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Homunculus japanese drama review
Completed
Homunculus
0 people found this review helpful
by ForgottenQ
Nov 1, 2022
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

Fun & Easy to Follow for Genre Fans

I don't understand what was difficult for other people to follow in this movie. It all seemed straightforward to me (though I've seen dozens of movies that are just like it). I enjoyed the directing, as it reminded me many times of other medical-experimentation horror movies, especially Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator and also From Beyond. It had a fair mix of shots and campy vibes from each. The mad scientist doctor had definite Dr. Herbert West vibes, and the second-sight unlocking of abilities was similar to From Beyond. Both of these have inspired countless movies over the years, so some of the elements are just genre staples at this point. It was nice to see though.

If directors are going to borrow heavily from films of the past, I expect them to do something that would have been difficult or impossible to do in the past. The computer generated effects 100% fit the bill there. It gave an awesome aesthetic to the film-- both creepy and beautiful, sometimes all at once. None of them could have worked before in high quality representations (in practical effects it would have been nearly impossible).

The ML's acting was pretty compelling. The co-star was campy af, but as mentioned, that worked for the genre. I thought the length might over-stay its welcome, but I honestly wished it was longer so that they could explore more "traumas". Honestly, I loved the physical representations of people's issues. Some were obvious, but some were quite clever. The teen girl in particular was an interesting set of ideas that gelled quite well.

Altogether, it was a bit too derivative to be a perfect film, and the tone was slightly uneven as well (the campy vs the serious), but it was still a nice effort and thoroughly enjoyable. In my view, it could have gone MORE cerebral because it kept threatening to become truly unique and intricate, but it never did.
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