Kuchisake-onna

A town is haunted by the myth of a woman whose face has been mutilated in a very awesome looking fashion. She wears a mask over her mouth and shows up to people asking "Am I pretty?" Their answer almost always leads to their death.

I loved this movie. The story was different. I haven't seen anything too similar to it before. The story was interesting, even a bit touching at points. It never got laughable to me. The whole thing stayed pretty dark and serious. (I'm sure the horrific involvement of children in the story helped that...) The camera work was really slick. I loved the lighting and the atmosphere towards the end. It had a great pace. It moved fast, even by American standards. (This is surprising for an Asian flick.) The ghost was unique by Asian standards. (She didn't have the hair over her face, nor did her hair seem to be alive.) The woman with the sliced mouth was a very cool visual.

This has been one of my favorite Japanese horror films yet. Another big difference from most Asian films I've seen is that IT ACTUALLY MADE SENSE. Many Asian flicks like to have ambiguous endings that don't seem to have a definite meaning, so the audience can discuss their take on it. That, or the films are just made very bizarre, outlandish, and hard to follow. But this one actually made sense to me all the way through.

Most of what I've read say it's "average"... I'm sorry, but all of the really famous Asian horror flicks I've seen seemed to be very similar to each other... I'd call those "average". In my eyes, this shied away from Asian routines, (which are sadly becoming American ones now...).

I highly recommend this to any supernatural horror fan. I thought it was a great little ghost flick with a good story and some awesome eye-candy.

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.

Kuchisake Onna is a solid horror film, which tries to impress with its creepy atmosphere, and interesting storyline.

The acting is ok, there are some good scares, and its quite bloody.

Unfortunately, a lot of potential has been wasted, otherwise this would have been a great horror film.

Total score: 6/10.

CARVED: A SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN is another grisly creeper from Japan.

As ghostly killers go, this scissor-wielding ghoul certainly delivers! She attacks ruthlessly. Even outdoors in broad daylight! Children are especially targeted, and even they're not sacred! We have no idea who will survive, regardless of age, gender, or seeming heroic status!

If you're searching for a disturbing, unpredictable twist on urban legends / folklore, then you've just found horror heaven!...

"The Slithmouthed Woman" was a nice new approach to Asian horror. It stands out from the endless sea of Asian horror movies that have ghost women in white dresses with black hair covering their eyes, and 90% of the movie shot in near complete darkness. "The Slithmouthed Woman" was quite the opposite, and that was a nice change of pace.

The story in "The Slithmouthed Woman" is about a woman with a mangled face (her mouth is slashed open) going around abducting and killing people. Just before she appears and drags you off, people will hear her saying "Am I pretty?" Now, being shot almost in nothing but daylight, "The Slithmouthed Woman" was really a nice change, because you got to see everything that was going on, and not kept in the dark by the lack of lighting. Plus, the movie here was more of a psychological horror movie, than it was a visual horror movie. Sure, the make-up and effects on the woman was really great, I just personally would have liked to see more of that mangled face. But still, done with moderation, it worked out well enough.

The acting in the movie was alright as well, I don't recall having seen the people here in other movies before, and still the people put on great enough performances.

However, "The Slithmouthed Woman" is a very predictable movie and you know how it will end early on in the movie. And also the story takes forever to go anywhere, and that was a notch down in the entertainment value. Had they opted to go with a more adrenaline-filled approach and more action, the movie had worked out all the better.

The idea and concept behind the story was really unique and well thought through, it just could have used another set of eyes on it to offer a different approach to the direction in which the movie went. But still, it wasn't a bad movie, not at all. If you like Asian horror movies and want to see something that isn't a mainstream ghost horror movie, like most of the Asian horror movies have a tendency to be, then "The Slithmouthed Woman" is well worth checking out.