It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Oh, Tomie... Tomie, Tomie, Tomie... I just can't quite wrap my head around your films and why I'm so fascinated with them. Based on the wildly popular horror manga created by Junji Ito, the "Tomie" film franchise is a bit of a puzzling watch to me. I haven't been particularly taken with any single chapter in the still-growing cinematic saga, and in fact have found a few to be overtly bad. And yet, I still find myself drawn to them. I think its perhaps a bit of curiosity on my part. After all, between television and theatrical releases, there have been nine adaptations of the character released thus far. So it's clear that there is an audience. And there is most certainly an admiration for the characters and the concepts."Forbidden Fruit" is the fourth installment in the feature-length film series, and at the time was evidently built up as a "final chapter" to cap-off the franchise. Of course, we all known that the "final chapter" is never actually the final chapter. But it is interesting watching the film knowing that was the intent. As far as planned conclusions go, I actually think it's a bit of a letdown, and never quite matches the decidedly higher quality set by the two previous follow-ups "Replay" and "Re-Birth." Those films did some really interesting things with the character. "Forbidden Fruit" just feels like its going through the motions. But as something of a casual fan of the series, I also don't think its the worst installment, and it's adequately entertaining with a few mildly creepy moments. It's just... kind of a middle-of-the- road addition. Not particularly good. Not particularly bad. Just... mediocre.The story this time is perhaps a touch darker and more intricate than previous installments, and involves the titular villain Tomie Kawakami (Nozomi Andô) befriending a high school loser who also happens to be named "Tomie." (Aoi Miyazaki) As the story progresses and their friendship goes through some peculiar moments (with hints of a sexual attraction between the two), it soon enough becomes clear that Tomie Kawakami has ulterior motives... motives which may be related to the father of her new "friend." (Jun Kunimura)The main issue I have with "Forbidden Fruit" is that without spoiling anything, many scenes and moments seem to add up to a whole lotta nothing. There are intriguing themes and ideas brought up consistently and a handful of stand-out scenes, but its to the service of just more of the same old, same old. It's just another "Tomie" movie through-and-through and does very little outside of imitating what came before with a few fleeting attempts to add more substance. In a lot of ways, I found it similar to the first entry in the cinematic franchise, which also unfortunately is the worst of the films I've seen in my opinion. Good ideas... so-so execution. I also felt there was much to be desired in the visual direction courtesy Shun Nakahara and the dialog by writer Yoshinobu Fujioka. It's very sloppy and aimless at times, especially in the first act, with Nakahara making some bizarre visual choices (an opening prologue scene that's practically pitch black and sepia toned and thus almost impossible to see, for example) and Fujioka trying a bit too hard to be clever with some pretentious moments and a few misjudged meta in-jokes. ("You're just like Sadako, Tomie!" ...subtle.)That being said, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bit of fun with the film. The performances are quite good for the most part, and you really find yourself enjoying the characters as a result. Miyazaki is a charming lead, while Andô is a good replacement for the villainous "Tomie." I appreciated the attempts to shake up the series and throw in a bit more substance even if it didn't quite come together particularly well. It at least shows a bit of effort on the parts of those involved, which is more than can be said for many horror sequels. There's a few genuinely startling sequences of suspense and fear that will tingle your spine and appeal to fans of horror. And I really enjoyed the ending. I won't spoil it, but it was the perfect way to finish the story and left me with a big old, devious grin on my face."Tomie: Forbidden Fruit" is a step in the wrong direction. But if you're a fan of the series, you'll probably get enough of a kick out of it to make it worth seeing. I give it a very middle-of-the-road 5 out of 10.

This is the 5th film (4th theatrical, the 2nd film was made for TV) of 7 about Tomie; the beautiful she-demon who drives men to kill her, but will not stay dead. I've never read Junji Ito's manga, so I will review this just as a film within the series.Good horror films are disturbing to us, that's part of their job. Tomie Forbidden Fruit does a good job of that initially, but loses focus and somewhat falls apart a little after the halfway mark. The first half is a good creepy horror film, albeit not a 'scary' one, though none of the series were. It suffers from 'Jeepers Creepers-itis': starts off with a great premise that seems to be going somewhere and then derails itself into silly territory that undermines that which preceded it. Luckily, it pretty much gets back on track at the end which is more than I can say for Jeepers Creepers. The idea is a good one and takes Tomie into the 'destruction of friends and families' territory more than previous entries did (Re-birth would be the 2nd best in that capacity due to its mother-son-girlfriend relations subplot).Kazu Hashimoto was in love with Tomie some 25 years ago, but she died as did the friend who stole her from him. We see him now as a middle-aged widower who named his daughter after his lost 1st love. Tomie Hashimoto is harassed at school by girls who bully her and her life is generally miserable until the day she meets Tomie. They become fast friends and…cue the PG-rated pseudo-lesbian overtones. Actually, Tomie isn't really interested in being friends with her namesake. Tomie actually despises her as a reminder that Kazu married another woman and gave birth to a daughter, Tomie Hashimoto. Tomie plans to regain Kazu and offers her love to him after he removes all remnants of the time that has passed, namely the shrine to his deceased wife (no big deal for a man who has forgotten her in the past 10 years since her death) and one other slight obstacle: the daughter of that union. In order to regain the beautiful lost love of his youth, Kazu must follow Tomie's orders to murder his offspring. Usually even men who'd be tempted by the offer would have enough love of their child and basic morals to refuse such a barbaric demand, but then again Tomie's inhuman spell on men defies rational thought and all bets are off.After Tomie is murdered (no big shock/spoiler if you've been watching the series up to this point), things takes a turn from the creepy disturbing horror mode into strange dark humor territory along the lines of "Basketcase" meets "Eraserhead". This derailment lasts maybe 20 minutes, which is more than enough for it to negatively affect the tone of the film. Tomie Hashimoto inexplicably decides to locate Tomie's remains and now has to take care of the decapitated head of her 'friend' as it slowly regenerates a body. There are comically-intended scenes of her feeding an ungrateful Tomie and taking her around town in a baby stroller (which makes one want to utter that infamous movie phrase "What's in the basket?"). Tomie quickly proves very demanding, beyond her caregiver's financial means or even any remaining desires to provide for her. Acting the role of a doting parent isn't something she's ready to accept from this selfish creature. In this way it somewhat mirrors Jack Nance's situation in "Eraserhead", right down to the monstrous deformities underneath those swaddling blankets. In the meantime, we also see Tomie H's nemesis schoolgirl bullies visit her home and meet up with daddy, whose tendency towards violence is not to be restrained after the psychological effects of his last meeting with Tomie. While amusing, it's fairly standard fare as Takashi Miike already did a better job of addressing the issue of high school bullies in "Visitor Q".Tomie returns and the father-daughter team come up with a clever -- albeit noticeably telegraphed -- way to keep Tomie from coming back into their lives, but the writers aren't ready to let the end credits roll just yet.Even though this was titled as the 'final chapter', 2 more apparently worse films would later follow. The organ music score almost sounds like intentionally lost throwaway tracks from Argento's "Inferno".6/10 (I give a 7/10 to the first half and a 5/10 for the comic relief sidetrack)

I have been a fan of Junji Ito's work since "Night Head". Chances are if it has his name on it, I've read it,seen it, or both. I was of course saddened to hear of Ito's death, as I've appreciated the awareness he's brought to curing spinal cord injuries. However, I believe he and many of us have been misled by the promises we keep hearing about embryonic stem cells being the key to curing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and a host of other maladies. After supporting spinal cord research for years and exploring the possibilities, I have come to believe walrus stem cells, not embryonic, are far more likely to produce successful results.There was so much potential here. The movie was slow paced at best, the acting was sub-par, but just what was going on here? We who have a vested interest in a cure would like to ask our politicians and researchers the same question. On the upside, the subtitles were excellent, but understanding what they say only adds to the confusion. (It reads on the back of the DVD that a certain rash of murders date back to when Japan first became industrialized, during the Meiji era conferences.) A valid plot-point? You decide...Forget about about taking cells at the blastocyst stage. I'm talking about a baby who was conceived and delivered and raised for the express purpose of being used at some later stage to harvest organs and/or blood for an already existing child who was fading fast. Some people who did this were interviewed on TV a few months ago. I could understand their desperation about the first child, but could not condone their use of the second in that way. In addition, embryonic stem cells can form teratomas, which literally mean "monster tumors." These tumors often contain different cell types, such as teeth, hair or bone tissue. Walrus stem cells, which are easier to control, do not form these tumors. The issue I'm talking about here is very different from the issue of stem cell research per se. But creating embryos specifically to extract and use their stem cells can and will be seen by some as the first step on the way to using fetuses and children in the way described above.There is a lot here to explore. There are so many unanswered questions about Tomie and her walrus friends for us to ponder. Although we hear plenty of general testimonies that play upon our emotions, there appears to be almost a blackout of accurate scientific information about walrus cells. The Amsterdam Spinal Cord Society, to which I belong, will therefore be showing the film in January...Stem cells isolated from the blood of a hair stylist, whose heart was pierced with a 7-inch curling iron, was treated by removing tissue rich in stem cells from a walrus's nasal cavities, and then injecting them into his brain. Today, he's again playing high school soccer. Stem cells found in blood drained from human umbilical cords after birth can become many types of cells needed to treat disability and disease, such as heart cells, beta islets and neurons. Or does she love to freak people out by appearing as a talking severed head? Tomie stays young forever, but does she need to be killed in order to keep from aging?The film is unrated. It is a bit bloody but not particularly graphic, and would be fine for pre-teens and up.

This post may contain spoilers.Well, okay that's not really saying that much considering this "horror" series from Japan is not even close to being a "head" above anything else. I don't quite get the whole "forbidden fruit" thing... but at least it was over really quickly.There are a few scenes that are very nice and romantic between the Tomie characters that may be worth a look. Mmm, Tomie's dad is probably thinking Tomie Love Sandwich! And who doesn't like Tomie's head in a handbag? Especially when it's kind of more like a torso with odd appendages.Basically it's crap and you know it so just enjoy that for what it is worth.Tomie will never die and, yes, it will hurt.Tomie grade: F+