Search - Fantasma, Vol. 1 on DVD

Fantasma Fantastic!

P. A Clark | San Jose, CA USA | 03/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fantasma vol 1 was an interesting film worthy of a watch if you like J-Horror. The creators of the Bloodhound series also had a hand in this series. The series is different from Bloodhound in that it's about different stories that are loosely connected by a central theme.

The theme is similar to the Friday the Thirteenth series where objects seem to come from an antique store with haunted or cursed objects.

The first story The Midnight Cheerleader centers around Aya. Aya starts out as a cute but mediocre cheerleader until she purchases a long standing mirror. She uses the mirror to practice at home. The mirror also has the ability to show people's death if they look into it a 2:00 a.m. Aya has problems when two of her male friends from school try to force themselves on her. In both cases they fail but see their deaths in the mirror before they leave her apartment. Soon after they die in the ways shown to them in the mirror. As Aya's acquaitences die, her cheerleading improves and she becomes squad leader. She meets tragedy in the end. I won't spoil it for you.

The second story is called Always Together. In this one, Miki a college student, needs a new roommate and she gets one abruptly. Her new roommate is studying to become a lawyer and is not very friendly. She also carries around a doll named Lulu which she treats like a real person. The whole thing creeps Miki out, but she is trapped with the arrangement since she signed a contract with her new lawyer roommate. Eventually Miki discovers that her roommate is bound to the doll. If something bad happens to Lulu the same thing will happen to her owner. Eventually events occur that drive Miki's roommate to her death. Actually Lulu is pulled apart and the same happens to her roommate. As time goes on Miki tries to get rid of the doll but it seems to end up back in her hands. Eventually she developes the destructive attachment to Lulu and Miki has her own problems when a girl in the apartment gets a hold of the doll and dosn't treat it very well. Miki gets banged up, bruised, and cut due to the ruff treatment of Lulu. Miki tries to get the doll back and things go badly.

Well both stories were strange and interesting. I liked together forever a little better. It was the creepier of the two and Miki's roommate was an interesting character until her demise.

The film is in Japanese only with English subtitles. Bandai decided not to add an English dub. That's ok but if you prefer a dubbed track your out of luck.

Overall Fantasma is a good series. It has ideas that we're used to but with a Japanese flare. I liked the first volume and look forward to watching 2 and 3 also. The reason for a 4 rating is due to a lack of special features. A good viewing if you like J-Horror or twilight zone episodes with a darker edge."