Premonition is the creepiest and most disturbing Japanese horror film you wont see in the theatres. Director Norio Tsuruta was previously best known for directing The Ring 0 but now that Lions Gate has started a new DVD line of Japanese horror films Premonition and others like it will be sitting right alongside its American counterparts.
Premonition is based on the Japanese Manga Newspaper of Terror and is about Hiroshi Mikami portrays a father trying to prevent the death of his young daughter, which he saw foretold in a mysterious newspaper a few moments before it happened.
Buy the DVD of Premonition
Daniel Robert Epstein: It seems like Premonition takes itself a lot more seriously than a lot of Japanese horror, was that your intention?
Norio Tsuruta: First of all I think that this character is very real and very hurt which made it more serious. I really wanted to focus on the drama side of the human relationship so that kind of triggered its seriousness.
DRE: Premonition is based on a very popular comic book story. Do you feel a lot of responsibility in adapting such a popular story?
NT: Actually I tried to make a film out of this story in 1996 and failed and that is because this comic is a very old piece, published thirty years ago. A lot of people know the title but they dont remember the content. When I first came up with the idea of making the film in 1996 they said it was too old. What is the necessity of making a film which is that old? So this time around when I realized that I have a chance at making it, I rather felt like you know this is a chance to make a significant difference and be bold in doing whatever changes needed to be done. Of course I felt some kind of responsibility, but at the same time I didnt have that much pressure.
DRE: I think outside of a straight autobiographical film, horror is probably the most personal of genres. How did you make this film personal for you?
NT: There is a clear connection between this film and my personal life. When I was involved in the planning for this film, my wife and I discovered that she was pregnant. Weve been married for 19 years and this was our first child. This was a miraculous event for us. So throughout the whole movie she was carrying the baby. Originally the whole plot of the film was horror but I injected the whole concept of family and so forth into it. If my wife was not pregnant, perhaps the whole film would be different.
DRE: What kind of impression did Newspaper of Terror make on you when you first read it thirty years ago?
NT: I think that the comic book came out when I was in junior high school. Back then most of the comics were Astro Boy and things like that which had nothing to do with terror or horror, so all of a sudden everyone was reading it and all my classmates were constantly talking about it. It was a very hot thing. So my first impression is of everyone shocked and terrified.
DRE: Since you directed The Ring, and what did you think of the American version?
NT: I really like the American version of The Ring and I believe that the great success Japanese horror remakes is something that everyone should be very happy about. I totally enjoyed the whole phenomenon of this genre. When I was in junior high and exposed to Hollywood, I never thought that days like this would come. That Japanese film would be introduced in the United States and vice versa. I think that it is so popular because Japanese horror is very dark and repressed which is very refreshing to American audiences. In the future I hope that not only horror but the other genres of Japanese films would be introduced.
DRE: If Premonition were to be remade in America, would you want to direct?
NT: If there were an opportunity I would love to do it but my English ability is not that good, so that would be a big obstacle. But if everything comes together I will just work my butt off to practice English and do it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Premonition is based on the Japanese Manga Newspaper of Terror and is about Hiroshi Mikami portrays a father trying to prevent the death of his young daughter, which he saw foretold in a mysterious newspaper a few moments before it happened.
Buy the DVD of Premonition
Daniel Robert Epstein: It seems like Premonition takes itself a lot more seriously than a lot of Japanese horror, was that your intention?
Norio Tsuruta: First of all I think that this character is very real and very hurt which made it more serious. I really wanted to focus on the drama side of the human relationship so that kind of triggered its seriousness.
DRE: Premonition is based on a very popular comic book story. Do you feel a lot of responsibility in adapting such a popular story?
NT: Actually I tried to make a film out of this story in 1996 and failed and that is because this comic is a very old piece, published thirty years ago. A lot of people know the title but they dont remember the content. When I first came up with the idea of making the film in 1996 they said it was too old. What is the necessity of making a film which is that old? So this time around when I realized that I have a chance at making it, I rather felt like you know this is a chance to make a significant difference and be bold in doing whatever changes needed to be done. Of course I felt some kind of responsibility, but at the same time I didnt have that much pressure.
DRE: I think outside of a straight autobiographical film, horror is probably the most personal of genres. How did you make this film personal for you?
NT: There is a clear connection between this film and my personal life. When I was involved in the planning for this film, my wife and I discovered that she was pregnant. Weve been married for 19 years and this was our first child. This was a miraculous event for us. So throughout the whole movie she was carrying the baby. Originally the whole plot of the film was horror but I injected the whole concept of family and so forth into it. If my wife was not pregnant, perhaps the whole film would be different.
DRE: What kind of impression did Newspaper of Terror make on you when you first read it thirty years ago?
NT: I think that the comic book came out when I was in junior high school. Back then most of the comics were Astro Boy and things like that which had nothing to do with terror or horror, so all of a sudden everyone was reading it and all my classmates were constantly talking about it. It was a very hot thing. So my first impression is of everyone shocked and terrified.
DRE: Since you directed The Ring, and what did you think of the American version?
NT: I really like the American version of The Ring and I believe that the great success Japanese horror remakes is something that everyone should be very happy about. I totally enjoyed the whole phenomenon of this genre. When I was in junior high and exposed to Hollywood, I never thought that days like this would come. That Japanese film would be introduced in the United States and vice versa. I think that it is so popular because Japanese horror is very dark and repressed which is very refreshing to American audiences. In the future I hope that not only horror but the other genres of Japanese films would be introduced.
DRE: If Premonition were to be remade in America, would you want to direct?
NT: If there were an opportunity I would love to do it but my English ability is not that good, so that would be a big obstacle. But if everything comes together I will just work my butt off to practice English and do it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
But if everything comes together I will just work my butt off to practice English and do it.
Hee hee. Aw.
I think it's interesting to hear a Japanese filmmaker saying "I think these remakes are great!". It surprises me.