Pray
Japanese horror was considered to be the new wave of the horror genre. It was creepy, freaky and scary. But as they start to milk it, most of J-horror started to be a retelling of the same spiritual GRUDGE story in different situations. PRAY isn’t one of them. But unfortunately, the film is so disjointed that even in its highest moments, the scares don’t have any effects.
The film’s structure is very nice, with the plot containing enough meat for everyone’s enjoyment. As the story moves forward, it starts to peel off layers after layers and unexpected events unfold. PRAY’s problem is that those plot twists and events seem very forced. Director Sato is trying to make sure things are complicated enough so we’re unable to figure things out. And that is a good intention if you execute it right.
But his biggest mistake is the film is not scary. He relies on a fair amount of the stereotypical eerie soundtrack and sound effects to “creep up” scenes. The film contains too many of those “something is in a locker but actually not when opened” moments. When something actually appears, it doesn’t have any effect because of the massive use of unimaginative scare tricks prior to the real deal.
Also, there are misdirected performances from two lead actors who don’t have any chemistry whatsoever. They just do things that don’t make any sense at all. They see a ghost but still wander around inside a nasty abandoned school. Their motivation of doing thing like that is more disturbing than the actual film. And the ending: As if the film is aiming to ride along the Korean film fever, it gets overly melodramatic. But of course the film just doesn’t end there. You got to have that “Damien devilishly smiles” moment.
All in all, PRAY can’t reach its ultimate potential because of poor execution. Its original structure within this genre is interesting, but it is a horror film after all. Scare us. Having a spooky ghost isn’t scary enough these days. –Shogo