SunnyHello Nice effects though.

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

museumofdave Perhaps the very best thing about this bizarre and imaginative romp is attempting to tell your friends about it after you have seen it. To explain further: about fifty years ago, Thornton Wilder wrote The Skin Of Your Teeth, his masterpiece about the Antrobus family, a group which survives in spite of all the disasters that befall them. Wilder broke theatrical conventions by having actors as pet dinosaurs, rear screen projections of strange locations, and a maid who addresses the audience directly. Similar things happen in this film, with parody, satire, sentiment and mayhem all mixed in a daft melange of sometimes zany offshoots.The essential plot is simple: the head of the Katakuri family wants to move his family into the country,and open a bed and breakfast, and find contentment. Their first customer dies. There is a volcano nearby. The son dishes out attitude and the daughter falls in love with a British Spy in a navy uniform; thats just a hint of the weird and sometimes funny tale to follow. Not consistently entertaining, not always making sense, but in retrospect, zany and sometimes thoughtful viewing.

BA_Harrison Takashi Miike is one of cinema's true mavericks, a bold auteur who flirts with disaster every time he settles into the director's chair, and yet somehow, more often than not, he still manages to pull something out of the bag to surprise and delight fans of the bizarre.Take The Happiness of the Katakuri's for example: on paper it sounds positively dreadful, a horror/comedy/musical remake of Jee-woon Kim's The Quiet Family, with random claymation sequences thrown in for good measure; once again, though, Miike's unique, off-beat approach to his work, which eschews virtually every convention of mainstream cinema, makes for a visually innovative, one-of-a-kind viewing experience.It takes less than a minute for the madness to begin, when a woman eating soup pulls a small animated imp-like creature out of her bowl, after which the film becomes progressively more bonkers—a wild ride through a world where mid-movie karaoke singalongs and dancing zombies are routine occurrences. This might not be the most coherent thing Miike has ever made, and there's a good chance viewers unaccustomed to Miike's style will be left scratching their head by the time the end credits roll, but there's definitely never a dull moment.

crossbow0106 The maverick like Takashi Miike, who sends up Japanese culture in many of his films, directed this film about a family who have a guest house in the middle of nowhere, where the (few) lodgers end up dead by morning. And, its a musical! The film is all over the map and even includes some claymation. It is not bad, but it is somewhat uneven. I wish I cared more for the characters, they are somewhat one dimensional. However, Takashi is always interesting as a film maker, so I do recommend it, but he has done better. Its strange in its approach, a black comedy if you will. Once you understand it, you can watch it. Be warned, though, its a little out there.

lastliberal Anyone familiar with Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) would find this film to be so unlike his other efforts, but, still, only he could do this and make it work.It started with claymation and I really wasn't sure where it was going because it was so strange.Then it settled down to a normal film about a father who just wanted to bring his family together in the hills running a guest-house.Unfortunately, the guests kept dying and they had to bury them so that their guest-house would not get a bad reputation.Sounds like an interesting story by itself, but they would just break out in song at the strangest times. A musical about happiness and death, with claymation and dancing zombies? There is absolutely no way to categorize this film. You just have to sit back and enjoy it, and enjoy it you will for the singing, the philosophy, and the constant humor.Miike hit another home run.