You know you're getting something special and unusual when watching a Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie. Reason why I often like his movies so much is because they always start of as something formulaic and you're sure the movie will be heading in a certain direction but then suddenly it will completely turn around and the movie and its story start taking an unexpected approach.

The movie pretty much starts off as a thriller, in which the police is hunting down a supposed serial killer. But it soon starts to become apparent that there actually is far more going on and the movie takes a more horror-like turn.

But please don't watch this movie expecting a typical Japanese horror flick, with scare moments and such. This movie is anything but typical and it's just not really a straight-forward horror flick. It's more subtle and clever with its story and build-up. Some people might find it too slow but those were probably expecting this movie to be a more typical Japanese horror flick.

It's really a movie that is heavy on its build-up. It can definitely get hard to follow and understand at times but this is basically always the case with a Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie. They allow you to think and interpret certain scenes and moments in your own way. Lots is always being left up to your own interpretation, so also don't expect the movie to just hand you all of the questions or to give a clear explanation of everything at the end.

It's really a very well directed movie, that also focuses heavily on its visuals. It's a real fine looking movie, with nice cinematography and some great settings got picked, for the movie its story. Kiyoshi Kurosawa is also an horror director who often uses special effects for his movies. It's always very well incorporated into his films and all serves a purpose within the style and story of the movies, as is also the case with this movie.

Really a movie you have to experience for yourself.

8/10

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In Tokyo, when a young woman in a red dress is drowned in a hole with sea water by a stranger, Detective Noboru Yoshioka (Kôji Yakusho) is assigned to investigate the case; however he finds evidences that points out to him as the possible murderer. Then a doctor kills his son in the same way, and Noboru believes the man is a serial-killer. However, Noburo is haunted by a woman dressed in red that he believes is the first victim called F18 by the coroner and becomes obsessed to solve the case. Further he proposes his girlfriend Harue Nimura (Manami Konishi) to move with him to another city or country. Meanwhile a woman drowns her lover in a bathtub with sea water. When the body of the woman in red (F18) is identified, Noburo arrests the killer and believes the ghost will leave him. But when he meets Miyuki Yabe (Kaoru Okunuki),he finds that she was possessed by the emotions of the fiend when she murdered her lover and Noboru's psychiatric identifies that his problems are connected to events of fifteen years ago. Noboru asks Harue to travel alone and navigates in a boat to an abandoned asylum where he discovers the truth about the spirit.

"Sakebi" is an intriguing horror tale, supported by a complex plot that is open to interpretations. I saw this movie twice on DVD trying to understand the mystery, but it was not clear the connection among Noboru, Reiko (the first victim F18),the doctor Sakuma and Miyuki with the ghost in red. Something is missing to give full comprehension to the plot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vítima de uma Alucinação" ("Victim of an Hallucination")

A beleaguered detective, working a homicide case whose crime scene was disturbed by a flood which derived from an earthquake, is haunted by a mysterious lady in red, who might just be a victim he possibly murdered..he can not remember ever doing such a thing, which makes her creepy visits to him even more bewildering.

The film opens with a man drowning a young woman, dressed in red, in a salt-water pot hole leaving her as he drives away. This case evokes distress in Detective Noboru Yoshioka(Kôji Yakusho, with quite an interesting face..it seems like his years of working these cases, among other things the film will eventually reveal, show in not only the face but his demeanor)who the film paints as the possible killer. A button and electrical wire, pointed out by the film in subtle sequences, allow us, at first, to believe he just might've been the one responsible, having selective amnesia in not remembering his involvement. I like how director Kiyoshi Kurosawa toys with me..like a puppet at his command, I was led to and fro. Then, Kurosawa startles me by showing other murders carried out by a killer towards one they possibly care for. The murders start out one way(..a father sticks his troublesome, wayward son with a hypodermic of poison, an adulteress bashes her employer with a hammer)then result with drowning in salt-water. I, at first, felt that the lady in red might've been a manifestation of guilt, but it seems later she might actually motivate others to kill! That's another aspect of this tale that startles me. Along the way, the film always returns to Yoshioka, the catlayst who explores the identity of the lady in red which never fails to return to him, often frightening him with accusations of his murdering her. Who is this woman, really? At first, Yoshioka believes she is the dead woman seen drowned at the opening of the film, but once her murderer is discovered, it still doesn't end. Through some digging, he finds out about a sanitarium which used corporal punishment towards unruly inmates involving heads being soaked in pans of salt-water.

I found it amusing how the film will seem to let Yoshioki off the hook, regarding his possible involvement in a homicide only to bring the lady in red back to torment him. He has done something and this film cleverly shows us what. I will say that one must always keep Yoshioka's love interest Harue(Manami Konishi)in their minds throughout. If you can see, their relationship is missing something. It's distant, cold, empty..something just isn't quite right with this picture. And, another little toy at Kurosawa's disposal is Yoshioka's partner Toru Miyaji(Tsuyoshi Ihari)who suspects him of misconduct. The lady in red is quite a creation of Kurosawa's..she's not far removed from the others we often are accustomed to, but she resembles a corpse, just recently uninhabited rather than some spooky white with black eyeballs lunging from the darkness. Actually, she often appears in corners like those who perish to ash in Kurosawa's "Kairo". Mirrors, flight, a crack in the wall..the lady in red makes her presence known. I like how Kurosawa create's this depressing atmosphere, not unlike "Kairo", where the skies in Tokyo are mostly grey and sad. Kurosawa said in a Q&A session on the DVD I watched that he shot this film in Winter, and the film works, I think, because of that. While I did find it baffling at times, this film sure held me at it's grip and I found it quite challenging. The fate of Miyaji, and Yoshioki's reaction and response to his sins, only add to this film's strange aura.