Distributed by:

Universe

Region 3 DVD

Language: Japanese

Subtitle: English, Chinese

Runtime: 126 minutes

Genre: (Horror/Thriller/Romance)

 

 

 

Four tales are told by two mysterious strangers trapped in a train station during a typhoon:

One Snowy Night (directed by Masayuki Ochiai) - An aircraft has crash-landed and four survivors have to leave a girl who is still trapped inside. Severely cold and drowsy, they experience the most horrifying night ever.

Samurai Cellular (directed by Masayuki Suzuki) - In the 17th century, the cowardly samurai Oishi finds a mobile phone, which enables him to talk to a mysterious man.

Chess (directed by Mamoru Hoshi) - An ex-world champion chess player is summoned to a game where the pieces are real, and they are intent on killing each other.

The Marriage Simulator (directed by Hisao Ogura) - Imagine you could simulate a marriage before the couple says "I do". All you have to do is download the couple's data onto a computer, and wait and see what happens.

"Tales of the Unusual" is more like a Japanese version of the Twilight Zone. Each of the stories can be viewed independently and there is no unifying theme to the whole movie. The first episode, "One Snowy Night" is a horror story that reminded me of the Blair Witch Project except that it's a bit more creepier. One thing that I should give credit to the Japanese film-makers. They do know how to make scary movies!

The second episode "Samurai Cellular" can be categorize as Sci-Fi with a twist of comedy added to it. It's about a 17th century samurai...with a cell phone. After watching it, I can't help but wonder whether or not it's the storyteller's ploy to sell cellular phones to the audience. Maybe, or maybe not. It's a pretty decent story, but I consider it to be a 30-minute cellular phone commercial.

The third episode "Chess" was kind of interesting. It's a mix of thriller and Sci-Fi. Watching this episode really reminded me of the Twilight Zone. It's pretty interesting how they compare life with the game of chess.

The last episode "The Marriage Simulator" belongs in the category of Romance. The story may be predictable, but it's still a good episode to watch. All I can say about this episode is that it was "sweet."

Conclusion: All four stories were unique in their own way and each director brought their own flavor to the movie. I screamed, I laughed, and I cr..... no I did not cry. But still it was a roller-coaster emotional ride. I hope that they will have more "Tales of the Unusual" in the future.

 

Overall Score: A-