The Happiness of the Katakuris

One of the seven movies Miike made in 2001, this misfire is a musical remake of the Korean black comedy The Quiet Family, directed by Kim Ji-Woon. The Katakuri family decides to begin life afresh by opening a chalet hotel in the mountains. Family tensions are exacerbated by the non-arrival of guests. Then, when guests do show up, they keep dying on the premises; family head Masao (Sawada, the only pro singer in the starry cast) opts for hushing up the deaths to avoid giving the place a bad rep. Miike elaborates the storyline with claymation sequences, deliberately tacky songs, parodies of The Sound of Music and Brit aristocracy, and chorus-lines of rotting zombies - all of which sounds like a lot more fun than it is.