basis for the divisive recent Adult Swim/Max anime of the same name. Unfortunately, writer/director Ataru Oikawa’s film adaptation of Tomie pales in comparison to its source material, with none of the manga’s suspense and barely any supernatural elements.
Buy Tomie Blu-rayOikawa’s biggest misstep is almost completely excising the titular character from the film. Rather than learn about the mythos of Tomie, we follow the pained existence of a photography student named Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) as she struggles through suppressed memories with the assistance of a psychiatrist. Eventually, she crosses paths with a detective investigating a missing high school girl, where he finally relays his take on the back story of a mysterious girl named Tomie well over a half hour into the film. He believes that he has traced Tomie’s existence far back in time, with her multiple murders always resulting in her somehow coming back to life.
Oikawa prefers to have his characters tell us rather than show us what’s going on. We have no visible indication of any supernatural hijinks prior to the detective’s stated gut feeling that Tomie has been killed and resurrected many times, and even after that the biggest gore moment involves a poorly constructed eye ailment affecting a young man. When Tsukiko and Tomie finally meet face to face, there’s no brutal showdown, just a casual conversation leading to a lazy resolution destined to satisfy no one. Where Ito’s original manga continually ratchets up the tension with Tomie’s seeming omnipresence hovering over the other terrorized characters, Oikawa barely mentions her and only physically trots her out near the end to put a bow on his otherwise languid box of non-events.
The film is shot in dull, somber tones, so bleak it may as well be in black and white, but so lifelessly lit it would just be various shades of gray. The new Blu-ray can’t do much to punch up its bland source material, but the print is free of defects and the sound is clearly defined in original lossless 5.1 and 2.0 stereo. English subtitles are very good, and a new audio commentary by a critic is available to accompany an otherwise uninvolving cinematic effort.
The bonus features are surprisingly great, including lengthy new individual interviews with Oikawa, Nakamura, and producer Mikihiro Hirata filmed exclusively for this release. Oikawa discusses his career and vision for Tomie in a leisurely half hour, while Nakamura praises her fellow cast members and crew while reminiscing for 15 minutes. I skipped the producer’s feature, but was fascinated by the archival half-hour making-of documentary also included on the disc, complete with dated editing effects and subpar original video quality, like dusting off a forgotten VHS for a trip down memory lane.
On its own, the dreary and lethargic Tomie is impossible to recommend. However, it has some merit as a historical artifact of Ito and J-horror adaptations, and its bonus features are fun on their own. It’s best intended for the Ito superfan intent on tracking down the full extent of his pop culture reach, including his brief cameo in the film, but casual viewers are warned to stay well clear of this lackluster J-horror film.
