Tomie (1998) User Reviews

Weird

[Gafke · 6/10 · 29 March 2004]

Not as gripping as "Ringu" but just odd enough to keep you watching, if only because you want to find out what the hell is going on. A young photography student named Tsukiko is undergoing therapy for insomnia and repressed memory. Seems she had been witness to an accident a few years earlier, but has no memory of it at all. As the film goes on, moving with all the creepy speed of a ghost meandering down a long dark hallway, we come to find out that it was no accident Tsukiko witnessed, but a horrific murder in which her then-boyfriend decapitated a fellow student named Tomie. With her memory still fragmented and her sleep still disturbed by gory nightmares, our heroine fails to notice the new tenants who have moved into the apartment beneath her...her ex-boyfriend and the living head of Tomie, which quickly regenerates a body.

Tomie, much like her predecessor Sadako, keeps her "frighteningly lovely" visage veiled for much of the film, leaving a trail of dead men, victims of their own lust for her, in her wake. In truth, she's average looking, bordering on kinda- cute, which makes her ability to seduce any man she wants a puzzling mystery. No matter, it's Tsukiko she really wants, and in an odd, ambiguous ending, we are left to wonder "Who is who?"

A slightly disturbing musical score and surprisingly little violence make this an intriguing effort, but may leave many confused and bored. All in all, I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Surrealfully yours

[InzyWimzy · 5/10 · 18 March 2011]

Having been a huge fan of Junji Ito's works (Uzumaki, Tomie, Hellstar Remina) I will do my best to refrain from comparing the manga to the film. NOTE: if you enjoyed the movie, reading the Tomie manga is highly recommended!

Tomie is unlike your typical horror movie where a wraith is lurking down the corridor or the ominous creaking floorboards in a closed room. This one is more subtle and effective at setting an atmosphere where you just know something is not right. I enjoyed the performance by Tomorowo Taguchi as the detective who's agenda is also questionable in this whole affair. Tsukiko (played well by Mami Nakamura) is for the most part in the dark as to what's going on. As time progresses, she begins to come to terms with recent strange events and how they are linked to a shrouded unknown past.

One thing to note: the Tomie manga excels at setting a dark, frightening mood and facial expressions (especially Tomie's) convey strong emotions of pain, fear, anger, betrayal, and obsession; a credit to Ito's talent. Watching the film draws you into the phenomenon of Tomie and is accompanied by an eerie soundtrack sounding like ambient, psychedelic music done by Buffalo Daughter..great stuff!

Worth it for THAT song

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 12 August 2011]

A slow-burning supernatural drama that's nothing like RING or THE GRUDGE for once. Instead, TOMIE is a comic-book adaptation about an otherwise ordinary schoolgirl who has one special talent: she always, without fail, comes back from the dead.

TOMIE is a weird movie. It's slow-moving and subtle for the most part, and the sometimes disjointed storyline never really visits many places. Horrifying it isn't. On the other hand, it's undoubtedly an atmospheric film full of off-kilter scenes and eerie moments (most of these involving a guy who finds himself 'growing' a new friend).

It's difficult to fault the efforts of cast and crew, and the highlight is the wonderfully weird piece of music that accompanies the titles in which a distorted, computerised voice proclaims an obsessive friendship. Many sequels, of varying quality, followed.

Skip this one! Possible spoilers...

[charly1 · 2/10 · 4 June 2004]

This movie had promise. The DVD cover is creepy. The music as the film begins is full of potential to scare us.

We follow the man "growing" Tomie with great interest and every scene with her as she grows fills us with hope - never seeing her face, just her hair, long, black hair.

Tsukiko has memory loss, friends she doesn't like, a cheating boyfriend, and nothing else. We are given tastes of her memory loss when the detective speaks to her therapist of her past. Her father dying, but not as a result of a car accident is hinted, but not dealt with. The detective suggests that Tomie has appeared for a long time, over and over in history. This gives hope to the movie. It gives us some back story, but never comes to fruition.

The movie just drags on and on and on. The real horror of the movie is that I sat there, through the whole dull, non-plot, waiting for something to happen, something to scare me, something to make me see a point to making this movie.

I came away empty. There is no reason for this film.

Watching the extras, I learned that the author of the comic was afraid of women and wanted that to come across. I also learned that the director cared about mood. Obviously plot was not needed here, but I also don't think mood was ever created. What little we were given did not live up to expectations.

If you want Japanese horror, try a Miike film!

If you want a suggestion for time better spent, watch some paint dry!

Just don't say you weren't warned...

A generous 2/10

Loved it

[Thwan_Condu · 7/10 · 14 October 2005]

I really enjoy this film. I've watched it twice - trying desperately to figure out what the hell happened at the end, but to no avail. Strangely though, I still find myself in love with it. I think it had has a great deal to do with Miho Kanno's performance. And also the mood. And that's what it is: a mood movie. I can excuse the plot. I think I'd rather be confused by a plot than have a badly filmed, acted and directed movie. It's kind of artsy to me. If you're looking for a horror movie that makes perfect sense, and will make you say, 'wow, that's clever!' go home. But if you're in a strange mood, and it needs feedin', go for it!

"Tomie will not die."

[Backlash007 · 5 July 2004]

In my neverending quest to find new horror, Asia is where the current wealth seems to lie. But Tomie is one of the few I've seen that is rather worthless. It was boring and it had no payoff whatsoever. I hate it when I've been watching a film for an hour and 20 minutes and then nothing comes together in that last 10 or 15 minutes. It just didn't make any attempt to make sense in the very end. That's what kills me. The idea itself and the beginning of the film were very intriguing. It just completely falls apart in that final reel and I can't forgive it for that. The main thing I will remember about this flick is the incredibly eerie score. I really can't believe there are five of these films already. I guess Tomie really will not die.

Headless Horror

[mindless_junk · 3/10 · 24 May 2003]

Tomie tried to imitate the recent brand of Japanese horror movies such as the Ringu but failed miserable. Non-sensical jumping around scenes, psychological horror not working, just some of the bad points about this movie.

The scariest moment came very early in the movie, that was, in the opening scene when an eye stared back at the viewer. Unfortunately, this picture was also at the front-cover of the movie, so you could just get the same scare by staring at the front-cover and skip the rest of the movie.

Poorly directed, poorly put together, poorly plot development. A passable horror...

Trust Tomie.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 17 February 2016]

With a poll coming up on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best movies of 1999,I started searching round for Horror films to view from the year,and I stumbled upon the first in a long-running Japanese Horror film series that I've not heard of before,which led to me getting ready to meet Tomie.

The plot:

Unable to remember anything from the last 3 months,art student Tsukiko Izumisawa decides to attend intense therapy.Talking to therapist Dr. Hosono in a dream-like state, Tsukiko mentions a person called "Tomie." Asked about who Tomie is, Tsukiko says that she does not know anyone by that name.As Tsukiko continues her therapy sessions, Detective Harada starts investigating the school that Tsukiko attended,due to 9 fellow students and a teaching having either killed themselves or gone insane.Taking a look at the school records,Harada discovers that a student called Tomie Kawakami (nicknamed "Tomie") appears to be someone who can come back from the dead.

View on the film:

Pulling Junji Ito's Manga from the page to the screen,writer/director Ataru Oikawa takes a clinical approach,as stilted distance shots cloud the film in an eerie atmosphere,which the movie starts to sink deeper into,as Tsukiko's memory starts to clear.Backed by a superb industrial hum from Hiroshi Futami and Toshihiro Kimura,Oikawa slowly pulls away the haunting shadows to unveil Tomie in the final tense 30 minutes,with Oikawa cleverly using the build-up to give the shots of dry red blood a melancholy mood.

Sitting in on Tsukiko's therapy sessions,the screenplay by Ataru Oikawa takes a great fragmented root,by linking Tsukiko's attempt to uncover her memory with that of the police trying to solve the mystery of Tomie's origins.Kept lingering in the shadows by Oikawa for as long as possible, Miho Kanno gives a wonderful performance as Tomie,thanks to Kanno wrapping a deadly mischief making grin around Tomie,as everyone starts to discover that you can't trust Tomie.

So-so; Interesting but Mostly Melodrama, not Horror.

[ggulcher · 5/10 · 9 December 2005]

I watched this, the first of the Tomie series, after having already seen the second, "Tomie - Replay," which builds on the storyline that's started here. From the reviews of I'd read I expected this, the original "Tomie," to be fairly pedestrian and mediocre and... that's exactly what it is.

This one is not really horror, not really even a murder/suspense thing. "Tomie" is rather an interesting but unambitious murder melodrama - that happens to have a few scenes of gruesome violence, an atmosphere of weirdness and creepiness throughout, and which is based on an understated supernatural premise.

I don't think this is as bad as some are letting on though - the story itself holds together nicely, for instance, and in that respect "Tomie" is roughly 50 times better than that contemptible Korean mess called "Tale of Two Sisters" that so many are raving about sycophantically.

The ending is a little arbitrary but that's nothing new to naturalistic fiction; the characters are all interesting and well-acted; the cinematography is gloomy and occasionally oppressive but the choice of camera angles and composition is very well done. The music is probably the scariest thing about this movie. There's an English-language song that's sung in a voice filtered through an absolutely demented signal-processor patch that conveys a palpable and unsettling malevolence. It's just too bad none of that song's creepiness spilled into the movie's plot.

What's lacking is a needed element of intensity that really grabs you and sucks you in. In that sense you could almost consider "Tomie" to be a lengthy trailer or prologue to the vastly-superior "Tomie-Replay." I have yet to see the third and fourth, respectively "Rebirth" and "Forbidden Fruit." This first one is optional - good for Japanophiles and completists - but "Replay" works as a standalone film with no problem. Do *not* miss that one - it's easily one of the best Asian horror flicks I've yet seen and I was not expecting that at all.

It starts here

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 4 January 2021]

Manga creator Junji Ito grew up in a house where he was afraid to go to the bathroom, as it was at the end of a long underground tunnel filled with water crickets. While working as a dental technician, he was drawing at night and submitted a story to a magazine called Monthly Halloween that would become Tomie. The story was inspired by the death of a classmate, which Ito felt was odd that the boy just disappeared from the world. So he came up with the idea of a girl who died but just came back as if nothing has happened.

Director Ataru Oikawa didn't want to make the movie version to be filled with gore, but more of a horrific youth drama. He still sought out Ito's approval, taking parts from the original "Photograph" and "Kiss" stories and even had the creator's approval for the casting of Miho Kanno as Tomie.

The police are looking into the murder of Tomie, a high school girl, which was followed over the next three years by the suicide or insanity of nine other students and a teacher. Soon, the detective assigned to the case learns that Tomie has been murdered and reborn in Gifu since the 1960's, just as Japan joined the industrial era.

A classmate of Tomie, Tsukiko Izumisawa, can't remember the three months around her friend's murder. And oh yeah - her neighbor is nursing a strange baby that soon grows into another Tomie, which seduces Tsukiko's boyfriend before attacking her at her therapist's office by shoving cockroaches down her mouth. So our protagonist's boyfriend does what any of us would do - he cuts the head off Tomie and takes Tsukiko to bury the body in the woods, which of course backfires. Tomie reappears and kisses Tsukiko full on the lips, who responds by setting her on fire.

That said, a few months later, Tsukiko begins to realize that she is becoming Tomie herself.

While not a horror movie, this certainly is a strange movie. For some reason, in the glut of Japanese horror that was badly remade in the U.S., this series never showed up. I would assume that's because there's no easy hook to grab on to.

Where did the storyline go...?

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 8 April 2013]

As much fan as I am of Asian horror movies, then it was rather difficult to get into "Tomie". Why? Well, because it was quite slow-moving and not really having much of a solid and coherent storyline to it.

The story is about a dead girl named Tomie, who apparently has come back to wreck havoc on those responsible. But apparently Tomie has been appearing throughout various events in the last many, many years.

For a horror movie, then there was absolutely nothing scary about the movie, and no shock moments at all. The movie was fairly monotone and uneventful.

As for the acting, well people did good enough jobs with their given roles, though there were moments where you sit with your toes curled up because of some rather bad acting and lack of emotions in given situations from some of the cast.

I bought a 4-disc collection with "Tomie", "Tomie: Replay", "Tomie: Re-Birth" and "Tomie: The Final Chapter", so hopefully there will be more meat on the follow up movies, otherwise then this is a series founded on a very weak storyline.

If "Tomie" is one of the movies that started the Japanese horror wave of movies like "The Ring" and "The Grudge", then they were off to a fairly weak start. Luckily the genre has progressed and evolved tremendously in the right direction.

Tomie

[frostbow · 10/10 · 19 June 2023]

A photography student called Tsukiko is going to hypnosis therapy to regain her lost memories. Meanwhile, a police detective is investigating a crime, and is interested in getting info from her. Tsukiko also has a friend called Tomie, who has such bad luck that a total of nine horror movies were named after her.

Tomie was released in the same year as Ringu. It is less known outside Japan, and not as impactful. Still, it has unique sides, with its own lore, rules, and feel. It gives an impression of being a classic because of the serious way it is made, with many scenes set up in an artistically ambitious way. Tsukiko being a photographer adds to the esteticism.

Although it has bloody scenes, it does not become very scary. The director has kind of said that he wanted to reduce the amount of violence. "I wanted this to be more like a drama for youth." The number of fake scares, like knocking on the door or images in mirrors, is also less than usual. It is only scary when there is real danger, which makes it cleaner. The few special effects are probably mostly physical. It is mostly calm, with a low tempo, and people talk slowly. Especially during the therapy sessions with the serene psychiatrist.

There is reasonably good acting from many participants. Tsukiko responds well to the horror. The psychiatrist has integrity, and the detective is peculiar, with entertaining habits.

The most impactful character is of course Tomie, at least relative to others in the movie. Compared to well-known characters from other movies, I wouldn't call her colourful. But that is not her style anyway. She is not extravagant, but self-aware.

Each movie has a different actress playing Tomie, and she is slightly different in every one. This is probably not a coincidence. I realized that one needs to watch more than one to appreciate how great she is.

Another thing that has gained a life of its own is Robby's song, a creepy theme song that I am sure that I have heard before. There are also other nice songs. The background music is good, but sometimes mismatched with the action, so that the horror effect is weakened. There is at least one scene that would profit from more fitting background music.

A very minor complaint is that one scene has a sudden jump from night to day.

As it is a Junji Ito story, don't expect logical explanations for everything, and you'll end up less irritated. I have my own theory, but it might not be the same as what the author intended.

I'm happy to have gained entrance to this series and adding it to others like Ringu and One Missed Call. I think everyone interested in Japanese horror should check it out and see if they like it.

Creepy, But Pretty Good

[crossbow0106 · 6/10 · 3 July 2011]

Based on a manga, and spawning four sequels, this film is about a young lady named Tsukiko (Ms. Nakamura) who has enlisted the help of a psychiatrist (Ms. Doguchi)to try to remember the events of 3 years before, described as an "accident". You find that a fellow schoolgirl named Tomie (Ms. Kanno) was killed, but no one can find the body..because she won't die. This film is more psychological drama than horror film. In the apartment below Tsukiko lives a male student who seems to be raising some mutant strain of something in a box. Is this Tomie re-incarnated? The film moves slowly, and even drags a little at times, but for fans of the manga it is essential viewing. A much better film than it has to be, its watchable. All 5 films are available in a box set. For this film, the concept is intriguing if not wholly essential.

A Weak Film, But...

[frankgaipa · 4/10 · 16 August 2002]

A weak film with a few high points, first among them the opening: A busy, sun-bathed downtown-ish sidewalk, no sky, no shadows of significance, no cars, just the passing crowd. Passing eyes, because the scene is about hiding. A man, who turns out later to be a kid, as they all are except the doctor and detective, ducks out of a shop and walks, carrying something messily wrapped in plastic. It's shorter and fatter than a bed pillow. Here, you might take it for a scavenger's cache or a homeless person's portable home. Just before the film's title rolls, the young man pauses to look through a slit in the bundle. Impossibly, a live human eye looks back. Up to this point, the film's silent, Keatonesque, wonderful.

The chain-smoking woman doctor, with patients crowding each other's time, is the film's most intriguing character. She seems to have her own story, just out of view. (Think perhaps of the nurse in Teshigahara's Tanin no kao. I might have told the story from her point of view, leaving her apparent disinterest intact so that she doesn't mirror the hyper-involved researchers in the Ring films. In Tomie, she's present only to trigger point-of-view girl Tsukiko's dream sequences.

A word about translation. If you find this at all here, it's likely to be on a Chinese DVD with Chinese and English subtitle options. A couple of times in Tomie the English was so poor, as if a translation not of the Japanese soundtrack but of the Chinese translation, that I had to replay over and over trying and mostly failing to draw back enough of my extremely meager Japanese to figure out what the fractured English subtitle was trying to say. The first card the doctor holds up, by the way, simply says "Tomie" twice, once in katakana and once, below that, in hiragana. The doctor's trying to get Tomie to respond to her own name.

Utterly Japanese movie, and damn good

[son_of_minya · 26 November 2002]

From the opening credits, I was hooked. There's a strange static and distorted voice over the black screen with simple white titles. Then we're taken to a noisy city street where a young man is digging through a white paper bag. Within a few seconds, what should be horrifying segues into one of the most beautiful moments of stillness I have ever seen in a film, Asian or otherwise. The music is at once haunting and peaceful. It's like those moments in a Miyazaki film that are so peaceful, with a tinge of Dario Argento's Goblin soundtrack.

It is very hard to find a decent review of this movie. The one positive review I found gave away the entire plot. It's one of those movies that is so metaphor-laden, it makes absolutely no sense if you just watch the images and hear the sounds. Still pretty amazing, but I don't think it would keep someone's attention if they weren't thinking while viewing. There is a lot more going on here than just a few murders.

Like many (too many?) Japanese movies, there is a lot left unsaid. Characters with strange quirks are introduced, and it never explains why they have those quirks. Transitions from one scene to the next sometimes feel awkward. It sometimes feels like you're reading a book by a first-time author, as it is not clear why some scenes are even included. This is not a polished high-quality cinematography type film either...not up to the standards of Ringu or Dark Water. It lies somewhere between the blockbusters and Evil Dead Trap.

Even as I make those criticisms, I could only bring myself to take one smoke break. As much as Tomie may look like Sadako (and every other female ghost), this is a truly engaging film that still has me thinking 24 hours after viewing it.

Tomie at it's blandest

[Bigger7214 · 5/10 · 1 July 2022]

Tomie started off as a character original made by Junji Ito himself, the master of horror. Juni Ito has had many adaptations of his source material. There was Long Dream, Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack, Junji Ito collection and many more. The most well known just so happened to be The Junji Ito collection, Uzumaki and, of course, the Tomie Franchise. Yes you heard that correct. His manga series 'Tomie' was adapted into a whole franchise, starting in 1998 and supposedly ending in 2011 with the reboot Tomie: Unlimited. You must also be thinking as the very first Tomie movie it would be the best, right? Well it unfortunately isn't. In fact, it's a rather boring one. I'm order to digest why, let's go over many key parts of the film.

Plot-The plot of this movie focuses on a variety of things. They focus on the 'death' of a student named Tomie and then learn that her classmates and teacher have either killed themselves or gone insane. The detective then tracks down a student named Tsukiko who is suffering from amnesia. Her neighbor also seems to have some sort of baby who grows into a teenager in the next few weeks. After a few more murders, abuse from Tomie and drama with Tsukiko, Tomie and Tsukiko's boyfriend, Yuichi, Tomie is supposedly killed by Yuichi, being stabbed and decapitated by Yuichi. Yuichi and Tomie go to bury her in the woods only for her to come to life and scare the two off. Yuichi'a fate is left unknown as Tsukiko into the woods and finds a boat dock. Tomie finds Tsukiko and kisses her. They both laugh and Tsukiko burns her after pulling out a flare. Tsukiko then learns to live a Norma live until one day she notices a mole on a picture she developed. She goes to check herself in the mirror and finds out their is a mole on her face as Tomie appears beside her, smiling.

The Plot should be a masterpiece just like Junji Ito's work but it sadly isn't. The plot is filled with two huge degrades. The first and most important is the ending of the film. The ending is just a slap in the face for anyone who wanted a scary ending. It could have been much better if the movie just left off where Tsukiko burned Tomie but I suppose that wouldn't cut it. Overall, the ending just feels pointless and really doesn't make sense.

The next problem with the plot is the inclusion of the suicide scenes. It really drags the story and just feel rather unnecessary. There really isn't much to say about them.

Acting-There isn't too special about the acting other than Miho Kanno's performance. Her performance by far is one of the better things of the movie. She just really resembles Tomie personality wise, being manipulative and 'sweet' when needed. Even if I am applauding her performance, there are some problems with it. Sometimes when she acts rude as her acting role , Tomie, she can be cartoonishly evil. She also isn't really scary as Tomie which is another downgrade. Overall, the acting is fine.

Pace-The pace is not that good. At times scenes will be interesting, keeping the viewer intrigued. Then their will be times when the story plummets into boredom for about the next 10 or so minutes, focusing on a very boring scene. Sometimes it even feels like not much is even happening in the movie. The officers investigate suicides, Tomie hangs with Tsukiko's boyfriend, Tsukiko walks around, Another suicide happens, it just feels like a whole cycle that feels completely pointless.

Characters-Most of the characters are boring, bland and worthless other than Tsukiko (Mami Nakamura) and Tomie (Miho Kano) who carry the movie half the time. No one else has memorable performances other than those two. Hell, even their relationship as a whole is WAY more interesting than any other character combined.

Score-The score is actually really nice. Sure it isn't gonna be anyones favorite but at least it isn't something that seems out of place for a Tomie movie. Also, the ending them for the movie is just pleasing. I won't be shocked if anyone considers the end theme a favorite.

Overall- Story 5/10 Acting 5/10 Pace 3/10 Characters 4/10 Score 6/10

The movie is a 5/10, being very boring yet somewhat memorable due to the performances Miho Kano and Mami Nakamura, the score and it's horrendous ending.

"I heard you want to be a photographer"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 24 March 2021]

For most of the film it has a tense and gripping atmosphere. The simple way it is filmed works in its favour and the acting is fine, particularly Mami Nakamura as sweet Tsukiko and Miho Kanno as the titular Tomie. Then towards the end it became difficult to follow the story and there were scene jumps that were head-scratchingly puzzling.

What does happen at the end? Is Tsukiko becoming Tomie? If so it doesn't make any sense. Tomie is a frequently decapitated demon who keeps resurrecting not possessing. How did Tsukiko survive her drowning? What was the burning scene by the water about? Apart from the baffling narrative it is worth watching. And the music score is terrific. Literally.

`Uzumaki' it ain't.

[bobfingerman · 3/10 · 16 March 2004]

`Tomie will not die', boasts the ad copy, but she will bore you to death. This glacially paced Japanese offering is best avoided (unless you've run out of Ambien™ and need to grab some shuteye). Sometimes a slower pace builds mood, nurtures a sense of foreboding, but in `Tomie' all it does is make your eyelids heavy. The performances are okay, but the script is weak, the story is vague and the payoff is nonexistent. It's also shot in a very perfunctory and static manner, so even the cinematography is lackluster.

The funniest thing about the DVD is the behind-the-scenes feature, which shows the `special effects' team creating one of the most phony looking decapitated heads since the glory days of ‘60s schlock cinema. That and the `disfigured' lad with his hilariously unconvincing bugged-out Jack Elam eye. Very amateurish DIY stuff.

It doesn't justify the hype but the ending is worth the wait

[kluseba · 7/10 · 11 April 2011]

This movie has kicked of a whole bunch of sequels and seems to be amongst the most popular contemporary movies in Japan. As I am a big fan of the Japanese cinema, I was looking forward to discover the universe of Tomie with this first movie.

In the beginning, I was a little bit disappointed. The movie has a dark mood but a very slow development while the story seems to be a rather ordinary one with a school girl suffering from amnesia that is haunted by its past and an evil demon in form of a beautiful girl that resurrects over and over again. The movie seems to be filled with many scenes that have a couple of lengths, for example as a detective talks about seven minutes with the girl's psychologist.

What we don't know at that point is that the details mentioned in this very special dialogue are important to understand the ending of the movie that finishes with a punch and a twist. The final scene excuses for many clichés and predictable events before and they really surprised me. Still, I am not entirely sure how to interpret the end but that's what's so interesting, gripping and mesmerizing about it.

Another good point is that the movie shows a lot of the Japanese culture which is interesting for the international public. The lifestyle, the food and the landscapes are shown without giving an ordinary documentary touch to the flick.

All in all, the ending is worth the wait and I would like to try out the second movie one day. Yet, I have seen much better Japanese movies and don't understand why this series seem to be popular in that particular way. I don't believe the hype yet and can only talk about a quite good but not an excellent flick.

this film provoked a shrug and an eh

[movieman_kev · 5/10 · 28 May 2005]

A young woman suffering from amnesia goes to a quack to help her remember. Meanwhile her new downstairs neighbor is growing a Tomie in a box. I'm sorry getting ahead of myself. Tomie is a supernatural demon girl who whenever she is killed resurrects himself. If her head is cut off. she resurrects into two Tomies, and so on and so forth. There's also a detecting investigating into murders and this Tomie demon girl who he knows cant die. Have no clue why everyone thinks the ending is confusing. I knew where it was headed as soon as they went into the whole thing of what Tomie does. I din;t not like it for that reason though. I didn't like it because the characters are too one-dimensional and the film just coasts on and on with no real payoff to speak of. The song was cool that's about it. Competently made, but lifeless

My Grade: C

DVD Extras: Behind the scenes; Trailers for the first 5 "Tomie" film

A little been there done that, but Japanese

[brandonennals · 6/10 · 17 December 2004]

I have just finished watching this movie, I think. I know Japanese movies are not like your standard American flicks. This movie was a little more subjective than other Japanese movies that I have watched. A lot of Japanese movies are very simple, no matter how many twists they may have. This movie definitely has a lot of holes in it, especially the ending. I think I know where they were going , but I really don't know anyone else who has seen the movie so I cant ask them if they came away with the same interpretation. The movie is okay, the story is okay, I just wish it were either more in depth or gorier. I don't mind giving up a little depth for more gore. One posting on this movie compared this to a Japanese David Lynch flick. I wouldn't go that far, but I understand the comparison. There are no real shocking moments in the movie, no scenes that make you jump or turn away. Even though I was not totally impressed by this movie, I still may go to Blockbuster and rent one of the latest titles in this series to see if they are any different. I'm not sure yet if I would recommend this to anyone else, let me check out more from this title and I will let you know.

Disconnected and boring

[ofdawnlady · 3/10 · 19 December 2021]

You know when you've got a 1000 words essay and run out of ideas 500 words, so you've got to add fluff to fill as much space: this is this movie

The first hour genuinely feels like a generic j-drama. You've got a cheating plot, a detective side-plot that goes nowhere. A better film could use that to carefully set up the climax, but this movie just drops half of what it sets up. It doesn't help that every scene feels like it lasts 1 or 2 minutes more than it really needed.

On the directing side, there really isn't anything at all. You've got one or two interesting shots, but the rest is barebones. It's obvious the director is a fan of Ito's work (for example, one of the kills is taken from "Hanging Blimp", a completely unrelated Ito manga), but it's kinda detrimental, as the movie relies on Chapter 4 and 5 of Tomie, but doesn't really explain what happened in them, leaving the viewer confused if they haven't read the manga.

As for the positives, the soundtrack is good ans memorable. Bar a few examples, the acting is pretty good, especially Miho Kanno as Tomie, who should have definitely reprised her role in it's sequels. The last 30 minutes of the movie is remarkably better than the first hour. Now, it isn't an amazing 30 minutes or anything, but it's relatively enjoyable

Sadly, the film as a whole is dreadfully boring. Like it's not a funny kind of bad, it's just really slow for no reason.

Tomie, never dies

[Sammy_Can · 10/10 · 28 October 2004]

anyone who is familiar with the writings of Junji Ito would know the basic story of Tomie, and what to expect from this movie. i bought the DVD of it a few weeks ago, and have watched it a couple times. you will be able to recognize bits from the stories in the manga's, it's a fairly good movie, unless you don't enjoy reading subtitles. the DVD i bought was Japanese only with sub-titles, which i don't mind because i am used to reading it. though.. after watching the trailers, i am more looking forward to buying the 2nd and 3rd movies due to what i have seen of them. anyways, i didn't get a fright out of the movie, but it is good.. and it's not trying to jump on any band wagons.. Japanese horror will always be great for me at least

Slowmoving japanese horror

[t.crommentuyn · 6/10 · 25 June 2000]

Tomie is another so called Japanese "new wave horror"that started with "the Ring".This one is based on a manga comic and tells the story of the girl Tomie who gets killed out of jelousy and manages to take bloody revenge trough reincarnation. The movie starts promising by building up the tension very slowly and revealing the plot bit by little bit.But once the whole plot is carefully revealed with the help of flashbacks the movie speeds up to a very confusing end.As usually with Asian movies the camerawork and editing is nicely done but can't save the movie to give that extra boost to get to the same level as "the Ring" or "Shikoku".This movie was followed by Tomie2:replay.The soundtrack was provided by the hip Escalator records from Tokyo.

Tomie never dies

[imdb-14432 · 5/10 · 13 August 2006]

I liked this, it kind of gets under your skin. They set the mood very well and it's kind of creepy through the whole film. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for action or gore/splatter.

I like the rather slow pace and what you never know what will happen. It has some really nice jealousy twists gone really bad as well.

Also there is a very nice Japanese presence in the movie, captured very nice. If you are interested in Japan, it's nice just to look at the surroundings and strange signs.

One bad thing was the subtitles on my DVD, that was so bad it wasn't even funny. As an example, things where the plot suggested for translation to be "Let's go" was subtitled as "I've Moved" and that is a strange thing to say to get the police force going. But after a while you get used to the fact that everybody talks like Yoda :-)