Museum: Prologue

A prologue to Ohtomo's Museum, directed by Koji Shiraisi in his trademark faux documentary style. It's a film that works best if you've already seen Ohtomo's feature, but it stands well enough on its own too, as it's a separate story. It's not as good as its big brother, but after a rather tepid intro, this prologue does work itself up to a riveting finale.

A journalist is trying to solve a case about a young girl cast in resin. This attracts the attention of the frog man, who sees in him a perfect victim. He kidnaps the journalist's daughter and uses her as bait, forcing the journalist to kidnap another girl and take her to an undisclosed location. To save his daughter, the journalist reluctantly obliges.

The found footage genre is past its prime, which does affect the first half of this film. I'm probably not the only one tired of wonky cameras and people fidgeting with tech onscreen. But once the story unfolds and the nastier dilemmas rear their head, Shiraishi has a tight lock on this film. Not his best work, but pretty dark, fun, short and to the point.