OFFICIAL BLURB: "New kind of horror films are added to 'Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro' series directed by a cult filmmaker, Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl). The series has four episodes starring a Japanese idol group, S/mileage!"

It's an anthology film with four episodes. Iguchi does well and crafts some spooky moments. Sometimes, I was unnerved, e.g. that "bang bang" that sounds like someone bouncing a ball in the corridor but is actually ghostly hands on the screen door. You can do a lot with sound. Unfortunately, though, the film's stars are six children. They're an idol group. This is not good. I assumed they were twelve years old, but in fact their ages were 13 to 17. Three of the six kept acting after this, but I won't be seeking out their other work.

EPISODE 1 is the most watchable, because its lead actress is okay. Her character seems vapid and empty-headed during those photoshoots, but she's playing an idol. It's characterisation. Her reaction shots support the horror when she and her manager stay at a haunted inn. It's a decent start to the anthology.

EPISODE 2, on the other hand, has been torpedoed by its lead actress. The "red person" waiting outside the apartment is scary and I was creeped out by the moment of looking through the spyhole, but the heroine's non-acting renders the episode dead on arrival. You look at her and say "no".

EPISODE 3 is only a mixed failure, because its lead actress is less bad. The plot involves something that lives inside a folding mirror... and our heroine's appalling parents. I laughed at mum's glib apology for giving her daughter to a J-horror ghost. There's also unintentional comedy when a hand pokes around the door and waggles a kitchen knife.

EPISODE 4 stars all six S/mileage girls. Initially, I thought they'd given the biggest role to the best actress (from ep.1) but no. It's gone to the worst (from ep.2), playing a bitch who's secretly bullying her rival. I didn't believe her "yurusenai". This episode has a creepy doll that jumps out of a drawer (again for unintentional comedy).

This one's an extremely mixed bag. Noboru Iguchi's an old hand with J-horror and his work here is genuinely decent (and far more serious than a lot of his often-silly output)... but only if you don't regard casting and performances as the director's responsibility. Half the time, the film's dead. I don't just mean "bad", but past the point of no return and well into the land of "there's no point watching". You're completely disconnected. There are points of interest here, but the moral of the story is "don't build films around non-actors".