Tokyo Home Stay Massacre

Director(s) - Kenta Osaka and Hirohito Takimoto

Starring - Alex Derycz, Diana G. (70th NHK Nohaku Uta Gassen), and Will Harrell

Release Date - 2020

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "You're not in Texas anymore.  Welcome to Japan"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     While most people jump into their favorite Halloween movies I'm continuing my binge of horror movies I've never seen before.  I had sit down to watch Spell for the first time and when I finished I wanted to keep my movie marathon going.  I looked through my recent additions to my collection when Tokyo Home Stay Massacre caught my eye.  The obvious nod to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre really caught my attention.  The film was sent my way recently for review and I figured now was the best time to check it out. 

      The film follows three American's who visit Japan.  They stay with a family in Tokyo and things go smoothly at first but soon discover that the family they are staying with have something sinister in store for them.

     I was really looking forward to this one but after 20 or so minutes into it I could tell that this was one of the many films I've seen this month that was almost impossible to finish.  The original TCM knew exactly what kind of movie they were making but THSM was all over the place.  The story was confusing, messy, and inconsistent while the acting and characters were out of touch with the film.  Honestly, I have no idea what this movie was trying to accomplish but it failed to be anything other than a waste of time.  The acting in this one is extremely inconsistent.  The film starts out well grounded with the cast delivering some solid performances.  However, as the film progresses the characters become flat and goofy.  We get some of the funniest lines in the film said during this as the weirdest time.  The dialogue and acting completely throws these later scenes off.  Honestly, the film starts out like a serious horror films but by the middle point we get a very comedy influenced film that lacks the humor.  The movie has no idea what kind of film it wants to be and it shows.  Finally, the film has plenty of blood.  We have some practical effects and some poor visual effects.  There is no real gore in this one but some very lackluster kills.  Overall, Tokyo Home Stay Massacre is a confused film that needed some help finding it's footing.  It has some serious struggles to overcome before anyone can take it seriously.  Sadly, I recommend skipping this one.