If you enjoyed the first EVIL DEAD TRAP, you must've asked yourself: a) why is the third part of that series still unreleased in any English-subbed format? and b) why are we, in the West, not seeing more of its director's stuff? Other than his pinku classic, ANGEL GUTS: RED PORNO, the rest of his opus remains woefully unknown. Well, here's one step towards getting to know Mr Ikeda's work.

Unfortunately, this two-part film is aimed at a different demographic than Ikeda's best work –namely, at the young adult crowd which may enjoy a mild spook or an ounce or two of gore once in a while, but is more comfortable with a sappy teen-romance-drama that's more reassuring than disturbing. This means that you should not expect Ikeda's trademark shocking visuals, elaborate gore or disturbing and perverted sexuality (minor traces of those are seen in an occasional tilted angle or filtered shot, an OK impalement, or a succubus-induced wet dream). What you get is, basically, a Japanese equivalent of a PG-13 horror aimed at teenagers, based on a manga which tries to ape the success of RINGU and JU-ON, but without the imagination, terror or dread of those films. 

This is most obvious in the fact that the two male leads are real-life brothers, otherwise known as the pop-rock band 'Doggy Bag' (!?!): their sweet-looking faces and even sweeter excuse for pop 'music' are exploited to the max, thus revealing the true agenda behind the flick. If you came to SHADOW OF A WRAITH hoping to see what this whole thing about Japanese horror is all about, you may be slightly bored by being subjected to at least three full songs performed by the Doggy Bag, which serve no valid purpose within the film's storyline, but are there merely so that their female (and other) teen admirers can enjoy ogling the boy-band turned into movie-'stars'. To be honest, the boys are not too bad as actors, but that's mostly because they're not given much to deal with in the first place: as one-dimensional, ordinary teen characters they are doing just fine. They are joined by two sisters whose pretty faces may be more familiar to horror fans: the Miwa sisters acted together in JU-ON: THE CURSE, and appeared separately in MISA THE DARK ANGEL, UZUMAKI and CRAZY LIPS. They have a more physically demanding roles, but don't expect high drama here – nor any erotic exploitation either, considering the tame origin and purpose of this product.

Ikeda proves to be a pro by working bravely and honestly within the limitations of this production, and delivers precisely the kind of thing he was hired to: a watchable, decent, but ultimately generic ghost flick aimed at younger audience, with restrained gore and solid mild frights. It looks like a TV movie, with most of the shots resembling your ordinary TV flick, only occasionally reminding us that it's coming from the guy who delivered the slick, polished, over-stylized Argento-like EVIL DEAD TRAP. This is a fine choice for something to see with your girlfriend who does not particularly like strong horror, or at least with your younger brother if no girlfriend's around. If you prefer stronger stuff, you'd better pray that the third EVIL DEAD TRAP be released soon on a R1 DVD. After all, there's more than enough of American PG-13 horror: someone better import stuff that's lacking in the USA – really shocking and gory stuff that Ikeda is best at!