This film falls into the comedy, fantasy and horror genres according to this site. So let's start from there. Is it funny? No, not really, unless your sense of humor is driven by a stream of wacky non sequiturs. Is it scary? No, not at all. How scary is a dancing skeleton? Or a chest of drawers that opens and closes to dance hall music? Is it fantastical? Yes, definitely. Especially if your idea of fantasy is hallucinatory, akin to an acid trip.
I can say one good thing about this film. The production values were good--most of the time.
It's the story of seven young girls who decide to spend a vacation at the mansion of one girl's aunt. They know next to nothing about the aunt or the mansion or the surrounding environs. Consider it one big slumber party.
The girls, like the seven dwarfs, are caricatures of personality traits. There's Prof and Mac (the "fat girl") and Gorgeous, among others. They are a giggly bunch who chatter non-stop likes girls of that age. Do we really care that much what happens to them? No, because the story is presented in such a way that we take nothing seriously.
There is no cohesive unity in this film. How can there be when it changes styles every second? Resembling a cross between a Monkees episode and the worst music video ever, the action is accompanied by every special effect imaginable. Seriously, it looks like the director was checking off a list of in-camera and extra-camera effects, from the Hitchcock effect, to green screen effects, to changes in film speed.
The music, likewise, is chimerical--changing, without reason or purpose, from classical to disco to nursery rhyme styles.
And the director employs every editorial cut he could think of, too. It is very distracting.
The difference between this film and one of Tim Burton's is cohesion. Burton lives in the whimsical and populates his films with quirky characters and imaginative happenings, but his productions are unified by style and music.
Is there any underlying story in the film? Some opinions about that are posted on this site. I tried to find meaning in the film by considering it to be an allegory about the damage done to Japan during WWII by its military and political missions. But I see no other opinions along those lines and, besides, I don't think that theme works throughout the film.
Watching this film, I think most viewers will feel confused or bored. Afterwards, I think they will wonder what the point was.
I can say one good thing about this film. The production values were good--most of the time.
It's the story of seven young girls who decide to spend a vacation at the mansion of one girl's aunt. They know next to nothing about the aunt or the mansion or the surrounding environs. Consider it one big slumber party.
The girls, like the seven dwarfs, are caricatures of personality traits. There's Prof and Mac (the "fat girl") and Gorgeous, among others. They are a giggly bunch who chatter non-stop likes girls of that age. Do we really care that much what happens to them? No, because the story is presented in such a way that we take nothing seriously.
There is no cohesive unity in this film. How can there be when it changes styles every second? Resembling a cross between a Monkees episode and the worst music video ever, the action is accompanied by every special effect imaginable. Seriously, it looks like the director was checking off a list of in-camera and extra-camera effects, from the Hitchcock effect, to green screen effects, to changes in film speed.
The music, likewise, is chimerical--changing, without reason or purpose, from classical to disco to nursery rhyme styles.
And the director employs every editorial cut he could think of, too. It is very distracting.
The difference between this film and one of Tim Burton's is cohesion. Burton lives in the whimsical and populates his films with quirky characters and imaginative happenings, but his productions are unified by style and music.
Is there any underlying story in the film? Some opinions about that are posted on this site. I tried to find meaning in the film by considering it to be an allegory about the damage done to Japan during WWII by its military and political missions. But I see no other opinions along those lines and, besides, I don't think that theme works throughout the film.
Watching this film, I think most viewers will feel confused or bored. Afterwards, I think they will wonder what the point was.