The beginning of the movie is absolutely beautiful. The camera is circling around in a forest, finally discovering Misa Kuroi dressed in white. But then we catch glimpses of corpses lying around her, hideously mutilated, and blood drips from her hands... The television news people don't hesitate to create a sensational story about witchcraft, rape and ritual murder, although they have no idea yet what's really going on.
After Kimika Yoshino and Hinako Saeki, Natsuki Kato is now the third actress in the part of Misa Kuroi. Her performance of a rather vulnerable Misa is sympathetic, but not as intense as her predecessors' interpretations were. The bigger problem is that the movie lacks the weirdness and speed, it is too serious and slow moving. The cynical depiction of the press ("I've never seen something as great as this!" shouts one excited reporter - while watching a suicide!) is hardly a continuation of the mystical background of "Birth of the Wizard", for example. Apparently part 4 disappointed some fans, but it is not a bad sequel from my point of view, just a bit "off the beaten path". The gentle soundtrack is quite different from the screechy attack other horror films make on your nerves. Voted 7/8/5/6 for part 1-4.
After Kimika Yoshino and Hinako Saeki, Natsuki Kato is now the third actress in the part of Misa Kuroi. Her performance of a rather vulnerable Misa is sympathetic, but not as intense as her predecessors' interpretations were. The bigger problem is that the movie lacks the weirdness and speed, it is too serious and slow moving. The cynical depiction of the press ("I've never seen something as great as this!" shouts one excited reporter - while watching a suicide!) is hardly a continuation of the mystical background of "Birth of the Wizard", for example. Apparently part 4 disappointed some fans, but it is not a bad sequel from my point of view, just a bit "off the beaten path". The gentle soundtrack is quite different from the screechy attack other horror films make on your nerves. Voted 7/8/5/6 for part 1-4.
