Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007)

After penning Noroi: The Curse, one of the scariest J-horror movies of the last decade, Kôji Shiraishi decided, two years later, to focus on the Japanese urban myth of the slit mouth lady, which has been known in Japan for several generations. The legend has survived and has spread as any other urban myth, with the story of a woman asking the ones who cross her path if she is pretty and consequently showing them the hideous scar on her face and thus either killing them or disfiguring their face in a similar way. Among other terrifying (and sometimes hilarious) details, the slit-mouthed woman is supposed to carry with her a pair of scissors as her weapon, being able to run up to 100 km/h and having a bizarre interest in special Japanese candies. Interestingly enough, the director has however decided to distance from the urban myth, although one character refers the fact that the rumors of the slit mouth lady have been heard for decades. The appearance of the evil entity is, as always, explained on the basis of a cruel vengeful spirit that comes back for revenge, as it became a cliché in the J-horror panorama for the last few years. The plot lacks consistency, and even though the history of the slit-mouthed woman is well explained and detailed during the movie, bottom line, her initial appearance appears to be left to interpretation although a few possibilities may come to mind – the result of an earthquake and the opening of her own tomb, the result of a critical mass of believers sharing the rumors of the story of an evil entity, or simply the fact that her appearance may seem to symbolize an explanation for adult's cruelty towards children.Unfortunately during the movie, events simply seem to carelessly pile up, with a few scenes being particularly dumb to say the least. No effort is put into creating an atmosphere of intrigue. The repressed memories of professor Matsuzaki simply came back off a sudden when he visited his old home. No crescendos were registered, no increasing tension or hype were observed before each appearance of the slit mouth lady. Something could have been said regarding the abusive treatment and negligence towards children during the film, as well as the consequences of violence and these abuses. Unfortunately, the number of abusive or neglecting mothers would just serve as a way to keep the evil spirit coming back. In fact, violence is somehow excused in these cases as a result of insanity or an abrupt change of the familiar background.Apart from the female teacher, the remaining characters were particularly uninteresting. The majority of the scenes lacked credibility, the abductions were always particularly random, and no patterns were observed with the slit-mouthed woman usually coming out of nowhere. Contrarily to what is usually common, the present ghost entity exhibited a physical body. For some reason however, the characters would not be able to fight back, being hilariously knocked down unconscious after being slapped by the slit mouth lady herself. Which is usually used to explore supernatural powers, was in this case a sequence of characters staring at the ghost, gasping, screaming and crawling, as the slit-mouthed woman, wearing heels, would continually kick each one of them.The making-of suggested Kôji Shiraishi didn't put a particular effort or thought into the plot, with the movie being shot in a considerably short period of time. Probably as a result, the film seems to lack consistency and interest for the most part, with a few elements of interest being nonetheless terribly explored.Asian-cineblog.blogspot.com

This is the first relevant "Kuchisake-Onna" movie. It's a dark slasher vaguely inspired by true events that hit Japan back in the seventies. Several pupils are kidnapped on their way home. Soon rumours are spread about a possessed woman with a long trench coat that wears a mask to cover its mutilated face that kidnaps the children to cut their mouths up to the ears as that evil woman has lived the same torture in the past. The police doesn't find any relevant trace but several pupils seem to know more about that mysterious woman. A young and sometimes unstable female teacher who has been through a difficult divorce and who has a troubled relationship with her daughter joins a shy and young male teacher who seems to have telepathic powers and who hears the voice of that mysterious woman but always arrives a little bit too late at the scene of the crime. Together, they try to find the hideout of that evil woman. They soon realize that the evil woman is more some sort of a spirit that can easily possess anybody if her head isn't definitely cut off. As more and more innocent people die or get kidnapped, the young male teacher understands that he has a very special connection to the killer and that the final showdown will lead to unnameable sacrifices for both teachers. I really found this first movie very intriguing. It convinces with a very dark atmosphere and a good balance between gripping slasher scenes and a surprisingly well done character development. The two young teachers incarnated by Eriko Sato and Haruhiko Kato play quite convincing roles and both characters have to face their own inner demons before they confront that evil woman. The movie doesn't only belong to the horror genre but has also a few dramatic and emotional moments. I really liked the unconventional attitude of this movie. One could think that a soft love story would develop between the two young teachers but this isn't the case and one doesn't get distracted from the solid main story line. The film also includes some minor twists and some tension filled and unexpected moments. I also like the polarizing ending of the movie that really send shivers down my spine. I guess that this ending wants to make sure that you won't forget this movie all too soon.All in all, this is a very atmospheric and well played dark slasher movie that also focuses on some dramatic scenes and a very well done character development. This mixture of two distinctive genres is very well done and makes this flick more accessible to a larger crowd in my opinion. It's nothing revolutionary after all but surely a quite gripping and entertaining movie. Fans of Asian horror cinema should surely grab this solid movie and will have quite some fun.

First I will say that I don't really need to mention the cast. Well I will mention Miki Mizuno who plays the slit-mouthed woman. She was pretty scary. I only really liked her character, but thank god the others kept dying. This movie was based on a myth, which always gives a horror film an extra creepy film. Don't get me wrong, I did like the story and how it was laid out. The acting was OK. That is why I thought the film was decent. But it had things in it that did seem to upset me. I understood the story line, but parts of it they could of left it. Seemed to cheesy at some parts. That and some of the characters seemed why too scared at one moment and then they would get this courage to be brave. Wouldn't work though. I think the film as potential. If they made another, they could probably make it more scary and better. The film runs an hour and a half, but I think if they added about twenty more minutes, they could of explained a few holes.

What was once thought of as a mere urban legend (a tall, surgical-masked woman who spirits off with young children during the twilight hours) turns out to be something much more than a scary tale. This is the premise behind Shiraishi Koji's latest horror/thriller "Kuchisake Onna" (Slit Mouth Woman)."Kuchisake Onna" begins with the abductions of several children in the Kanegawa prefecture of Japan. Neighborhood gossip attributes the kidnappings to a wives' tale of a horrifically scarred ghost called "Kuchisake Onna" (Slit-Mouth Woman) who wears a surgical-mask to hide her deformity.The local elementary school, where many of the abducted were students, steps up efforts to protect their students by having teachers escort the students to and from school. Teachers Yamashita Kyoko (Sato Eriko) and Matsuzaki Noboru (Kato Haruhiko) are among the teachers assigned to help out. Amid the hysteria of the kidnappings, Yamazaki learns that her student Sasaki Mika (Kuwana Rie) has been physically abused by her mother (Kawai Chiharu) and does not want to go home. This strikes a raw chord with Yamazaki as she herself lost custody of her own child whom she abused a year ago. As they talk, the "Kuchisake Onna" appears and spirits off Mika. Yamazaki tells police that what she saw was definitely not human. Police Officials dismiss her claims as nonsense and she is put on administrative leave. Matsuzaki is the only one who believes her and suspects that "Kuchisake Onna" is the inhuman vengeful spirit of his own mother (Mizuno Miki) who abused both he and his siblings and who suffered from TB (Tuberculosis).Together they attempt to unravel this ghostly mystery. What they find however is even more dark and tragic than they were led to believe. "Kuchisake Onna" is a lackluster bore with cheap thrills, a silly story and embarrassing acting. I'm a big fan of both statuesque, model/actress Sato Eriko (Playgirl, Cutie Honey) and stunt woman turned actress Mizuno Miki (Senrigan, My Lover Is A Sniper, Odoru Dai Sousasen) but frankly their acting here is terrible. The movie is neither horrific, thrilling nor suspenseful and is almost like some cheap TV movie you'd find late at night on subscription cable.There are one or two somewhat frightful scenes but they unfortunately are too few and far in between. The "Kuchisake Onna" character definitely has a freakishly interesting look, which bears a resemblance to Christopher Nolan's new Joker design for the upcoming "Dark Knight" movie as well as Asano Tadanobu's Kakihara character in "Koroshi No Ichi".Shiraishi Koji (who also wrote the screenplay) is no stranger to the genre having directed other cheap horror projects like "Noroi" and "Ju-Rei" but is unable to elicit the genuine shocks and thrills like his contemporaries Nakata Hideo (Ring) or Shimizu Takashi (Ju-on: The Grudge) did in their movies and what we get is just a tame ghost story with no bite.The central focus on "tween" characters seems to suggest that this film may have been aimed towards children and hence the relative low volume of bloodshed (although as mentioned above there are one or two scenes that are somewhat frightening).The overall themes of child abuse are used merely as a provocative and exploitive vehicle. It is a cheap shot used in the hopes of sparking some sort of emotional response and we don't really see it examined in any serious or meaningful way."Kuchisake Onna" reminds me of Clive Barker's "Candyman" in spirit with perhaps Wes Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street" thrown in for good measure but with none of either films' inventiveness.The predictable ending leaves open the unlikely chance of a sequel but I hope that this does not transpire as just the thought of another "Kuchisake Onna" film...well, that would be the true horror!