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| View Larger Image | Premonition | DVDStarring: Hiroshi Mikami, Noriko Sakai, Maki Horikita, Mayumi Ono, Hana Inoue
Directed By: Norio Tsuruta
Also With: Norio Tsuruta (Writer), Kazuya Hamana (Producer), Satoshi Fukushima (Producer), Takashige Ichise (Producer), Yasushi Kotani (Producer), Jirô Tsunoda (Writer), Noboru Takagi (Writer)
| List Price: | $14.98 | | Price: | $13.49 | | You Save: | $1.49 (10%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | DVD | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 95 minutes | | Format: | Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Studio: | Lions Gate | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Aspect Ratio: | 1.85:1 | | Release Date: | July 05, 2005 | | Sales Rank: | 20,104th |
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FEATURES | - Newspapers are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see.death. Foretelling ill-omened fate of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the events.or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out others like
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Description
They are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see...death. Foretelling ill-omened fate of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the event... or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out other like himself, searching for a way to change the future. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 31 reviews)
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Japanese fantasy horror flick lacks suspense by Turfseer (New York, N.Y.)  2 Stars
March 14, 2009
We learn from the DVD extras from an interview with the Director, that "Premonition" is based on a 30 year old Japanese horror novel titled "Fear Newspaper". The plot involves people who are sent newspapers from unseen forces that foretell the calamitous events or murders in the near future. Premonition reminds me of the 1944 American film "It happened tomorrow" where a man receives a copy of tomorrow's newspaper which predicts his own demise.
In this Japanese version, the protagonist is Hideki Satomi. He's a high school teacher obsessed with his work so when traveling on a vacation with his wife, Ayaka, and 5 year old daughter, Nana, the power fails on his notebook computer and he insists that his wife turn their car around and backtrack to a pay phone a few miles away where he can plug the computer into a power source and recharge the battery. As he's waiting for the battery to recharge inside the phone booth, his wife is having trouble extricating Nana from the car as the little girl's dress has gotten stuck inside the seat belt. Meanwhile, Hideki is dumbfounded when a burnt up piece of newspaper comes floating from the sky and rests in front of him inside the phone booth. The newspaper has a picture of his daughter with a caption announcing her death in a horrible accident. Seconds later, as Ayaka leaves the car and goes across the road to get Hideki to help her get Nana out of the car, a truck plows into the car, causing it to catch fire, explode and kill the hapless little girl.
Flash forward three years later. Hideki and Ayaka are no longer together (we later learn that Ayaka no longer wanted to hear about the mysterious newspaper that Hideki kept harping upon). Ironically, when the 'fear newspaper' (otherwise referred to as 'newspaper of terror') suddenly starts popping up in Hideki's life again predicting ghastly events, Hideki wants nothing to do with 'newspapers' and is oblivious to their clues; but Ayaka is now a researcher of psychic phenomena at the local university and is intent on getting to the bottom of what might have happened with the 'fear newspaper'.
Ayaka is working with an older woman, a psychic who uses her power to produce images on Polaroid (instant) film. The psychic tells Ayaka of a researcher, Rei Kigata, who has disappeared but prior to his disappearance discovered there is a place in the cosmos where all thoughts and memories coalesce. Certain people (like Hideki) become privy to incidents in the future through the fear newspaper which appear (as previously stated), out of nowhere. This is perhaps the weakest aspect of Premonition's story. Unlike the aforementioned "It happened tomorrow", where an old man delivers the newspaper, and there is some kind of relationship between the old man and the protagonist, the 'fear newspaper' arrives as a result from an unseen, vaguely defined force in the cosmos. It would have been much more compelling if there was some kind of devil-like figure that was delivering the newspaper instead of the random delivery which simply wasn't suspenseful.
Ayaka soon finds the psychic dead in her research laboratory. Meanwhile, Hideki is powerless to stop the murder of one of his teenage students despite receiving prior notification that the ghastly event will occur. Hideki continues to receive warnings of catastrophic events (such as a landslide) through the fear newspaper and again he's unable to do anything. We're even past the midpoint in the film and the central question is not asked--what can Hideki do to reverse the events that led to the death of daughter? Finally, Ayaka's research assistant finds the address of the mysterious Rei Kigata and Ayaka and Hideki go to visit him. However, when they arrive the house is deserted. By watching various old videotapes (some 12 years old), they see that Kigata attempted to alter the future interfering in the very events that are predicted to come true. We can see that Kigata begins developing plague-like symptoms on his body as a result of his meddling with the future.
Finally Hideki realizes that he can change fate but at a cost. Three quarters of the film is already over and finally a suspenseful event occurs. Hideki (after receiving another newspaper) prevents his wife from getting on a commuter train before it crashes and kills most everyone on board. However, Ayaka's research assistant was with her in the train and Hideki doesn't realize it when he pulls his ex-wife off onto the platform right before the train leaves the station.
Now Hideki finds himself caught in some kind of vortex where he's going backward in time. Before he knows it, he's back at the scene where his daughter was killed. He tries to interfere, saves the daughter but this time the wife is killed. Then he finds himself inside the cab of the truck with the truck driver who's had the seizure; again he can't stop the truck from plowing into his car. Finally, he remembers what the psychic had told him: you can change your own fate. This time 'he gets it'. He's able to save his daughter but must sacrifice his own life to save the little girl.
There's a ton of great material on the DVD extras including numerous scenes that show us how Premonition was made. I was impressed with the degree of cooperation between the director and the rest of the cast and crew. Nonetheless, director Norio Tsuruta resorts to introducing too many horror clichés (e.g. the drooling serial killer) at the expense of a tight and suspenseful plot. Without a clearly defined antagonist and the failure of the protagonist to be proactive throughout most of the film, Premonition fails to accomplish its goals: consistently scare its audience and keep it in a state of suspense.
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Sometimes it's better to do nothing by Zack Davisson (Seattle, WA, USA)  4 Stars
October 15, 2008
Does a horror film have to be scary to be good? Can it simply be unnerving, taking you out of the normal order of things and into a stranger world, and still be called a horror film? Because that is exactly what Premonition does. There is nothing really scary here, and aside from a few brief scenes no jumps or creeps, nothing to upset your sleep. But it is undeniably a horror film and a very good one at that.
The second release in the "J-Horror Theater" series, following Infection and followed by Reincarnation, Premonition ("Yogen") is an atmospheric and suspenseful film with a supernatural flair typical of the anthology horror series. Adapted from a manga called "Kyofu Shimbun" ("Terror Newspaper"), it tells the story of a family haunted by a foretelling-newspaper, one which only shows a future of death. A couple witnesses the death of their young daughter in an automobile accident, one which was foretold only moments before by a strange newspaper. Devastated by the event, the father becomes a shell of a man, giving up on his profession and life in general and just going through the motions. The mother, more driven, experiments with psychics in order to try and uncover the truth behind the mystery. Slowly, the father begins to predict future deaths every time he writes something down, and encounters others who have had their future shown to them by the cursed newspaper.
Director Tsuruta Norio is one of the Japanese "Masters of Horror", directing Ring 0 and several episodes of the Scary True Stories series. Much of the style he brings to Premonition is typical of Japanese horror, including the atmospheric, family-centered stories such as seen in Dark Water and the original Ring. Keeping the story tight, focusing on the estranged couple and how they deal with the death of their child, gives the film an emotional depth that wouldn't be found if he went for the screams. Actor Mikami Hiroshi (who I last saw in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) does a great job as the shattered father, and Sakai Noriko (Ju-On 2) is perfect as the beautiful wife and mother who pushes the story forward. Special notice also goes to Inoue Hana, whose brief screen time as the couples doomed daughter Nana really digs into the heart.
I cannot say that there is anything overwhelming original here, nothing that makes the film stand out, but it is just genre down exceedingly well. This is not a yurei flick, so don't expect to see the famous white-faced girl making an appearance, but the Japanese horror genre is not so one-note as people sometimes think. Premonition uses everything that is good about the style, without cliches or unnecessary pandering, and delivers an honest and compelling story.
On an additional note: The Sandra Bullock film Premonition is not a re-make of this movie, although they have identical titles.
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The TERROR of Knowing the INEVITABLE and the Price you have to Pay by Woopak (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell) 4 Stars
October 04, 2008
There have been many entries of J-horror ever since the success of "Ringu" in the U.S., not to mention an overabundance of Asian horror remakes. Before this film does officially get massacred by Hollywood, (it has been marked for remake hell) I thought it may be the best time to review this piece of Japanese horror. J-Horror theater 2: PREMONITION (aka. YOGEN, 2004) is based on the manga by Jiro Tsunoda called "Kyofu Shimbun" (Newspaper of Terror). Directed by Norio Tsurata, the film does have a somewhat nostalgic feel to it, similar to the 60's TV show "Twilight Zone"; which wouldn't be surprising since the Japanese comic became popular in the 1970's.
Newspapers are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki (Hiroshi Mikami) picked up a piece of a newspaper that foretells his daughter`s death, he is so puzzled as to what this piece of paper meant and before he realizes what is happening, he is too late to save her.
After the accident, Hideki and his wife Ayaka (beauteous Noriko Sakai, Ju-On 2), divorced and they go their separate ways. Three years have passed, Ayaka had been researching this strange phenomena with the aid of a medium, Prof. Mikoshiba (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) while Hideki fears that if he picks up a newspaper, he will see death. Nonetheless, Hideki begins foretelling ill-omened fate of murder to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the events...or is there? Now, Hideki and Ayaka must find others who have experienced this mysterious phenomenon, in hope of finding an answer. Little do they know that they will be changing their lives forever....
The film does have a good plot and even references the famous psychic Chizuko Mifune, the medium who was discovered by a spiritualistic professor and who later committed suicide. The direction by Norio Tsurata is quite competent but somehow I think his style does push the film a bit to human drama than towards chilling horror. Tsurata does steer the film towards a melodramatic approach and while I appreciate that he took the time to flesh out his characters, some viewers may take it as a way to divert the film from its horrific premise. Still, the film does have a number of intense scenes that are both chilling and unnerving. The film does take its time, which helps its script as it builds credibility through its screenplay.
The film's cinematography is polished and stylized. Although some of the CGI effects does look a little cheesy at times. Despite its faults, the ominous music and the nicely paced sequences do assist the film in entertaining me. I am a bit put off by Hiroshi Mikami's performance, he was trying a bit too hard to act terrified. Fortunately, Noriko Sakai is around to bail him out. Sakai is a great actress and quite a treat to look at.
Now about the plot. The film focuses more on the phenomena's investigation rather than scenes after scenes of deaths and accidents. Most of the violence happen off camera, Hideki and Ayaka does take center stage. While the couple obsesses in finding the secret of the "Fear Newspaper", they slowly find themselves becoming attached to each other again. The secret of Rei Kigat and the 13-year old boy who aged into an old man within 6 months are the film's major selling points. These scenes are very unnerving as they become revealed as I got closer to the film's climax.
The good thing about "Yogen" is that the film does have a solid plot and the rules of the film does have a lot of credibility and answers its own questions. True, the film's script does contain some of the usual histrionics, but I do think "Premonition" is a very good film. The film is nicely paced and pleasingly well-rounded. It contained quite a few surprises and avoids cheap scares. No, there is no long-haired ghost in pale make-up on this one. The film focuses on its characters, its mystery and it's logic does make a whole lot of sense when you put it all together. Rei Kigat and Hideki's fates are quite credible, but it also opens some questions.
This is the type of film that the less you know about it, the better the experience will be. Tsurata is to be commended that he managed to generate a feeling of intrigue and genuine creepiness in the film. The film's internal logic and unusual surprises managed to keep me interested for its entirety, despite Mikami's overdone performance. Noriko Sakai is real nice to look at.
Whenever you touch a newspaper, do you notice the ink getting on your fingers? You won't look at it the same way again.
Highly Recommended! [4- Stars]
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great movie by Thomas Porter (St Louis, MO)  5 Stars
September 05, 2008
One of my favorite movies. A must see. Don't judge the original on the horrible Sandra Bullock remake.
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This is a good movie by Kori (st. louis, missouri) 4 Stars
February 20, 2008
What would you do if you knew someone was going to die? Would you save them, even if it meant your own slow and painful death?
Despite the not so great acting, Premonition is very involving. The story kept my attention until the end, and I wanted to watch it again and again! As is true to a lot Asian horror movies, the cheezy effects are laughable. Especially the newspaper that chases them at the end!!!
Still, this is a good movie if you want to see something new.
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