“The Happiness of the Katakuris,” directed by Takashi Miike

Movie, 2001

Chaotic horror comedy musical tracking the ups but mainly the grisly downs of a family hotel deep in a countryside waiting for a road to bring trade. If all this sounds a little unwieldy, it is. The inventive, though redundant stop animation makes things even patchier. Nods to The Sound of Music, zombies and various subplots run along and run away from the main action, which soon sees a frenetic stream of death and burials intercut with musical numbers. Not a huge amount of coherence and much of the humour seems forced. A film full of ideas, but ideas which pile on and don’t yield a satisfactory experience.

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