Premonition (Japanese)

Director: Norio Tsuruta

Rated: R

Lions Gate: July 5, 2005

95 Minutes

From Amazon: They are used to tell the past, but for a few unlucky individuals, they foretell the future. When Hideki picks up a newspaper he knows what he will see...death. Foretelling ill-omened fate of everything from slayings to train crashes, there is nothing Hideki can do to stop the event... or is there? When the paper predicts the demise of his daughter in a car crash, Hideki seeks out other like himself, searching for a way to change the future.

For those of you who have seen the American version of 'Premonition' with Sandra Bullock, please don't use that as a basis for whether or not you watch the Japanese version. While I thought that the American Premonition was (at best) an OK movie, the Japanese version is far superior. It is also scary in a mild sense and what I would deem a horror movie despite the crappy American remake!

'Premonition' is about this family whose lives are torn apart because the father finds a newspaper that says his daughter died yet she is sitting in the car across from him. He starts to get all sorts of premonitions about different people and tragedies and soon becomes obsessed with trying to save these people. Eventually he gets to attempt another shot at his own premonition that killed his daughter years before. I think the American version only took that part of the Japanese movie and made a whole movie about it.

'Premonition' isn't a scary movie...I think there are actually only a few parts that might make you jump the first time you watch it; however, it is a great movie with a consistent plot and a few scares along the way. I think what makes Premonition a scary movie is the psychological side of it. What would it really be like to know all these people were going to die and there was nothing you could do? Or, if you could do something you'd eventually kill yourself in the process! It's allll psychological! Anyways, it's a good movie so if you're into foreign movies then check it out! It's actually really cheap on Amazon (that's where I got mine!) or I'm sure you could pick it up at your local video story. You should definitely check it out!

My Rating: 4/5
Ginger