Scarecrow (2001)

Although the premise of the story is good, the story starts to fall apart because it's obvious that what's moving are not scarecrows, but human actors, and the reason for Izumi to come back was somewhat weak.The movie would have been better if it didn't have the love connection between Izumi and Tsuyoshi, and was a strait laced horror movie, like the night of the living dead. The story's angle on what Kaoru wanted in the end was nice.But overall, the reason why this all happened was weak. It had good material, but intrigue was low because of this.It's not a bad movie, but not special either. It was a typical Japanese horror movie.

I love a good horror or thriller, no matter how long and dragging the dialogues, but this is not one of those. It's more of a drama with one of the most irritating protagonist I've had the misfortune to come across. Seriously, I wanted to slap the beejeezus out of her. But if you like squeaky, fickle-minded women who consistently makes bad decisions and runs like a lame chicken, you have a winner here.I was initially excited by the movie concept. Scarecrows are one of my top choices when it comes to horror "monsters", for lack of a better word. Early on, I caught the plot of the entire movie and the probable spin they'll make in the end. I thought it was nice, nostalgic even, since it reminded me a bit of Pet Sematary. Sadly, the movie did not rise to its full potential, but fell flat on its face with a loud thud.It was like they couldn't decide which direction to go, long-haired ghost woman or scarecrow zombies...in the end, it fell short on both.If you really want to believe the positive reviews, go ahead, but it would be wise that you don't spend hard-earned money on this. You just might bang your head on the wall right after.

Kakashi is considered as a Horror Movie, but it isn't at all. The story takes place in Kozukata village where the heroine brother was last seen. In this village loads of unexplained things happens..(eg. Why Kakashi is kinda worshiped by the village citizens?). Our heroine Kaoru has to face mysterious things, strange people that think about one special day .. The Kakashi Festival ..The director tried to produce a Horror climate , but it wasn't enough and can't be noticed as well. The music was one of highlights of the film, really scary sometimes and dramatic on other points ( Thumps Up). By the way, Shinichro Ogata is the one who composed the music.Another highlight of the movie is the stars act.. all of them acted very good and nicely. Maho Nonami who played Kaoru, the one who is searching for her missing brother.. is a good actress, but she needs more efforts to express her feelings .. The scary part is the role of Izume done by the well known actress Kou Sibasaki, she acted really good that you would feel that she is a Devil ( Thumps Up ), Grace Ip the well known HK star was good in the movie , although she was over reacting in some scenes. Shunsuke Matsuoka who played the missing brother was OK , the role was not that hard, he tried to put some efforts but the problem is that the his role is so limited and even the script writer didn't include any information as why did he went to the village and stayed for a week ?? Maybe , more explanation , would help Shunsuke to understand his role..Overall, the movie is an average Dramatic Movie not a Horror , I advice you to rent it as in the end, loads of unexplained things would make a disappointment conclusion as 1 Hour and half should be enough to explain the concept of the story , but the movie failed to do that..Rating: **/*****" In Kazukata village .. Humans co-exist with Death "

I bought this movie 2 months ago because I like Japanese cinema plus it was cheap(and from the director of Ring 0: Birthday. Yes the Japanese series is superior to the American remake. Even Rasen is more interesting than 'The Ring'.). However I didn't watch it until tonight mainly because it didn't get too many favorable reviews on IMDB. That sad I was bored and decided to watch it. And from the first scene I was drawn in... This movie has a rather creepy but melancholy tension thoughout. It's a slow movie yes but boring? Definatly not. The pacing is just right. It amplifies the mystery of the story. Most people who watch scary movies nowadays just expect cheap scares instead of a truly eery atmosphere thoughout. So I think that is what makes a lot of people dislike this movie. This movie isn't big on the scares, it has some but not many, but what it does is make the viewer wonder.The movie basically is about Kaoru(she's a very pretty girl btw) whose brother is missing. He seems to have gone to visit his girlfriend in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere. That's the last he's heard from. As Koaru goes off to search for him there she finds that things are odd in the village... Everyone seems to be obsessed with a festival(Japan has a lot of festivals for many spiritual things) about scarecrows. And everyone seems to want her to leave and is unwilling to help her... The ending I found wasn't a dud like someone mentioned but more like a very sad one. More I will not say about this movie. You have to watch it for yourself.This isn't a movie for people who like cheap scares. But someone who likes mystery and eery things happening will probably like this movie. very reccomended.