Another Heaven (2000)

Just perfect...

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Well, in the beginning, this movie indeed looks like a solid horror shocker about a supernatural serial killer who has a tendency to go after brains (literally), and a pair of detectives on his/her trail.However, any tension that might result from such a detective story is almost immediately taken away by the cute high school girl who more or less gives the answer away from the very beginning. And from then on, the whole movie is so overwrought with ideas that in and of themselves are very interesting, but which need far more time and explanations to really make the impact they could have.---WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD--- The idea of ghosts returning from paradise because it's too boring there and they prefer this world's violence and slaughter is a very nice one and could have carried the whole movie alone if given proper attention. But from that explanation onwards, the director jumps to the problem of today's youth being confronted with too much violence in the media, time-travel, police otakus (die-hard fans), supernatural abilities of mentally challenged people (not those possessed!), negative influence of pylons, a strange attraction of the ghostly serial killer to the main detective because of similar motives, and strangely knowledgeable little girls who have a very convoluted past of their own and are the focus of the plot's main love-story.---SPOILER END---There also is an issue with lacking explanations, mostly for people's histories and characters. It leaves the impression of reading volume 3 of a series as a stand-alone, where the first two volumes are referenced several times nonetheless.Additionally, many things leave the impression of having been copied straight out of a comical hentai-anime (from the way regular police officers seem to be unable to move at a slower speed than flat-out sprinting, to the uber-cute, pouty high school girl with lollipop stretching in the detective's apartment like a cat in heat). In my opinion, this completely throws off the mood that had been set by the gloriously red opening scene and makes it seem like a botched attempt at a black comedy.As a conclusion, I can only say this: The director seems to have taken episodes 3-18 out of a 20 episode anime and stuffed them into a 130min real-life movie without shortening the plot at all. Special effects and acting are great, and if it gets turned a TV series that has enough time to deal with all those interesting ideas one by one, I'd definitely watch it. But as it is, this movie is an unwillingly hilarious mess.

I'll keep this short, Another Heaven is essentially a supernatural suspense thriller that could go absolutely anywhere, but the surpising anti climactic ending proves how truly amazing execution was in comparison to concept. The acting is great, as far as ambiant music, much better than other horror flicks, Japanese or not. If this must be compared to other japanese horror flicks, then this easily is superior to Ghost Actress, but no where near Audition. It comes off as a contemporary of the Ring, and that's not bad, it's a good movie, go watch.

I am disappointed by this movie. It can't make up its mind what it wants to be - a horror, a detective story, a gross-out, and ends up being none of the above.* POSSIBLE SPOILER *There are major holes in this movie. Many things are not explained: How come the "thing" is attracted to the detective? What's the rationale behind cooking the victim's brain? Why does the "thing" give the detective corpses as presents?* END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER *I have seen the "Hidden" and "Se7en", both films are much more superior to this one, which tries to combine the two ideas into one, but fails miserably.The only saving grace of the movie: Doctor Sasamoto is rather attractive.

just watched it and it is a waste of time :(but one thing to watch this show for is the look at the lead's girlfriend... she's really a wonder of nature... big eyes, long neck, long and slender limbs... she looked quite amazing ;pbut story wise, it was quite lame. The show is undecided what it wants to beHorror homicide detective story ? Alien ? Ghost ?bad bad bad