Forbidden Siren
Forbidden Siren
| 11 February 2006 (USA)
Forbidden Siren Trailers

A writer moves to a remote island with his daughter and young son. After settling into their new home, a neighbor arrives to welcome them and give them a breakdown of the local rules; most important: do not go outside when the island's siren starts wailing.

Reviews
GamerTab That was an excellent one.
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Rebecca (racker-5) I feel like this movie has gotten some bad reviews, but I honestly think it's a great piece of work. The slow build of suspense works well in this movie, the characters are great (acting too), and the storyline is original. And the ending? Let's just say--I didn't see that coming.I was tempted to be let down by the ending--but what I loved about the ending is that it still evoked questions inside of me. I had to go back and connect the dots throughout the movie to get a new understanding of it. After the ending, you see the movie from an entirely different perspective--which makes it quite powerful. Also, what do you make of the ending? While some people will view the ending and say "No--the end definitely means this"--I think that the ending can be interpreted many different ways.The question is--what do you believe? When the siren sounds...don't go outside.
Skeljag-2 Is it just me or is that kid really annoying?Hideos sister, spends most of her time running around after the disobedient little so and so. As for him, well, I know he's a kid n all, but his acting ability is about as wooden as a dead tree. So far I'm only half way through, and am fascinated by the story, but the people in it, let it down, I just hope it gets better by the end, as I can't not know what it's all about. Although, some supposedly cryptic messages in the scribbles on the wall and a notebook, indicate everything is backwards, i.e. Dog is God, Live is Evil etc... just seems a little obvious at the moment, yet nobody mentions its obvious meaning, (As yet anyway) If my opinion changes at the end of the movie, I'll update this post, but if your reading this, then well...... See above statement.
UberNoodle I finally got to see this film after buying it in Singapore. I had heard very little about it from horror fans, so I put the disc in last night and was prepared to be underwhelmed. But from the opening scrawl I was hooked by the atmosphere. The film was really enjoyable to watch, and while I had some worries at first about its short run-time (about 87 minutes), by the climax, I had none. As other reviewers out there have said, despite its lack of length, the film has the feeling of a 2 hour film. This is probably due to its slow burn, something that I adore a lot of Asian horror for. The film builds up a strong foreboding atmosphere, before descending into one of the more memorable climaxes I have witnessed in the genre.It seems that the film has copped a lot of flak from fans and critics, and it is perhaps due to the idea that video game films can't possibly be good. I have never played the games, instead just drooling over the cases in shops and admiring the artwork. From what I can gather, the film follows the second game in the series, and does so pretty closely, with of course some inevitable changes that restraints require. Unlike many films adapted from games, Siren actually contains some clever plotting and dense atmosphere. Here, characters are typically over the top and quirky. In some ways the film reminded me (a little) of Uzumaki in its off-kilter approach, though Uzumaki went to an extreme in that. Some may say that one major detail is telegraphed a mile away, but unlike another film with a similar idea, I don't think that Siren is trying to keep it such a big secret. The fact that knew that something wasn't right from the get go really added to the suspense.Get the R3, the subs are great, and the picture quality is quite good, and it is anamorphic. The only let down is perhaps going to be inherent in all versions, and is that the DVD only has a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. I haven't been able to check if the Japanese DVD has DD 5.1 or DTS. However, despite the stereo audio, I could here some great separation through my speakers, and as a Prologic II track, it didn't sound so much like one. Other than that, there are almost no extras of note, in fact there are only 3 versions of the movie trailer, and what does one need them for when they have the film? I have never understood the inclusion of trailers as "extras" for that reason. I would liked to see some SFX reels, or even bloopers, but perhaps in a film such as this one, the budget didn't allow much room for trial and error.In all the film was easy to watch and not too challenging, yet still carrying with it an aura of freshness. There are no dark haired ghosts (though if it did, how could one complain about it when the majority of people living in Japan have such hair), and the budget of the film keeps the production honest and small. The film has a slow build up that may dismay viewers of short attention spans, or a lust for blood, but the climax is quite gripping, and helps elevate the film beyond where it may have settled without it.
baz-ish This is an entertaining movie which achieves its objectives within its genre. Without offering an amateur critique and regardless of its basis on a video game, it is well enough scripted, acted & filmed to provide 90mins of distraction.Whilst not offering the seasoned viewer of Japanese horror/thrillers a great deal to enthuse about, this movie is clearly effective in bringing the genre to a wider audience, without a reliance on the inane Hollywood style special effects we have come to expect.Simple and pleasing, the story is developed, extended, twisted and concluded with reasonable suspense and intrigue. Visually and audibly intense at all the appropriate moments - whats not to like. If you are viewing with AC3 or DTS sound - crank it up good and loud.