Quartile rating: 5/10 · 1 rating
When the dead discover a means to contact the living through electronic devices, cellphones and computers become open gateways to monstrosities and destruction.
This American remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's J-horror classic 'Kairo' strips away much of the original's existential dread and atmospheric subtlety, replacing it with generic horror conventions and a more conventional narrative structure. The plot about the dead invading through electronic devices had real potential but is executed with little tension or coherence. The acting is largely forgettable, with Kristen Bell doing her best with underwritten material. The cinematography leans on desaturated greys and blues that were fashionable in mid-2000s horror, competent but derivative. As a remake it inherits the original's interesting concept but loses what made it distinctive, making it feel formulaic rather than innovative. The ending attempts bleakness but lacks the earned emotional weight of the source material.