Horror whore

This is my last month of Netflix (at least until my income increases) and so I'm trying to work my way through the asian horror still in my queue because there's pretty much no real way I'm going to find 90% of these titles anywhere else.

I finally watched "Acacia" and found it absolutely terrible. Not in the sense that it was unwatchable or just an atrocious attempt at film-making, it was just... deeply sad and troubling. There is a scene towards the end that made me nauseated from the sheer mentality of the characters portrayed. I couldn't stomach watching this one again.

Then most recently I watched "Ringu 2" and "Ringu 0: Birthday". The former was a worthy sequel... up until the last 15 minutes or so. I know that Japanese cinema is known for being confusing and "artsy," and most of the time I can appreciate that and not ask for too many explanations. But Ringu 2 was just weird. It asked me to suspend my common sense a little bit too much. At the end of the day it was a competent horror movie with chills and tension and suspense, but not one I'd rewatch.

"Ringu 0," on the other hand, was outstanding. Definitely not your normal horror movie, it was equal parts drama and horror. It tells the backstory 30 years in the past of Sadako. A few years after the infamous demonstration that ruined her mother, Sadako joins a drama troupe on the urging of her psychiatrist. Though the other members don't know her sketchy past, they're skittish of her presence just the same. But she's not the Sadako that has become so familiar in parts 1 and 2. She's shy and timid; unsure of herself and woefully self-conscious until someone finally takes an interest in her. It's an effective and moving attempt at humanizing the character that the audience knew only as a sadistic murderer. There are a fair amount of scares, but nothing you wouldn't already know from the original; yet, still quite good.

I have "Rinne" or ("Reincarnation") at home that I'll probably watch tonight or tomorrow. It's one I hadn't heard of but it got fairly good reviews, so I'm excited.