Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

I was initially put off by the gory beginning of this film, which was reminiscent of many low-budget shockers, but once past that I was increasingly intriqued by the characters and impressed by the photography and music of this film. Hinako Saeki is impressive as Misa--very dynamic, and the other actresses are good too, especially Ayaka Nanami as Aya. The film is unusual and creative, and gets better and better as it goes along. I like the wide-screen, subtitled format: with this format you hear the voices of the original actresses, yet the words are always legible. Because of the acting and superior photography, I greatly preferred this film to "Wizard of Darkness" --the first film in the Eko Eko Azarak trilogy (which had a completely different cast). To me, "Misa the Dark Angel" was a real find.

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with weird novelties containing influences from other cinema. Misa-The Dark Angel falls into that category, and is a mixture of 80's horror movies, particularly nubile sorority girls being attacked by some maniac and ancient mythology as told in H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories. And this is based on Shinichi Koga's comic book of the same name.

A hideously burnt body cries out Misa's name in the middle of a busy street on a rainy night, scaring onlookers. Who is Misa Kuroi? Her existence is said to be urban legend, but she is an 18-year old witch who is called in unusual and mysterious cases, and "wherever she goes, there's destruction and terror." That much is true in the second and darker half of this movie, where there are some unpleasant and horrific murders. And the visually dark scenes add to a truly scary atmosphere.

A clue leads Misa to the all-girls St. Seirem High School, where she meets Aya, a shy, sensitive, but pleasant enough student in the drama club. Along with Aya, Misa meets six other girls--Yuki, Hitomi, Yoko, Kaori, Mami, and the drama club leader Hikaru. She blends in well enough, surprising for a normally unsociable person such as her. Of the students, the actresses playing Aya and the clean-freak Mami stand out. As for Misa, yes, she does look the brooding sort, and her voice is somewhat hardened, but I'd describe her as having a golden heart but a steel kimono. I don't know which school of witchcraft she went to, but she knows her stuff.

Trivia: in Japanese, one would say Kuroi Misa in the last name/first name order. Her name that way means Black Misa. An interesting movie not for the squeamish but for those who are adventurous and into contemporary Japanese horror cinema. This is actually the third in the Misa Kuroi series, the first two being the out-of-print The Wizard Of Darkness and Return Of The Wizard. Here's hoping the first two will be reissued.