Even film directors need a break from the routine, don't they? Especially Takashi Shimizu, who has spent much of this decade making seven installments of his hit "Grudge (Ju-on)" J-Horror franchise, including two films for Hollywood, about vengeful ghosts who move from victim to victim like viruses.
Apparently feeling the sillies after giving millions the willies, Shimizu teamed up with fellow director Keisuke Toyoshima ("Kaidan Shinmimibukuro") to make a pair of short films on the theme of ghosts vs. space aliens. Screened at Cinema Shimokitazawa in 2003, the films packed the theater and generated a series that was collected on two DVDs in 2007.
Now a feature-length two-part omnibus, "Yurei vs. Uchujin (Ghosts vs. Aliens)," is about to hit the theaters. Seeing the trailer on the Web, I thought it might be the sort of private joke that sounds hilarious over sake at three in the morning, but falls flat on the screen. It's better than that, fortunately. Shimizu and Toyoshima have an insider's love and knowledge of the genre. They also use the parody format to not just goof on formulas and cliches but tell a deeper truth or two.