©Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Teiko’s shuttered hotel is sort of the Japanese equivalent of the Overlook in The Shining. It is isolated and haunted. Fortunately, she hires the perfect medium/exorcist/spiritualist. Airi is also isolated and haunted, emotionally and literally. The ghost of her late sister Miku still accompanies her on all her jobs. In this case, her late sister’s keen perception will come in handy when they encounter a different kind of evil in director-screenwriter Dave Boyle’s Never After Dark, which is now opening in theaters.
Airi and Miku were once known as a sister-act of ghost-busters, until the latter was murdered during one of their jobs. Airi still blames herself, whereas Miku regularly nags her to move on and get a life. Nevertheless, the late sister cannot resist a few ghostly practical jokes, while watching over her flesh-and-blood sibling.
As Airi explains to her new clients, she has the ability to cross the “veil” separating the mortal world from the spirit realm. However, she only works during the day, when the veil is strongest for those on the spirit side—hence the title. Of course, Teiko’s son Gunji assumes Airi is scamming his mother. He never witnessed the ghost with the bashed in jaw she claims to see regularly at 12:00, both noon and midnight. Nevertheless, a night of drinking with Airi convinces him she is not a scammer, even though he remains somewhat skeptical of the supernatural.
©Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
One of the reasons Never After Dark works so successfully is because of the way it establishes Airi’s system for dispelling ghosts. Through a candle-lit ritual, Airi passes through the veil, essentially as an astral projection, while her mortal body remains slumped over. She then confronts the spirit in question, to learn what it needs to cross over for good. Whenever things get too dicey, she snuffs out the flame and awakens in her body, on the living side of the veil. At least, that is how it is supposed to work. “The Gaping Mouth Man” does not act like a normal spirit. In fact, Miku believes he isn’t even dead, at least not in the conventional understanding of the term.
As the film progresses, Boyle combines elements of supernatural and psycho-stalker horror that are hard to explain without being spoilery. Regardless, the quietly eerie ambiance and the old school inventiveness of Boyle’s clever camera techniques make Never After Dark the scariest horror movie of the year.
The manor house/hotel and its various out-buildings, including an abandoned chapel, also represent some extraordinarily evocative locations and set designs. The above comparison to The Shining is no joke. Both films feature similarly vivid senses of place.
©Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Although not an expat in the strictest sense, Boyle regularly works in Japan, most notably as the showrunner and director of House of Ninjas. Judging from Never After Dark, he is well versed in J-horror, but Boyle’s film is demurely restrained compared to some of the sub-genre’s more notorious gore fests. Honestly, Boyle has a knack for milking the maximum possible fear out of a dark hallway. Yet, what makes Boyle’s J-horror foray so unsettling is the intimate vibe and confined setting. Japanese artforms often try to master the difficulty of simplicity. Never After Dark reflects that kind of aesthetic.
Moeka Hoshi and Kurumi Inagaki are also each terrific as the veil-traversing sisters. Sometimes, their bickering is rather funny, in a believably sisterly way, but their bond transcending life and death is surprisingly poignant. On the other end of the spectrum, Mutsuo Yoshioka is spectacularly sinister as the mystery man. It is a small but perfectly cast ensemble, notably featuring the award-winning Tae Kimura, who is convincingly rattled but still regally elegant, as Teiko.
©Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
This is the kind of film you need to sit down and watch, free from distractions, because Boyle masterfully builds tension from blurry reflections and indistinct shapes seen indirectly through windows. The feeling of dread compounds steadily, while the spooky atmosphere immediately grabs viewers. For truly old school genre fans, it exemplifies the best kind of horror. Very highly recommended, Never After Dark is now playing in theaters.
Gade: A+
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Here’s the trailer of the film.