Seance

A disappointing Kurosawa. The man is able to build tension, I'll give him that. But that's not enough to make a good film. I often wondered if a better art director could've made the necessary difference, and I think Seance answers that question. The film looks so incredibly ugly that it becomes an actual distraction, something that drags everything down.

The police are tailing a notorious kidnapper. They can catch him, but the man remains silent about the location of his latest victim. With few options left, the police decide to try something different. They contact someone with paranormal powers, but it seems like she is actively trying to sabotage the investigation, only adding to the desperation of the police.

There are a few decent, tense scenes scattered throughout, but the plot is pretty basic and predictable and the film looks like it was shot by a blind person, so I never really got into it. Kurosawa made few real stinkers, but this is one of them, not even Koji Yakusho's presence can do anything to fix that.