Very similar to Serpent's Path (they were made as diptych after all). I really like the green landscapes shown, it was present a little in Sperent's Path but its more present here. I don't really think I've seen parts of Japan that look like this, which is odd considering how obsessed people are with Japan online. The cinematography is great, especially the camera movements. Its quite noticeable when the camera moves, the movie wants you to know its moving, but it still feels very restrained.
The almost-random horror sequence was also great.
Some of the soundtrack is like actually just vaporwave. I'm not just saying that because it uses synths, it like actually sounds like vaporwave. Which is very cool considering this movie released in 1998.
The dialogue in this is fantastic, you can tell the writer really cared about these characters.
While the movie is quite modern (it even does a phone camera overlay), it reminds me a little of Wong Kar-wai. I don't know if that's due to cultural similarities, or if it really was inspired by his work.
Its in black and white, which is always great. I think this movie benefits from it greatly. I really wish other movies were in black and white more often, not everything needs color.
With my previous double feature I came to the conclusion that by watching two movies, I'd end up gaining more from the experience due to the contrast between them. But I wasn't sure if that would be true with every movie. By double featuring Eyes of the Spider and The Cloud in Her Room, I've definitely found more evidence to prove that contrast works.
I feel like these movies are two sides of the same coin. While EotS shows little emotion, almost to an inhuman degree, TCiHR is very human. In TCiHR the main character is giving others a human connection, but she isn't getting much back, leading her to feel empty. In EotS nobody is connected, leaving everyone to feel empty.
I feel like TCiHR is a movie that asks if its possible for 2 empty people to have a meaningful connection. I do think its possible for a connected empty to exist, but only if you let it. If two people gave each other a true human connection, the only thing making them empty is not yielding to the other's embrace.