‘7500’ is a movie made to scare American audiences
TAKASHI Shimizu said he had US audiences in his mind when directing 7500, a horror movie set aboard a jumbo jet.
“Even when a ghost appears, American people don’t fi nd it frightening until it begins attacking them,” he said in explaining that the perception of fear in Japan is different from that in the United States.
7500 is the third Hollywood fi lm for Shimizu, a master of Japanese horror movies best known for Ju- on.
“To me, Ju- on was about a ghost that comes closer and closer. Maybe that worked (in the United States). This time it’s an American fi lm, so I made it with an American audience in mind,” he said of the many scenes depicting fear in the fi lm.
Shimizu’s previous two Hollywood fi lms, The Grudge and The Grudge 2, were a remake of Ju- on and its sequel. Unlike these fi lms, 7500 uses an original script wri t t en by Craig Rosenberg.
“I can on ly speak a little English, so I worked through an interpreter to create the personalities of the characters together with Craig,” he said.
A jet plane from Los Angeles to Tokyo is hit by a strong turbulence. Then the death of a passenger triggers a series of strange phenomena.
“I did detailed research on the anxiety ever yo ne feels on a plane, and used it in the fi lm,” he said. “I wanted to make a story about a group of people inside a locked room like an airplane, explore how complete strangers experience the same fear and how they affect each other.”
The entire fi lm takes place aboard the plane. Shimizu had a mock cabin made in which all of the shooting was done. One of the highlights of the fi lm is a scene in which turbulence shakes the plane so much passengers are slammed against the ceiling.
“It’s a huge set that shakes with hydraulics. We did the shot by pulling the passengers up with wires,” he said. Shimizu went to Hollywood on his own, leaving behind his Japanese staff.
“I felt lonely, but it’s the same in Japan, too. Directors are lonely people everywhere,” he said. — WP- Bloomberg/ Yomiuri Shimbun