Curses are a staple of the J-horror genre, but few are as chilling as the one that seems to have befallen Takashi Shimizu. Since making an international splash with “Ju-On: The Grudge” (2002), the director has apparently been condemned to keep making scary movies — none of them particularly scary.
He hits a low point with “Sana,” which is essentially a feature-length ad for J-pop group Generations, one of the myriad dance and vocal combos from the stable of talent agency LDH. The group’s seven members — who are introduced by name during a clumsy early scene — all play themselves, which seems to have been more of a challenge for some than for others.
Comedian Makita Sports really deserves top billing as Gonda, a private investigator called in to investigate the disappearance of Generations dancer Hayato Komori, who vanished after getting a creepy call-in on his radio show. The flimsy mystery revolves around a demo tape sent to the radio station 30 years earlier, containing a ditty titled “Minna no Uta” (“Song for Everyone”) — the film’s Japanese title.