Corpse Party: Tortured Souls

Based on a survival video game series, this horror anime focuses on a group of students who are transported from their present-day high school to an alternate reality in which the Heavenly Host Elementary School—torn down following a massacre of a group of students and staff—still exists, abandoned but haunted by ghosts who seek vengeance against living souls that stumble into their lair. The plot follows the students as they wander about, only to be gruesomely slaughtered by the resident spirits. Some kids survive, however, and eventually learn the details of the original murders—as well as the identity of the perpetrators. From a purely visual perspective, Corpse Party is impressive, with creepily atmospheric backgrounds. But the characterization is rudimentary and the dialogue is all too often puerile, while the killings are extremely gory. Still, devotees of the games and connoisseurs of horror anime will likely be drawn to this. Compiling all four episodes from 2013 in separate DVD and Blu-ray editions, rated TV-MA, and presented in Japanese with English subtitles, this is a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)