Kokkuri-san is a short and humble supernatural horror movie. The story begins with the discovery of the skeleton of a boy called Takumi, which activates a deadly curse. The curse is connected to kokkuri, which is a Japanese version of the ouija board. A girl called Eri becomes the main person to investigate the case, but she also gets help from a few other people.
The setting looks very clean and cozy. Of course Eri lives in a wooden house with tatami mats, and her school is tidy. The lighting is used consistently to create a specific atmosphere with an unusual colour scheme. Although the setting looks like low budget, it does not look like low effort.
The special effects are limited and tasteful, not showing too much. It is a relatively "realistic" horror movie. Because of this, it is successful in building up to some scary moments. A lot of respect is shown towards the dead.
The characters are very calm, polite, talking slowly, and respectful to each other most of the time, except when screaming. This also adds up to a calming, meditative experience.
Nagae Jirou is a director and writer of many horror movies, and Kokkuri-san fits in with the style of his other works e.g. Kotsutsubo and The Ghost Photo Club.
With a length of less than 80 minutes, there is not room for a lot of story and plot twists. I found this unusual, but then I realized that expecting them was my own prejudice. There is nothing wrong with a simpler story now and then.
Kokkuri-san is a beautiful movie, but has a low profile and lacks iconic scenes and villains, or other points of interest or craziness that could entice potential viewers. This means it will never become well-known, and will fade into obscurity. There are also many other movies with similar names, which can confuse people. I think it is a bit of a shame that so few will get the opportunity to enjoy it.
