Review: “X-Cross” LAFF 08

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times; a young pair of Japanese girls head off for a relaxing spa weekend in the woods, get into a fight over boys, become pursued by an angry mob of homicidal local residents along with a revenge-crazed harajuku girl wielding enormous pairs of scissors, and begin to unlock the secret behind the region’s legacy of blood rites and human sacrifice. Wait, what? X-Cross (pronounced Criss-Cross) aka Ekusu Kurosu: Makyà ´ Densetsu aka XX starts off promisingly enough, with at least the threat of seeing something weird enough to qualify as original. Rewinding from the two girls, Aiko and Shiyori, arriving on their getaway weekend, we jump back to the fate of the last girl who made her way to the quaint getaway resort. Tied to an enormous cross beam (one of the film’s many, many references to its title), we witness firsthand the village’s longstanding tradition of female ritual amputation. It doesn’t take long for mild intrigue to become replaced with brazen anarchy, however, something XX has in droves.

Transitioning quickly from traditional suspense to action-horror, XX has the aesthetics of a survival-style video game. Enhancing random shots with visual tweaks and color manipulation, the film’s spastic narrative leaps back and forth through time and through the parallel action of Aiko and Shiyori’s respective stories. A mysterious stranger who knows a little too much about the village joins their ranks (dumping a truckload of story exposition at the audience’s feet in one bloated scene), along with Shiyori’s ex-boyfriend, who is the origin of the character’s disagreements. This interpersonal drama is more or less abandoned every time one of the film’s adversaries shows up, such as the previously mentioned Harajuku girl, primly dressed and blood-thirsty, pursuing Aiko for some past carelessness with her own ex-boyfriend. These encounters enhance the film’s video game feel, like watching a series of boss fights without the thrill of playing it for yourself. Imagine Resident Evil 2‘s dual plot lines combined with some of Silent Hill‘s locales (a giant sword-sized pair of scissors even pay homage to SH2’s Pyramid Head), and you’ve more or less got it. For non-gamers, there are plenty of camp moments that while spirited, still feel a bit too familiar. A fight between two characters using a chainsaw and the ubiquitous scissor blades calls back to Texas Chainsaw Pt. 2 and Dennis Hopper’s cult classic saw-play within. It’s hard to how much, if any, of the film’s references are on purpose, or just the result of too many film makers having previously tread this ground before.

Director Kenta Fukasaku’s previous credits include Battle Royale II and Yo-Yo Girl Cop, both of which embodied some of this film’s anarchic volume. Undeniably funny at times, and near inspired at others, the film ends up tripping over its own narrative style, as Juon-ish chapter divisions and perhaps one too many POV shifts pile up along with the film’s many plot twists to spit out a potentially bewildered audience at the foot of its blood-soaked climax. Furthermore, directors like Takashi Miike have been doing this kind of over-the-top, visual based mayhem for much longer and with much more success. As fun as X-Cross is at its best moments, it’s nothing compared to even imperfect works like Ichi The Killer or the opening sequence of Miike’sDead or Alive. Fukasaku is worshipping at the feet of the masters, and while he manages to make his attempt his own, the effort is still left wanting. X-Cross may be worth a look on an evening that includes both alcohol and others to enjoy it with, but that might be its limits. Gleefully schizophrenic, XX doesn’t always grasp that lunacy is not a substitute for the proper care with story, and no amount of camp charm can save a bored audience from itself.

[rating: 2.5/5]