Premonition (2004)
Premonition (2004) 6/10
Premonition is a 2004 Japanese film directed by Norio Tsuruta and should not be confused with the 2007 American film of the same name starring Sandra Bullock. An interesting, atmospheric take on the horror thriller genre about a man who gets ghostly newspaper visages about the future, which doesn’t always work but at least gets brownie points from NOT featuring long-haired women in white gowns or pasty faced creepy kids with big eyes. Although it follows the tired i-can-see-the-future and i should change the fate plotline, it actually adds some level of creepiness and impending dread. However, the first half of the film moves in a fairly slow, plodding pace and doesn’t quite amp the speed. And the finale inexplicably goes into a strange, Groundhog Day cycle (which was actually the more interesting part of the film) which seemed jarring from the earlier exposition. Overall, i won’t call Premonition a great or particularly good Jap Horror-thriller, but its more of an emotional family drama disguised as horror. The film itself is plodding at times and doesn’t always work, but at least it is not another The Ring clone. Overall, a slightly above average J-Horror flick.
