Gekijōban Zero
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''Gekijōban Zero'' (), also known as ''Fatal Frame: The Movie'', is a 2014
Japanese horror Japanese horror, also known as J-horror, is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horr ...
film directed by
Mari Asato is a Japanese film director. Primarily known for the film '' Ju-On: Black Ghost'' (2009), part of ''The Grudge'' film installments, her other films include the politically undertoned ''Samurai Chicks'' (''Dokuritsu Shôjo Gurentai'') (2004), t ...
and starring Ayami Nakajō and Aoi Morikawa. It is based on a spin-off novel of the
Fatal Frame ''Fatal Frame'', titled in Japan and ''Project Zero'' in Europe and Australia, is a Japanese survival horror video game series that was created, published and developed by Koei Tecmo (originally Tecmo). Debuting in 2001 with the Fatal Frame (vi ...
video game series, titled , written by
Eiji Ōtsuka is a Japanese social critic, folklorist, media theorist, and novelist. He is currently a professor at International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto. He graduated from University of Tsukuba with a degree in anthropology, women's fol ...
. It was released on 26 September 2014. ''Gekijōban Zero'' premiered in North America on July 28, 2015, at the 19th Fantasia International Film Festival.


Plot

Aya, the most popular student of a Catholic all-girls school, suddenly shuts herself in her room. Her admirer, Kasumi Nohara, kisses her photo at midnight and suddenly disappears with her friend Michi as a witness. Her disappearance is quickly attributed to a supposed curse that affects girls who kiss the photo of the person they admire at midnight. Aya's photo is taken to the attic by Sakuya Itsuki and Risa for safekeeping, but the two alongside three other girls are enticed to kiss the photo. Except for Risa, who is later found dazed but alive, all of them are eventually found dead at a nearby river. When Michi attempts to kiss the photo, Aya stops her and reveals that she is not responsible for the curse, as the photo is not hers. They search help in Kazumi "Mary" Kusanagi, an eccentric photographer, who keeps photos inside her studio of
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
girls who made a suicide pact by drowning themselves at a lake, which is now closed, due to society's intolerance towards same-sex couples. She also tells a story about a couple who was doomed when one of them refused to commit suicide, causing her to be haunted by her lover for the rest of her life. Aya then admits to Michi that she is haunted by the guilt of letting a fellow orphan of hers die in front of her. Michi decides to kiss the photo to put herself into the curse and chains herself to Aya so the latter can save her should she be in danger. However, the two are separated halfway through and Aya is knocked out by Takashi, the mentally handicapped brother of the school
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
, Mayumi Aso. She is thrown into a reservoir located at the place where the lesbian couples committed their suicides. There, Aya remembers that the doppelgänger is in fact her twin sister, Maya. Though she died at an early age, Maya "grew up" alongside Aya and put a curse at the photo until Aya could find her in the reservoir. Meanwhile, Michi is about to be drowned by Mayumi, who is revealed to be the one murdering the girls so as to keep Takashi's supposed involvement in Maya's death a secret, but she chooses to drown herself with Takashi when the authorities are closing in. Michi goes to the reservoir and reunites with Aya. Aya and Michi participate in the school
choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
celebrating their graduation. Meanwhile, Mary visits the school's headmistress and
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...
, correctly deducing her as the lesbian girl who was haunted by the spirit of her lover. The headmistress reveals that to keep her lover from bothering her, she murdered Maya so the latter could accompany her, though she is distressed when the act led to more murders by Mayumi, although her brother had nothing to do with it. After the choir, Michi bids Aya goodbye before she departs for
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
to attend a photography college. She is about to take a photo of her, but pulls up at the last second and makes Aya promise to wait for her until she has become a proper photographer.


Cast and characters

* Ayami Nakajō as Aya Tsukimori * Aoi Morikawa as Michi Kazato * Fujiko Kojima as Risa *
Karen Miyama is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She used to be part of the Gekidan Tohai talent agency, and is now part of Horipro talent agency. She portrayed the young Ann Uekusa in the live-action drama '' Sand Chronicles''. In anime, she provide ...
as Sakuya Itsuki * Kasumi Yamaya as Kasumi Nohara * Minori Hagiwara as Waka Fujii * Yuri Nakamura as Mayumi Aso * Kōdai Asaka as Takashi Aso * Noriko Nakagoshi as Kazumi "Mary" Kusanagi * Jun Miho as Headmistress


Reception

The film grossed () at the Japanese box office. In South Korea, the film opened with ($190,000), and eventually grossed () at the box office. Combined, the film grossed in East Asia. Richard Eisenbeis from
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
gave the film a positive review. He commented that the best aspect of the movie is the way in which it is told. Rather than focusing solely on Michi, the movie constantly shown the story through many viewpoints other than her own, which intertwining with each other and slowly expose the truth behind the mystery in the film. He found it interesting that a large portion of the story revolves around being a lesbian in Japan not only during the modern era, but also at Meiji era. He also noted that the movie's "intensely creepy and atmospheric" tone are what builds the fear, a feat many horror films could not hope to accomplish. Conversely, he has a mixed review for the lack of ghost killing via camera in the film, which is supposed to be one of pivotal elements in the game franchise. Nevertheless, he noted that the movie is a film very much worthy of the Fatal Frame name, and stated that "if you are a fan of Fatal Frame or Japanese horror in general, this is most certainly a film to watch".


See also

* List of films based on video games *
List of LGBT-related films directed by women This is a list of lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-related films that were directed by women. LGBTQ-themed films directed by women – especially, but not exclusively, lesbian-themed movies – are an important and distinct s ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

* (Archive)
''Gekijô-ban: Zero'' (Fatal Frame)
at
FilmAffinity FilmAffinity is a movie recommendations website created in 2002 in Madrid, Spain, by the film critic Pablo Kurt Verdú Schumann and the programmer Daniel Nicolás. In 2016, the site listed 125,000 movies and series and had 556,000 reviews writte ...
*
''Gekijoban Zero''
at Japanese Film Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Gekijoban Zero 2014 horror films 2014 films 2014 LGBTQ-related films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Mari Asato Japanese horror films Japanese LGBTQ-related films Lesbian-related films Live-action films based on video games 2010s psychological horror films Japanese supernatural horror films LGBTQ-related horror films Japanese psychological horror films 2010s Japanese films 2010s Japanese-language films