Review: The Folk Horror Short ‘Monkey Drum’ by Jeremy Lu is Atmospheric and Eerie Throughout

The Japanese horror/short “Monkey Drum” by Director Jeremy Lu, at only 16 minutes, is quite good. Lu’s press notes denote the film as “folk horror” and that he worked hard to keep the film rooted firmly in Japanese culture. But what works most about the film is its everyday quality. It’s about, tersely, an elderly Japanese man who lives in the woods (Tadashi Mitsui), a father and son he meets and takes in due to circumstance (Taiju Nakane, Akira Simoneau), and the tragedy and buried memories the event dredges up. Along the way, Lu and Cinematographer Tian Hao Pei paint a bleak, atmospheric picture that’s unnerving for its run-time.  

I’ve seen the monkey drum toy represented in other films (mostly “The Karate Kid Part II”) but never knew that’s what it was called. In that movie, its use was to build up a drum roll to a fight between a bully and the film’s hero, while here it is used to entertain a young boy — at first. As the film opens, our lonely, elderly man, Minato, goes about his solitary day. He takes surprise by a knock on his door and the father/son duo seeking shelter. The film’s bleak colorization is reminiscent of older film in lieu of today’s reliance on digital. Lu and Hao Pei keep the proceedings dark, and it adds to the film’s foreboding. The film uses doleful colors and occasionally intersperses these with loud jump scares alongside images of a roaring fire. A shot of an upstairs nook and a concealed item repeat throughout. 

Engaging Despite a Small Budget

What is good about “Monkey Drum” is the care Lu and the team put into its creation and plotting. A weaker film would have had the father and son turn into predators, intent on killing or brutalizing Minato in some way. But what we have here is a slow-burn short that uses the duo’s presence to hint at buried trauma Minato has while also giving us — the viewer — the idea that the house is cursed. I don’t mean this in the way of “The Conjuring” or contemporary horror cinema, but in an older way. To me, “Monkey Drum” in parts was drawing from the excellent Japanese horror film “The Grudge” in highlighting that sometimes such bad things happen that their survivors are never the same. Is Minato’s house cursed? I don’t think that’s the point Lu is trying to make. However, I feel Minato is traumatized in a deep way only hinted at during the film’s short run. 

The acting is good all around. As the solitary old man, Tadashi Mitsui is great. He imbues Minato with a secretive nature yet a kindness that is palpable. He’s used to living alone and moves slowly. He accepts Isseki’s (Taiju Nakane) help around the house and it’s clear respect is dominant throughout Lu’s film. However, I liked the modernity of the short. Minato is dressed in what looks like a Japanese shirt but baggy cargo pants. Yet he serves Isseki and his son Jun soup out of traditional bowls. The slow nature of his movements — and Isseki’s — reminded me of a quiet film that could have been a drama and not folk horror at all. 

Can We Ever Be Free of Trauma?

As Isseki, Nakane is also good, as is Akira Simoneau, who plays his young son. Lu paints them both in anonymity and doesn’t divulge much about their characters. Why are they wandering in the forest? Why does Isseki insist he can’t take care of his son or survive without the help of Minato? In a way, I think Lu is composing a straight-up piece of folk horror that makes us feel unnerved by not keeping these things hidden. But in another way — and especially after a quiet tragedy — I feel he’s making a bolder statement: sometimes something so traumatic happens that we are never the same. Isseki and Jun exist as narrative tools. Minato is haunted by an event that happened long ago and he’ll never be the same. Maybe, in Lu’s narrative, we’re learning trauma repeats itself for the rest of our lives. Or maybe some things are too terrible to ever let us free of them. It’s up to the eye of the beholder. 

“Monkey Drum” is a good film. It’s atmospheric, eerie, bleakly colored and yet oddly approachable. The short pays homage to being Japanese while also painting themes we can all understand. It’s also a true indie film, while also hinting at a professionalism and depth often missing from films with such a scant budget. Lu is a good filmmaker and it shows. The film is premiering August 9^th at the 44th Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and will hopefully bring good things for the filmmaker. If you like films like the aforementioned “The Grudge” or Mark O’Brien’s excellent “The Righteous,” you’ll find safe haven here. “Monkey Drum” is haunting and traumatic. Lu’s attention to Japanese culture shows and it leaves a harrowing experience in its wake. 

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