Watches
June 17, 2013
Ever since Ryuhei Kitamura (LoveDeath) launched himself internationally with Versus he's been quite vocal of wanting to direct films in Hollywood. He got his first break when he was asked to adapt Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train (which turned out pretty well), now he returns to the USA once more to direct his second American feature: No One Lives.
No One Lives is a pretty basic horror film. There may be a slight twist to the story, but the twist is revealed early on (after only 20 minutes or so). Even then enough hints introduced the twist for it to be considered truly surprising. Still, it does set the mood for a classic game of cat and mouse, allowing Kitamura to work on some pretty nasty setups and equally impressive kills.
Kitamura is given some second-line Hollywood talent for the film's main roles. Luke Evans shines as the ruthless psychopath, Adelaide Clemens (the Michelle Williams stand-in) plays a pretty cool side-kick. The rest of the cast is considerably less gifted, then again they are little more than walking meat, ready to be gutted, mangled and shot to pieces. And it must be said, Kitamura delivers the goods where it counts.
No One Lives is very solid genre material, reminiscent of Vacancy and like-minded horror films. It's not a very original film, the plot is rather weak and the acting (apart from the main characters) secondary, but the gore, the tension and the atmosphere are quality material. Kitamura fares pretty well in the USA, so I don't really mind an occasional trip if it results in more films like this one.