The other night, I was browsing Amazon Prime to watch something before going to bed. I wanted to watch a short movie, and I stumbled upon this Japanese film called Stigmatized Properties: Possession.
Yes, I chose a horror film to watch alone at night before going to bed because why not? hahaha Anyway, let's talk about it.
IMAGE SOURCE
In the story, the main character Yahiro, originally lived in Fukuoka. He had a stable job and was even offered a promotion, but he decided to decline it in order to achieve his dream of becoming a TV personality.
He then moved to Tokyo and met a guy named Mr. Fujiyoshi, who offered him a job as a "Stigmatized Property Talent".
IMAGE SOURCE
A stigmatized property can be a house, apartment, etc., where someone was either killed or committed suicide. Yahiro has to film himself while living in those properties to capture paranormal activity, which will be played in a variety show.
IMAGE SOURCE
The movie showed his experiences as he lived in four various properties, namely The Cursed Apartment, The Haunted Inn, The Share House, and The Final Property.
However, this job didn't only showcase his sensitivity to the paranormal... but he uncovered a surprising truth that would change someone's life.
To be honest, the scariness level isn't that high in my opinion. But it may be for others. However, what I like about it is how it presents reality to some extent.
Nowadays, people (especially content creators) try to make everything into content, even if it's someone else's tragedy.
Another thing may or may not be applicable outside of Japan, but there are some people (particularly elderly ones) who live and die alone in their apartment without anyone noticing for days, or even more. Some are even in urban areas.
The movie's horror attack was more psychological, which I like. The main character is slowly losing his grasp of what's real or not... or what's to capture or not.
And oh... one more thing! There are a lot of ghosts that suddenly appear on camera. It was fun spotting them! My favorite horror film director, Mike Flanagan, often adds background ghosts in his movies or series, too! He deliberately does that... hiding them in plain sight. So I wonder if this movie's director also thought the same.
Overall, it was a good watch. However, if you're looking for the scary Japanese movie type that's similar to The Ring, Ju-on, or Chakushin Ari, I don't think it's this one.
The movie has its own charm, though... and quite the dramatic end.
Also, it was too late for me to know that this was just a sequel. I haven't watched the 2020 movie starring Kame, which was based on a non-fiction book by Tanishi Matsubara, who actually lived in 9 haunted houses.
I'd love to watch that movie... and more so, read the book if I get the chance. Anyway, I'll end this post here. Thanks a lot for checking it out, and feel free to watch the movie when you feel like it. You can stream it on Amazon Prime!
See you around! (^^,)/
