by Barry Hollywood

Masuoka is obsessed with fear; he spends his nights seeking out strange happenings in Tokyo, recording them on his camera, but the extreme emotions he searches for remain elusive. Then he records a suicide in the subway system and upon reviewing it finds the fear he is looking for.

Searching the tunnels beneath Tokyo leads Masuoka to a series of caverns, one of which holds a strange girl, chained to the wall. He rescues her and brings her to his apartment but soon discovers the girl’s appetite for blood.

Marebito is an accomplished piece of filmmaking: Directed by Takashi Shimizu who gave us the Ju-on series of films and Rinne; written by Chiaki Konaka who also penned Serial Experiments Lain and Malice@Doll. Marebito was filmed in only 8 days and stars legendary director Shinya Tsukamoto, the creator of such cult classics as Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer and A Snake in June. Given all of this talent you can be forgiven for expecting something special. You won’t be disappointed.

Reinventing the vampire myth Marebito is a modern fairytale with bite. At points in the movie you may wonder what is real and what exists solely in Masuoka’s mind; are the caverns real or are they a representation of Masuoka’s subconscious; is the mysterious girl, known only as F, just a reflection of him, of his parasitic nature. The intelligent, well written script will guide you towards the answers. Ultimately Marebito is a different kind of vampire tale which adds much to a sometimes tired genre.

Marebito Movie Trailer: