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The Asian ApertureGhost Photos (2006)
POSTED BY JASON FETTERS, July 29, 2012    Share



Toshiko and her family are packing up stuff to take with them after their grandpa has died. It looks bad for the family because they can’t keep the house. The family unit has been separated as Mom and Toshi leave to live at an apartment. Her father and brother, Kazu, are staying behind temporary. It is sad to see a family member’s death set in motion the destruction of this family.




Toshi is forced by her mother to constantly study in order to get into a good university. Her mother gives her a cell phone because their neighborhood in Gunma is bad. News footage tells of several young girls who are missing and presumed dead.

Meanwhile, Kazu took a picture of Toshi, just before she left the house, and he discovered a female ghost in the photo just behind her. He texts her about it and later on shows the photograph to her.
There is something creepy going on between that camera and whoever uses it. It is up to Toshi to solve the mystery before it is too late.

Director Tadashi Shimizu creates great tension filled scenes such as Toshi taking a practice exam. Given how insane her mother is for her to do well and go to college, the pressure is on Toshi to succeed. A stern teacher is walking through the aisles to enforce discipline. Then Toshi looks behind her to see an angry ghost. She can’t believe what has just happened so she looks again and see the hard eyes of her teacher staring at her as if she is crazy. If you have even taken a test and were not that confidence that you could pass, that is bad enough, to toss in the supernatural makes it unbearable. It is interesting to take something stressful, that everyone can relate to, and turn that situation into a moment of terror.

Watching Ghost Photos, you feel your nerves on end as you stick it out to find out for yourself just what is going on. There is a touch of Lovecraftian horror in that the scariest moments are not shown.

Ghost Photos is a cool haunting story that would be great for a party. My only complaint is that the subtitles are bad with wrong verb tenses and extra words thrown in that have no meaning. Still, that doesn’t take away from the fine performances that make this work. Ghost Photos doesn’t rely on gory effects. It is the expressive acting and building up of tension that gets into your skin and stalks your dreams long after.

Highly Recommended

4 out of 5 stars



"The Asian Aperture" is ©2012 by Jason Fetters. All contents of Crazed Fanboy are ©2012 by Nolan B. Canova and Terence Nuzum.

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