REVIEW
It feels like it was only yesterday when I couldn't wait for the next big Asian horror movie to come out. Time sure has changed rapidly. I barely even get exited when I hear that a new Jap horror flick has been released these days. It's the same story all over again time after time, with only some fine tweaking to make them a bit different. Yes, Asian ghost stories have become what American slashers are; common, unoriginal and soul-less. Sure, there are still a couple of treasures to be found, but it seems as if Japan has completely ran out of ideas.

Reincarnation however is something we're not completely used to. It's a Japanese horror flick which feels like an American horror movie. I'm even going to go as far as to calling this a "The Shining" rip-off. People around the world have praised this movie, but I honestly found it to be very average and incredibly unoriginal. It's really just a mix between Takashi's "The Grudge" movies and "The Shining". Fortunately for Takashi, the mix works relatively well at times and even though the suspense which made the Grudge movies shine is completely gone, it's still a pretty entertaining movie.

The story revolves around an actress who has been cast to star in a horror flick based on a true story. It takes place inside a creepy old hotel, which we quickly learn is haunted by the ghosts of the people who were killed by a mad professor in the 1970's. Naturally, our actress (played by Takako Fuji) is the only one who can see these ghosts. The movie takes several turns on its way and provides us with entertaining and unpredictable twists. It was also nice to see Takako Fuji, who we're used to seeing as the ghost in the Grudge movies, in a starring role which she handled flawlessly.

If there's one thing that I've learnt about Takashi it's that he likes to keep things unexplained for as long as possible. He also seems to want to throw in several stories into one movie, only to tie them together as we get closer to the climax. All of this is handled very well here in Reincarnation and it feels much less confusing here than when he attempted to do the same thing in Ju-On: The Grudge 2.

Ultimately, Reincarnation is still a very unoriginal horror flick though. It never dares to discover new territory and it is all way too familiar. As I've said before; I'm simply sick of creepy ghost girls because they're just not as creepy anymore as they once were. Hell, I've seen them so many times now that I wouldn't even be scared if I saw one in the hallway. With that being said however, I think that Reincarnation is one of the better Asian horror movies that I've seen as of lately so it might be worth checking out. But if I were you, I'd watch one of the "classics" instead like "A Tale Of Two Sisters".

GORE
Some blood splatter, nothing special. More implied violence than actual gore.

SOUNDTRACK
Just like the movie, beautiful for eyes and ears, but incredibly generic. The strings and violins serve their purpose but it feels like we've heard this a thousand times before.

BOTTOM LINE
Unoriginal and Americanized horror flick which does manage to entertain but ultimately fails to deliver scares and suspense. I appreciate that Takashi at least tried to do something new with the whole ghost concept but it still felt a bit too recycled for my taste. It's a decent movie but I think you're better off sticking to the classics.