Coventry Takashi Miike's contribution to the Masters of Horror's first season was one of the absolute greatest episodes of the entire show. With his uniquely shocking style, Miike delivered a nightmarish tale that was practically impossible to categorize. The second season contains another short film directed by an Asian "master" (although this term is debatable, since Norio Tsuruta's only did the mediocre "Premonition" and one of the "Ringu" sequels thus far), but this time the result is mundane and very easy to categorize. "Dream Cruise" is typical & derivative J-Horror, so unfortunately you already know what to expect: a clichéd plot about ghosts from the past, vengeance from beyond the grave and ghastly appearances that disappear again as quick as the come. "Dream Cruise" is a crossover between "Dead Calm", albeit just regarding the setting and line-up of characters, and the original "Ringu", from which this story shamelessly borrows all the main aspects and even some of the most essential frights & make-up effects. The American attorney Jack Miller has been working in Japan since two years and he even managed to secretly steal the beautiful wife away from his general manager. The latter found out about their relationship, however, and plots to get rid of them both during a touristy cruise on his yacht. Jack accepts the invitation reluctantly, because he's terrified of the sea due to a childhood trauma, but Eiji's diabolical plan doesn't really go as planned, neither, because he as well faces an unexpected ghost from the past. The script direly moves from one clichéd situation to the next and the three main characters are genuine stereotypes whose every next move and line of text you can predict light-years in advance. The supposedly surprising ending is terribly irritating, too, and people who're familiar with ghost stories are able to guess the outcome since the opening sequence already. The make-up effects on the watery ghosts would be creepy and unsettling, if it hadn't been for the fact we already seen similar stuff in "Ringu", "Ju-On: The Grudge", "Phone", etc… "Dream Cruise" is undoubtedly the worst entry in season two and my personal vote for the most lackluster one of the entire show.

gavin6942 Absolutely terrified of the sea, an American lawyer reluctantly goes on an ocean cruise to be near the wife of a client, with no idea of the grim situation that awaits them all.This film was made by people involved in the making of "The Grudge", "The Ring" and "Dark Water", so if you appreciate these films in any way you are already on the right page for enjoying this story. And as far as stories go, this one is alright. (Is it out of coincidence that both first and second season placed the Asian horror episode last? Would season 3 have been the same?) This film worked precisely because it was an Asian horror film. That might seem an odd thing to say, but I will try to explain. In American horror films, things need explanations. Even if they are really abstract, American audiences expect some sort of logic behind what they see. Asian films (Japanese in particular) are more loose with this. Strange things just happen, and we are supposed to go along with it. People get possessed, reincarnated, spirits float around and this is normal. But American films cannot do this without trying to create elaborate back story.All the acting is fine, although the woman seemed very odd. I think this was more due to her English rather than her acting, but she was an awkward character. There is also a subplot of infidelity that seems to be a driving force, but I was not clear on how it all tied in. You can draw your own conclusions, as some of the evidence one way or the other is not till much later in the story and I will not reveal it.Asian horror, and this one is no exception, is also good at leaving disturbing images in your mind. "The Eye" did this, "The Ring" as well (at least the first American film, not the second). There is a spirit in this movie that is just really creepy and in real life would scare me half to death. While American films tend to have decent gore (on occasion) they do not often leave you feeling grossed out (with "The Sixth Sense" being an exception that comes to mind)."Dream Cruise" was a worthy finish for the second season. Strong story, decent characters and a distinctly unique feel. Perhaps not the best episode, but far from the worst. The DVD is well worth picking up. Although the case says it is 60 minutes, that is incorrect -- you actually get the full 90 minutes that were shown in Japanese theaters, which adds something more. You also get a great audio commentary, where Mick Garris explains how he sees himself as a "cheerleader" and has no influence on the production.Unfortunately, there is no director commentary -- he speaks no English, which makes such a commentary difficult for American releases. Do they make subtitled commentaries? But if you think about this language barrier, it makes the film even more interesting -- the principal actor speaks no Japanese, so the director had to have complete faith that lines were being delivered correctly. And it works. Somehow it works.

jargenfornow this one had some decent parts...the first appearance of the ghost woman and the way she moved up until she disappears was creepy as hell, for example. this story could have been 15-20 minutes long, though. it just goes on and on and on. it gets to the point that it's annoying how clumsily paced it is. the final "payoff" at the end isn't even good enough to sit through this entire episode to see. i only forced myself to get through it so that i didn't have to watch it again. this was probably my least favorite episode of the second season. this is really saying something, too, because the second season had some weaker episodes.

preppy-3 Young lawyer Jack (Daniel Gillies) was traumatized at a young age seeing a friend drown to death. Now he's sleeping with the wife (Yuri) of a client (Eiji) in Toyko. Eiji takes Jack and his wife out on his boat and clearly knows they're sleeping together. He plans revenge...but things suddenly go wrong.Starts out as a standard "husband kills unfaithful wife and lover" story but (during the last half hour) it switches gears totally and turns into a very eerie ghost story. Dead bodies pop up--body parts go flying--Jack and Yuri are attacked multiple times--it never stops for breath and gets more than a little scary. Good acting by the entire cast (especially Gillies) helps a lot. Fast and scary--a GREAT "Masters of Horror" episode.