Keitai Kanojo Review

I haven’t seen the trailer, but in the first few minutes of the film, I suddenly got a feeling that this would be another horror film with a weak plot and unlikeable characters. This being a straight-to-DVD film, I didn’t expect it to be like Ringu or other big hit Japanese horror films.

Based on the novel of the same name, Keitai Kanojo is a sequel to the movie Keitai Kareshi.

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Keitai Kanojo

携帯彼女

Year: 2011

Language: Japanese

Genre: Horror

Synopsis:

Random killings have been taking place in Japan. The criminals are always found dead right after the murder. According to rumours, the killings have been rooted from a cursed cellphone girlfriend game. Once a man downloads this game, he will have to please the simulated girlfriend named Erika (Seika Taketomi) with his sweet words or by doing what she wants (killing random girls). If the love meter reaches 0 or 100%, the game ends and the player dies.

Meanwhile, a girl who is also named Erika (Airi Suzuki) witnesses the murder of her friend Chiyo. She is about to be killed when the man stops, talks to his cellphone, and drops to the ground, dead. When Erika sees the simulated girlfriend in the man’s cellphone, she faints and is caught by Takashi Murase (Baba Toru).

It turns out that Takashi has been looking for his sister, Erika Murase, who has been missing for many years. He suspects that the killings are linked to his sister’s disappearance and the simulated girlfriend is actually his lost sister. To break the curse, Takashi asks for Erika’s help, who seems to have somehow connected with his sister. With Erika’s nightmare that she is having everyday, they try to piece together the clues that might lead them to the missing teen.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

When the first victim repeatedly hits the head of some random girl, I thought that this would be another pointless movie that I would still watch anyway. It did creep me out a bit, but it didn’t make me jump from my seat like what other Japanese horror movies did.

With pop singer and C-ute member Airi Suzuki starring the movie, it has somehow made Keitai Kanojo more bearable to watch for her fans. Since Keitai Kanojo is her movie debut, I can’t really say that she did a poor job, though in all honesty, I wasn’t really impressed. Even with her raw acting, it’s not hard to sympathize with her Erika Kurahashi. Who wouldn’t? For someone who sees ghost and people dying in front of her, everyone would feel for her.

The plot is original but a story with a cursed cellphone game is just childish. As the story unfolded, I felt that the root behind the curse is unconvincing and shallow. Though the movie is lacking in other departments, the ghost is a bit creepy. The ending is unexpected, which is cool, but it’s not very original.

The bottom line is, unless you’re an Airi fan or unless you love horror regardless of its quality, don’t even bother watching Keitai Kanojo.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

3 out of 10 stars 

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