Once considered a fad consigned to the dustbin of Hollywood history, 3-D now looks about as likely to fade away as color and sound. It's waning with the box-office failure of crappy conversions from 2-D, yes, but the six 3-D films that have grossed $1 billion or more worldwide suggest that the mass audience likes the format itself just fine. It has its doubters, though, most prominently critic Roger Ebert, who has complained that 3-D glasses dim the picture, while adding little to the illusion of depth that 2-D films already provide.
The first Japanese live-action feature made in the format, Takashi Shimizu's 2009 "Senritsu Meikyu 3D (The Shock Labyrinth 3D)," pretty much proved Ebert's points: Interior scenes were often eye-strainingly murky, while the primitive 3-D amplified everything from the bad acting to the cheesy effects.
Now Shimizu, who earned his horrormeister rep with his "Juon (The Grudge)" franchise, including two Hollywood remakes, is back with "Rabbit Horror 3D (Tormented)," a shocker featuring a new version of the bunny that appeared in "The Shock Labyrinth 3D," in a story partly inspired by "Alice in Wonderland" and partly by "The Little Mermaid," minus the prince.
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