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 ¡ª 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 ¡ª who are introduced by name during a clumsy early scene ¡ª 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¡±) ¡ª the film¡¯s Japanese title.
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