Dark Tales of Japan (2005)

Directed by Norio Tsuruta, Takashi Shimizu and others

A collection of five short stories all shot on digital video and made for TV under the moniker of J Horror.

1. Spiderwoman - typical urban myth with a very flat look, poor standards of filming and acting and horrendous CGI at the end. 

2. Crevices - are you afraid of gaps, cracks or crevices? No! A luckily short episode with again pathetically poor performances and production standards.

3. The Sacrifice - at last something half decent, this appears to draw from myth and folklore to give it an edge over the others, performances range from fine to wooden but theres just not enough time to develop the story properly.

4. Blonde Kwaiden Another really weak pointless episode, childish special FX.

5. Presentiment like The Sacrifice this could be developed into something good, original and interesting, just not enough.

All the stories are strung together by some strange old woman on a bus who asks anyone if they want to hear a scary story, really original huh!

So in all honesty, avoid it like the plague, overall it is utter crap.

Cheers Trev

BBFC rated (laughably) 15; I wouldnt worry about letting a 12 year old watch this (except its garbage).

R2 Pal dvd released by Anchor Bay (A company that should know better).