Search - Isola on DVD

Must be rough being a refuge for multiple spirits

HyperAki | 03/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This Japanese horror film is the first horror film I've seen with this type of theme. It's both disturbing yet suspenseful. And once the plot begins to unviel you can feel yourself getting sucked in to try and solve the mystery before the main character does. Since I figured some people might be wondering what this is about and hear it from someone who has seen the movie and what not I decided to make a short summary of Isola.

The main character, Yukari Kamo, is a volunteer worker after the earthquake in Kobe in 1995. She has no home and no family. But she holds the special talent of being able to read people's minds. Yukari has been severly affected by her "gift" and is forced to take pills to calm herself down.
Eventually she runs into Hiroko Nomura who is the director at a rescue center. Hiroko allows her to stay at her house and Yukari learns that Hiroko is a high school counseler who has a special student named Chihiro Moritani. Chihiro drew 13 pictures of different types of trees that represented each of the personalities that confined in her mind. She would call it her "family tree". The only personality that can't seem to be drawn as a tree is the 13th personality named ISOLA. Chihiro merely scibbles out the name whenever she is pressed by Hiroko. Yukari learns that Chihiro obtained these personalities after she got into a car accident in which took both her parents lives.
The movie progresses and dead bodies begin to show up. Chihiro's classmates tease her and frame her of the killings. But whenever somebody shows their face and gets her too agitated that person turns up dead. Eventually Yukari finds herself trying to solve the question of who Isola really is and how a psychologist she meets named Dr. Kazuhiko Manabe is attached to her death."

Don't let the cover fool you....

LFrog1386 | North-eastern CT | 10/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Don't let that cover fool you; it is over the top and if you ask me, is a detraction from the film itself. The movie is creepy, suspenseful as well as a bit of a history lesson regarding the massive earthquake that hit Kobe in 1995. I didn't write this to get into specifics of the film's plot since I think the previous reviewer did a fine job, only to say that the cover does not accurately portray how well done the film actually is. They need to re-issue it with a better cover to do it justice!
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