Is it just me or is that kid really annoying?Hideos sister, spends most of her time running around after the disobedient little so and so. As for him, well, I know he's a kid n all, but his acting ability is about as wooden as a dead tree. So far I'm only half way through, and am fascinated by the story, but the people in it, let it down, I just hope it gets better by the end, as I can't not know what it's all about. Although, some supposedly cryptic messages in the scribbles on the wall and a notebook, indicate everything is backwards, i.e. Dog is God, Live is Evil etc... just seems a little obvious at the moment, yet nobody mentions its obvious meaning, (As yet anyway) If my opinion changes at the end of the movie, I'll update this post, but if your reading this, then well...... See above statement.

Forbidden Siren is a mixed bag of a movie. Yes, it's another video game movie. But unlike House of the Dead, this one is capable of holding your attention and is sufficiently frightening.The story follows a young woman, named Yuki, who has moved to the island of Yame with her father and little brother. From the get-go, things on the island don't seem right. The villagers are strange and unfriendly. Throughout the movie, Yuki seems to have a hard time keeping up with her wandering little brother Hideo, and has strange encounters with a woman in red. And then she is given an ominous warning: never go outside when the siren wails.It's a good premise for a horror/thriller movie. And I must admit that conceptually this film is strong; a feature which complements the awesome directing. That's why it's a shame that Forbidden Siren's ending is so poor. This movie excels in almost every area and would have been a great Asian horror if not for the ending. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say that if someone tried to submit a story with a trick ending, like we see in Forbidden Siren, to any major magazine, they would not be published.The ending of any story is crucial and they teach you not to write trick endings because they are deceptive and ultimately let your audience down. Which is what we observe happening in Forbidden Siren. We are built up from the very beginning to believe that something memorable and shocking is coming at the end, then it's just a big let down.I was tempted to give this movie a 5 instead of a 6; however I was impressed by the good scares and the originality of the plot (even if they could have gone in SO many interesting directions with it.) These days it isn't often that you find a good Asian horror film that doesn't center around a "vengeful ghost" picking off a small group of young adults. So Forbidden Siren gets a 6 out of 10. Watch it and enjoy the creative scares and smart direction, then when you get to the climax turn it off and make up your own ending. Trust me, you can't do any worse than they did.

I finally got to see this film after buying it in Singapore. I had heard very little about it from horror fans, so I put the disc in last night and was prepared to be underwhelmed. But from the opening scrawl I was hooked by the atmosphere. The film was really enjoyable to watch, and while I had some worries at first about its short run-time (about 87 minutes), by the climax, I had none. As other reviewers out there have said, despite its lack of length, the film has the feeling of a 2 hour film. This is probably due to its slow burn, something that I adore a lot of Asian horror for. The film builds up a strong foreboding atmosphere, before descending into one of the more memorable climaxes I have witnessed in the genre.It seems that the film has copped a lot of flak from fans and critics, and it is perhaps due to the idea that video game films can't possibly be good. I have never played the games, instead just drooling over the cases in shops and admiring the artwork. From what I can gather, the film follows the second game in the series, and does so pretty closely, with of course some inevitable changes that restraints require. Unlike many films adapted from games, Siren actually contains some clever plotting and dense atmosphere. Here, characters are typically over the top and quirky. In some ways the film reminded me (a little) of Uzumaki in its off-kilter approach, though Uzumaki went to an extreme in that. Some may say that one major detail is telegraphed a mile away, but unlike another film with a similar idea, I don't think that Siren is trying to keep it such a big secret. The fact that knew that something wasn't right from the get go really added to the suspense.Get the R3, the subs are great, and the picture quality is quite good, and it is anamorphic. The only let down is perhaps going to be inherent in all versions, and is that the DVD only has a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. I haven't been able to check if the Japanese DVD has DD 5.1 or DTS. However, despite the stereo audio, I could here some great separation through my speakers, and as a Prologic II track, it didn't sound so much like one. Other than that, there are almost no extras of note, in fact there are only 3 versions of the movie trailer, and what does one need them for when they have the film? I have never understood the inclusion of trailers as "extras" for that reason. I would liked to see some SFX reels, or even bloopers, but perhaps in a film such as this one, the budget didn't allow much room for trial and error.In all the film was easy to watch and not too challenging, yet still carrying with it an aura of freshness. There are no dark haired ghosts (though if it did, how could one complain about it when the majority of people living in Japan have such hair), and the budget of the film keeps the production honest and small. The film has a slow build up that may dismay viewers of short attention spans, or a lust for blood, but the climax is quite gripping, and helps elevate the film beyond where it may have settled without it.

This is an entertaining movie which achieves its objectives within its genre. Without offering an amateur critique and regardless of its basis on a video game, it is well enough scripted, acted & filmed to provide 90mins of distraction.Whilst not offering the seasoned viewer of Japanese horror/thrillers a great deal to enthuse about, this movie is clearly effective in bringing the genre to a wider audience, without a reliance on the inane Hollywood style special effects we have come to expect.Simple and pleasing, the story is developed, extended, twisted and concluded with reasonable suspense and intrigue. Visually and audibly intense at all the appropriate moments - whats not to like. If you are viewing with AC3 or DTS sound - crank it up good and loud.