Of late, Asian horror films have become somewhat of the soupe du jour of the mainstream DVD market. American audiences, who in the past have had little interest in such films have had their appetite whetted by Americanized versions of these Asian counterparts. “The Ring” and “The Grudge” have introduced these audiences to “Ringu” and “”Ju-On.” This is a good thing in terms of creating a bit more of a diverse menu for us to choose from over here. But as is the case with any glut of style, you have to take the bad with the good. Take the newest Asian horror flick to hit our shores, “Marronnier.” Leave it to these filmmakers to be a bit creative in their approach to filmmaking. It is a bizarre tale involving doll’s made out of the melted flesh of a murder’s victims, carved in the likeness of their involuntary donors. This in itself might seem like a fairly straightforward plot, but in the hands of director Hideyuki Kobayashi (who also wrote, edited, composed, performed and post-produced) it becomes akin to a hallucinatory acid trip of images.

There is a lot to like about the film for fans of comic gore, but it is in the way the story is told where it’s weakness lies. It doesn’t appear to have cohesive movement from scene to scene and instead presents the story a piece at a time, in little short scenes. It wouldn’t be so hard to follow, except that there are times that the imagery is so dreamlike that it is hard to determine what is ‘real’ from what is imagined.

But it is some of this same imagery that also works to the film’s advantage. Some of the sequences (heck, even the cover shot of the DVD) are quite memorable and a bit unsettling. They are guaranteed to stay with you long after the film is over. Unfortunately, these few scenes are not enough to save the film as a whole. Neither good or bad, “Marronnier” settles somewhere in the middle and just ‘is.’ I wouldn’t recommend it to any but the hardest core fans of Asian horror and manga.

The new DVD from Elite, who have in the past delivered some magnificent DVD sets for classic films, offers up a few extras for those so inclined. There is a short which focuses on the dolls, but is almost as incoherent as the film itself. Better is an interview with Junji Ito, who designed the dolls for the film. You’ll also find a gallery of doll pics as well as some deleted scenes and a little bit of on-set footage.

Directed by: Hideyuki Kabayashi
Starring: Yuriko Anjho, Miyako Cojima, Mizuki Hikaru, Hime,
Extras: Interview with Puppet Designer & Supervising Producer Junji Ito, Doll Galleries, Deleted Scenes
Specifications: Widescreen
Studio: Elite
Release Date: 6/7/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Website

We'll give Marronnier a C.