Over Your Dead Body

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Over Your Dead Body

2014

1h 34m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Fiction begins to bleed into reality for actors (Ebizô Ichikawa, Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Ito) as they rehearse a stage production of a classic Japanese ghost story.

Anton Bitel

Sight & Sound

two parallel narratives bleed into one another in a deeply irrational manner, blurring the boundaries between theatre and film, antique and (post)modern, actor and character, the living and the dead.

Aug 26, 2015

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A.A. Dowd

AV Club

The movie is dull right up until the point that it becomes completely, characteristically bonkers, with Miike trotting out some of his trademark obscene violence.

Rated: C

Sep 11, 2014

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Joey Keogh

Wicked Horror

Over Your Dead Body is a creepy, gorgeous and satisfyingly sick revenge shocker that will make you cringe and squeal in pleasure.

Rated: 6/10

Oct 3, 2019

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

"Over Your Dead Body" is one of the greatest works of the prolific director, who, at last, manages to stay away from the nonsensical manga adaptations, in a way reminiscent of the atmosphere he created in films like "Audition."

Nov 3, 2018

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Edmund Lee

South China Morning Post

A stately backstage drama that gradually morphs into a full-blown supernatural horror movie, [this is] a synthetic experience that sporadically intrigues but never fully engages.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 2, 2016

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Peter Labuza

The Film Stage

Over Your Dead Body will certainly appeal to Miike's hardcore fan base, for his technical mastery of blood is on display throughout.

Rated: C

Mar 2, 2016

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Audience Member

A stage set. A play about a ghost. The play within the film is lovely to watch - reminiscent of Mizoguchi or Shindô. As they rehearse, the bleakness starts to seep into real life. The opening hour is patient, with images like the crying doll giving the feeling of things to come. Then it goes all Miike - Hallucination and madness, blood and disfigurement... the cast get eaten by the play in a bizarre, bravura last half hour.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

Well that was interesting... albeit confusing. I guess the play they were making was coming to life and affecting them. Still not sure what happened at the end there though. It was well shot, acted and had some decent effects though.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

Takashi Miike's best film since 13 Assassins - a post-modern take on Yotsuya Kwaidan.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

Without a doubt one of Miikes weakest entries, but it's not a total misfire. The performances are solid and the final scenes are expertly shot. It just takes to long to get there.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

I'm used to waiting for my thrills. I'm used to sitting through tension and even a confusing plot. There has to be a payoff involved, though, and as morbidly amusing as the final scene is, I have no idea what I just witnessed. I'm meant to assume some sort of witchcraft is involved (I think) but I'm not even sure about that. We have a play that is starting to influence reality. Is the play haunted? Is this just an excuse for our characters to act the way they do? The film is honestly quite dull for so long and when things get interesting it is more interesting in the "this is just random images thrown together isn't it." There are attempts at giving hints but they either are terrible hints or I don't speak the language. I love Takashi Miike's films so, yes, perhaps I set my expectations too high but man do I feel let down.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Takashi Miike

Director

Ebizô Ichikawa

Actor

Ko Shibasaki

Actor

Hideaki Ito

Actor

Hitomi Katayama

Actor

Maiko

Actor

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Synopsis

Fiction begins to bleed into reality for actors (Ebizô Ichikawa, Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Ito) as they rehearse a stage production of a classic Japanese ghost story.

Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Kikumi Yamagishi
Genre: Horror
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 34m

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