Search - The Neighbor No. Thirteen on DVD

Not your typical psycho movie.

Earl Gatchalian | Staten Island, NY United States | 04/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Taking a ichi the killeresque/fight club kind of story, mixed with a fantastic array of long takes and shots, this director who is used to doing music videos and commercials makes a fantastic debut into this kind of industry.

The start of the movie which is a mix of scenes shoots us into a very realistic movie. The characters are very easy to attach to and although a bit cartoony in the beggining begins to engage us into its loop.

Based on a manga by Santa Inuoe who is known for his Tokyo Tribes manga currently done by Tokyo pop, this was an adaption made from a manga done back in 1993. The style of art wasn't pleasing to my visual pallete but the movie itself was very good to its form.

The DVD is awesome, my 2 disk edition came with a Tshirt saying "Caution: May contain homicidal murderer" with the movies mascot on a white triangle. It includes some amusing previews but has a large making of, from manga to screen, and a bunch of MYV promotional things. I was a bit upset by the lack of deleted scenes (they involved Kaneda AKA takashi miike) but the quality of the other extras plus image gallery balanced it out.

The dubbing was also quite good, although not as good as the original cast in its original language, was not bad to the casual dubbed watcher.

I bought it because of the shirt, and was very happy at after watching the movie. You'll laugh a few times at the dark humor and be emersed in the suspense the movie has to offer.

Enjoy it! I know I did."

Mirror Image

Daitokuji31 | Black Glass | 02/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"During his elementary school years Murasaki Juzo suffered the torments of a bully named Akai Juzo. If these torments had included only such things as having his money stolen or being given wedgies Murasaki might have been able to lead a normal life when he grew up. However, Murasaki was locked in a toilet and sprayed with water and forced to eat excrement, but these malicious acts are only the tip of the iceberg. One day two of Arai's friends hold Murasaki on the ground as their leader pours a bottle of acid on Murasaki's face.

After the depiction of this flashback in a sequence that would please Clive Barker, a grown Murasaki snaps out of a pretty severe hallucination and as he makes his way to his construction job Murasaki notices that he has new neighbors moving into room number 23. Because construction work is an occupation that is often linked to the Japanese underworld, it is not surprising that the business is filled with unsavory characters. Besides the afro sporting Seki, the rest of the crew look as if they could just as easily start a gang war as construct a building. It is also at this locale that Murasaki meets Arai once again and, as if no time has passed at all, Murasaki soon becomes the target for Arai's cruelties. Arai continuously picks at Murasaki, smashes him in the leg with a piece of wood, and presents him from exiting the porta-pottie. However, with his anger overflowing, Murasaki kicks open the door sending Arai sprawling back. It is at this point that Murasaki's appearance seems a bit different. He sports a scraggly beard, he is blind in his left eye, and his face is horribly scarred. This being is Murasaki's other self. A repressed core of rage that Arai has unleashed that Murasaki is having more and more difficulty keeping under control.

Arai continues to mock Murasaki, but he is unaware that the timid man lives in the same building as he and that Murasaki has quickly become an acquaintance of his wife and child.

I am normally not one for thrillers or horror films being that I tend to watch dramas, but I did enjoy watching Neighbor Number 13. Oguri Shun, Murasaki, does a good job portraying a young man who has spent his entire life being bullied and Arai Hirofumi, Akai, definitely portrays a character who his deserving of the protagonist's hate. However, Nakamura Shido, Murasaki's alternate personality, really takes the cake. His rendering of a scarred, mentally deranged man is both incredible and terrifying. Also Yoshimura Yumi, of Puffy, does a decent job of portraying Akai's wife. Maybe at thirty she is trying to move away from her saccharine pop star image.

While definitely not a great film, Neighbor Number 13 is a fun film to watch. I bet also that you will be rooting for the "bad guy" as well.
"

Somewhat uneven horror movie

Puffy AmiYumi World | Indianapolis | 11/20/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"
It you're a huge fan of Japanese horror movies you will probably appreciate this flick. If not the move is a mixed bag. There are some compelling and suspenseful scenes throughout. The director does a good job forcing the viewer to try and figure out if they are watching something real or the main character's psychotic fantasies. Some slow pacing here and there will probably limit the audience who will truly appreciate this film.

Of note to Puffy fan's is Yumi Yoshimura appearance as the wife of the bully. She does a respectable job playing the role of wife and mother.

If this is your genera of movie it's worth a watch.
"

Welcome to the neighborhood

Zack Davisson | Seattle, WA, USA | 06/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Neighbor No. Thirteen" ("Rinjin 13-go") is a film absolutely packed with talent. Shido Nakamura, who plays the title character of No. Thirteen, is an acclaimed Kabuki actor who made his stage debut at age nine. He made his transition to film work, and has appeared in great films such as "Ping Pong" and "Letters from Iwo Jima". Yumi Yoshimura, who plays Nozomi Akai, is probably best known as one half of the pop duo "Puffy Amiyumi", and a cartoon character on Cartoon Network's "Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi". And if the name Takashi Miike, playing the role of the angry neighbor Kaneda, doesn't ring any bells then you need to look a little deeper into the genre of Japanese horror.

But a lot of famous names doesn't always make a great flick, especially when among them are a pop princess and an avant-garde film director, and the plot of the movie is being adapted from a comic book. In this case, however, it works. All the pieces click together, and the result is an innovative and entertaining film. Not bad at all for first-time director Yasuo Inoue.

The story is very topical to modern Japan, taking on the subject of school yard bullying. More than one young child has murdered another in revenge for intolerable abuse, and even more have commited suicide rather than face another day as a constant target. "The Neighbor No. Thirteen" imagines a scenario where this revenge is repressed, and allowed to fester across the years, until it boils up to the surface taking on a life of its own.

Like most Japanese horror films, the pacing is slower and the story more subtle than a typical revenge flick. Of course, there is blood and plenty of it, but it isn't a case of trying to kill each victim in a new and more cruel way, or an attempt to shock and disgust the audience with gore. There is more psychology than psycho-killer."