Kill Onigokko (aka Kill Devil) is sort of a dud by Japanese horror movie standards. It's a stark and interesting story, made with a great deal of competence and style, but it lacks any substantial hook capable of truly drawing me into the story.

Having said that, this may well have been partly by design; the foundation of the plot is a series of scientific experiments, and I certainly felt like an outside observer -- albeit one with more compassion and humanity than the military and scientific minds overseeing the mission firsthand. There's an unearthly feeling about the whole situation -- long periods of silence and delayed exposition (you aren't really given a clue as to what is going on until the 25-minute mark) and what I'm quite sure is a complete lack of background music over the course of the entire film (until the credits roll, anyway). It's a strange film -- yet that strangeness makes it interesting.

A young man awakens on the beach of a deserted island to the irascible blaring of klaxons going off around him. With no memory of who he is, where he is or how he got there, he begins exploring the grassy fields and forests that lie inland. He soon finds two other young men in the same situation, both of whom wear an identical bracelet to the one affixed to his own wrist. While their bracelets -- and those of several other youths they eventually meet -- bear a green light, there are others' whose bracelets feature red lights. There is a big difference, as those with red lights are intent on murdering anyone they come across.

We eventually learn that we are watching a case of science run amuck. In the film's near-future setting, scientists have determined that 99 percent of humans possessing a certain gene become murderers. A number of these "defective" young people have been brought here to this deserted island in order to be "rehabilitated." In reality, of course, they are the human guinea pigs in a sick scientific experiment that compels them to put their murderous instincts to use.

There is a certain amount of blood and gore in this movie, but most of it comes after-the-fact of attacks we never witness firsthand. The average viewer is much more likely to be turned off by the film's odd pacing, as the scenes featuring action are sometimes rather abrupt and are often sandwiched between extended periods where characters walk around without much conversation for quite tedious amounts of time. The film doesn't really offer a hefty pay-off at the end, either (although the ending does fit the story quite well).

If you come to Kill Devil expecting a typical Asian horror experience, you're very likely to be disappointed, as this is an entirely different kind of movie. I found it interesting yet rather tedious and, as such, I just don't think this is a film that most viewers are going to be able to truly embrace.