Neighbour No. 13 (2005)

It is a performances centric movie

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

If you are expecting horror, forget it. If you are expecting "psychological thriller," forget that too. In fact, if you are expecting anything halfway moving, gripping, or attention-grabbing in the least, FORGET ALL ABOUT IT.The film has a decent premise but unfortunately displays the absolute worst traits of a certain strain of Japanese horror films which, as another reviewer mentions, owe a lot to Miike's more exasperatingly BORING experiments, such as that "Ichii" crap.The problem here is that this movie move's at a snail's pace. That would have been alright had there been some kind of payoff, but there is not. Characters stare at each other for MINUTES ON END inexplicably in the middle of a @#$# conversation, children see dead, bloodied bodies and simply stand there aloof like scarecrows before casually walking away--countless reactions are completely fake and unrealistic. The film was a great idea but any kind of dramatic effect is robbed from it by the stupid SILENCE and stilted dialogue which plagues the entire film.If you think boring crap such as "964 Pinocchio" and the "All Night Long" series were "disturbing," you'll probably like this film too. If you're looking for a REAL MOVIE, you'll wish you hadn't given it the chance in the first place, especially considering it's nearly two hours long. (If they had had haflway normal dialog and half-way HUMAN reactions among characters, the film would've been an hour and a half).If you're looking for good Asian horror/revenge/drama, see the Korean "Oldboy." As far as "Rinjin 13-gô" goes: AVOID.

First-time director Yasuo Inoue tells the story of a troubled young psychopath named Juzo Murasaki,who was tormented through school by group of his classmates,led by Toru Akai.This leads to the young boy to create a split personality,where his other half is on the psychotic side and apparently only comes out when he feels bullied or angry."The Neighbor No.Thirteen" is slow and deliberate horror film laced with heavy psychological tones.It's obviously influenced by "All Night Long" series and Takashi Miike's works.The film offers a few moments of brutal and highly disturbing violence,so fans of Japanese transgressive cinema should be pleased.The finale is quite disappointing,though.My rating:9 out of 10.

First off, this isn't your average "uber-weird" J-horror film. The story is pretty straight-forward which is refreshing for a change. There's no ghosts, or girls with long black hair, or rings, or phones, or any of that - just a good, tension-filled revenge tale. That said, my major gripe with the film is the ending, as it was too vague for my taste, and really dropped it a notch in my book. I'll be brief with my "summary", as to say too much would spoil the film...Juzo is a shy and reserved guy who was picked on and bullied horribly in school as a child, and has developed a split personality as a result. When the guy that was the "main" bully happens to move in upstairs to Juzo, it's time for the bully to meet Juzo's "dark side"...To say any more would really give too much of the well thought out plot away, so that's all you get, but that's really all you need to know going into this one. It's a relatively straight revenge-film with some very notable performances by all involved. It's not overly graphically gory or violent (comparitively speaking...) but there are some scenes that may upset more mainstream viewers - especially towards the end. Speaking of the end of the film - this is my major problem with NEIGHBOR 13 as there really is no resolution, which highly disappointed me. If the ending would have been handled better, this film would have easily gotten a 9 or 9.5 from me. Either way, it's definitely worth a look. Recommended - 8.5/10

During his elementary school years Murasaki Juzo suffered the torments of a bully named Akai Juzo. If these torments had included only such things as having his money stolen or being given wedgies Murasaki might have been able to lead a normal life when he grew up. However, Murasaki was locked in a toilet and sprayed with water and forced to eat excrement, but these malicious acts are only the tip of the iceberg. One day two of Arai's friends hold Murasaki on the ground as their leader pours a bottle of acid on Murasaki's face.After the depiction of this flashback in a sequence that would please Clive Barker, a grown Murasaki snaps out of a pretty severe hallucination and as he makes his way to his construction job Murasaki notices that he has new neighbors moving into room number 23. Because construction work is an occupation that is often linked to the Japanese underworld, it is not surprising that the business is filled with unsavory characters. Besides the afro sporting Seki, the rest of the crew look as if they could just as easily start a gang war as construct a building. It is also at this locale that Murasaki meets Arai once again and, as if no time has passed at all, Murasaki soon becomes the target for Arai's cruelties. Arai continuously picks at Murasaki, smashes him in the leg with a piece of wood, and presents him from exiting the porta-pottie. However, with his anger overflowing, Murasaki kicks open the door sending Arai sprawling back. It is at this point that Murasaki's appearance seems a bit different. He sports a scraggly beard, he is blind in his left eye, and his face is horribly scarred. This being is Murasaki's other self. A repressed core of rage that Arai has unleashed that Murasaki is having more and more difficulty keeping under control.Arai continues to mock Murasaki, but he is unaware that the timid man lives in the same building as he and that Murasaki has quickly become an acquaintance of his wife and child.I am normally not one for thrillers or horror films being that I tend to watch dramas, but I did enjoy watching Neighbor Number 13. Oguri Shun, Murasaki, does a good job portraying a young man who has spent his entire life being bullied and Arai Hirofumi, Akai, definitely portrays a character who his deserving of the protagonist's hate. However, Nakamura Shido, Murasaki's alternate personality, really takes the cake. His rendering of a scarred, mentally deranged man is both incredible and terrifying. Also Yoshimura Yumi, of Puffy, does a decent job of portraying Akai's wife. Maybe at thirty she is trying to move away from her saccharine pop star image.While definitely not a great film, Neighbor Number 13 is a fun film to watch. I bet also that you will be rooting for the "bad guy" as well.