ClassyWas
Excellent, smart action film.
Twilightfa
Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
poe426
Effectively creepy exercise, with a punch-to-the-heart kind of ending that harks back to THE ORPHANAGE, PRAY is well worth seeing. Audiences whose tastes have been dulled by decades of worthless slasher flicks will find it nigh impossible to appreciate something genuinely scary. As with many of the Asian imports, PRAY often relies on understatement and sheer creepiness to enthrall- and it works. The fact that the kidnapping victim turns out to be a young girl ALREADY DEAD is, in and of itself, enough of a twist to move PRAY to the front of the (must-see) line: it pulls you in and holds your attention (unless you have the attention span of a fruit fly) and, in the end, delivers on an emotional level. What more can one ask from a fright film...?
wkduffy
I know the Asian Wave of Filmic Horror long ago crashed to shore and receded into the murky depths of mediocrity, but I had pinned big hopes on this flick. On paper, it seemed to have all the right clichés--an abandoned school as a setting, a ghostly girl lurking about the place, questionable characters needing a good supernatural come-uppance.Well, skip this one. It's weak--the characters are thin and irritating, the setting is samey and gets tiring after 30 minutes, and the ghostly girl isn't ghostly at all. There are some nice choice effects here and there (some blood, a decaying corpse), but nothing surprising or jolting or even impressive. In fact, it occurred to me that this film must have REALLY been shot on a shoestring and very quickly, considering it practically takes place in one uninteresting location and includes very little in terms of atmospheric effects. The ending tries desperately to tug at the heart strings, but it simply comes across as sappy and (transparently) manipulative. The plot goes round and round--the circumlocution is evident as quickly as the 15-minute mark--and it goes nowhere for the entire run.Hmmm, and I just ordered "Cello" from YesAsia
will somebody stop me, please?
Gordon Cheatham (cheathamg)
Japanese ghost story movies tend to be long on atmosphere, chills and short,sharp shocks, and short on coherent plot development and characterization. Pray is no exception. Actually, when you think about it, those are really the defining qualities of ghost stories everywhere. The point of the ghost story is to scare, not involve you in an uplifting literary experience. Pray does its job well, just don't expect it to be more than it needs to be. A group of young hoodlums does a kidnapping caper but things begin to fall apart when the victim turns out to be something spooky. The film keeps several plot developments hanging around unexplained until the end, and this helps keeps the suspense level up. There is a lot of running around in dark hallways and in and out of empty rooms with the wind whistling eerily in the background. There is not much gore unless the sight of a severed hand is particularly disturbing for you. The denouement is a little flat when the nature of the creepy little girl is explained but it's very Japanese.
neko_shahal
It was a really good movie. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what happens. A few things weren't answered though, so I counted against that. It wasn't very gory at all (lest someone believes blood to be very gory). If it were longer and had more scenes I believe it would be way better. Being a 2005 movie the computer graphic parts could have been way better, there were some cheesy parts that just made me giggle. I'm certainly not used to Japanese horror movies, because American's rely mainly on suspense. They should have given a few of those actors a bit more air time, and not everyone should have died. The main guy should have gotten out of it alive, but thats my opinion (he was cute after all). I rented the movie, but I certainly would buy it any chance I got. I like it enough though, two thumbs up.