Kadokawa Mystery & Horror Tales, Vol. 1 2005 Horror Movie Review

“COMMEMORATION DAY” (MEINICHI)  Cast: Sayaka Yamaguchi (“Tolmie”, TV drama: “100 Year Story”), Asami Mizukawa (“Dark Water”,“Go”)  Length: 40 minutes (approx.) Synopsis: “Maybe father was right.  Maybe we should not have moved into that house.”  Shortly after the death of her boyfriend in an accident, Minako’s father is transferred to a new city for work and her family must leave Tokyo.  She is heartbroken and in a state of depression and denial.  When Minako falls in love with a house, her father cannot refuse.  After they move in, they start to discover typical problems; the house is old, a little damp and creaky.  But it also seems to house the ghost of a young girl, “Kato”, who wanders around upstairs on crutches night after night.  Yukio, the younger of the two sisters, keeps insisting for Minako’s sake, that it is only their imagination.  But soon everything becomes clearer and things start happening that send shudders up their spines. “CRUEL KIDNAPPING”  Cast: Tohru Masuoka (“Night Escape Company”, “My Neighborhood the Yamadas”), Renji Ishibashi (“TRICK”, “The Black House”)  Synopsis: Toshio Kamijo (Tohru Masuoka) is a 42 year-old businessman whose real estate company has taken a downturn.  Though he has sold off some of his assets, he is still struggling.  To make matters worse, he receives a ransom letter indicating that his daughter, Mamitan, has been kidnapped.  Blaming his wife, he opts not to call the police and instead goes from one bank to the next trying to accumulate funds.  As a last resort, he goes to visit an acquaintance, Gotoda (Renji Ishibashi), hoping that he may have some sympathy and loan him the money.  When he arrives, there is a cute little baby much like his Mamitan.  In a weird turn of events, the panic-stricken Kamijo suddenly decides to kidnap Gotoda’s grandchild.  He sends him the same ransom letter and demand for the money. “THE DESIRE TO KILL ANYONE THAT PASSES”  Cast: Mayumi Wakamura (“Embraced by the Winds of Firenze”, “JUBAKU-Spellbound”), Takaoka Sousuke, Yuki Kazamatsuri Synopsis:  On a rainy night when Rie’s (Mayumi Wakamura) husband is away, a murderer (Sousuke Takaoka) comes to the house.  Trembling for fear of what may happen to her and her children, she desperately tries to convince the man to leave.  The plot unfolds in a closed room and the tension builds as Rie must find a way to escape.