Karuto

It feels like that this movie tried so hard to be on par with the excellent 'Noroi'. Koji Shiraishi, wanted to exploit Cthulian horror again, but he really ended up with a 'wannabe-Noroi'.

Adding a K-pop protagonist, and reducing the horror to worms, which this time are visible, not ectoplasmic, and tangible, extinguishes the scariness of this movie, unlike the lurking Lovecraftian entities in 'Noroi' and 'Occult', the 'bakemono' is now material.

However, despite the tangibility of the demonic entity in this movie, I like - which I hope is true - the disparity of the techniques used to show both human and demonic subjects.

I believe that this deliberate use of what-is-being-criticized-for-being-bad-special-effects, actually serves a purpose. This being that it sets a contrast in between what is real and preternatural.

This out-of-placeness of the supernatural object allows the mind to strongly reject their presence in the setting, which is why I feel, people were reacting so vehemently against the CGIs used in both 'Occult' and 'Cult'.

Nonetheless, the self-plagiarism feeling was very off-putting: the theme, the tone, the characters, the direction, the colouring and lighting effect, hell even the SCORE felt borrowed, from his previous movie.

It sucks that Koji could not exploit the 'Kami' myths/stories/legends/folklore which his country so abundantly offers.

To be frank, the movie was a lot of fun and I quite enjoyed it. However several aspects were so terrible that it warranted a review on my part.

The three actresses were extremely annoying and their behaviour was childish to say the least. They were squealing and shrieking like 5 year old girls at the smallest excuse. Nobody screams that much and their acting was lousy.

What also struck me as unrealistic was the fact that the company was forcing them to risk their lives and go into a haunted house, even when they were extremely uncomfortable with the idea. And the actresses themselves were totally cool with it. I don't know if this is common in Japan or an incongruity in the script. But in a free world, forcing a trio of young women into extreme danger against their will is a criminal offense. However this fact was glossed over.

Even when one of the women wanted to quit, the other two were behaving as if they couldn't believe that somebody can just refuse to be part of such a dangerous business. They kept repeating "It's your job, you have to do it, you can't just quit". And later her boss scolds her for stepping out.

The black tendrils were very laughable, flat and unrealistic. They screamed fake, computer graphics. That and the incessant screaming ruined the illusion of the movie for me. The director could have easily used some practical effects and it would have been much more realistic.

Now the good part. The acting of the exorcist and his master was excellent. The Neo character too was fairly good. The small possessed girl was sufficiently creepy. The plot and pacing kept me engaged and entertained. I didn't care for the ending as it was a bit abrupt and left the viewer hanging.

Overall, worth a one-time watch.

I really love good J-horror movies. It gives a claustrophobic sense, like where ever you go whatever you do you surely can't escape. The world is so big but becomes so small at the same time. I love that they don't depend so much in special effects. But this is not the case.

It is not a bad movie. It just leaves you indifferent. There are three actresses who take part in a reality – documentary exorcism. So there are cameras all around the house and you are seeing things as they really happen. I am getting really tired of the reality – "real" story type of movie!

In overall as I said the movie isn't bad. It is perhaps one of the best of its kind. You will have fun watching it, it is really entertaining!

Three young actresses are hired to help a documentarian film an exorcism at the house of a young girl and her mother. Cameras are set up everywhere as the supernatural events start to unfold.

Numerous exorcists are brought in to help but the problem only seems to get worse as everyone is drawn into a nightmare of demons and curses.

This Japanese found footage entry is a refreshing take on the sub-genre as some original elements are introduced that take a different direction from the Paranormal Activity franchise. There is a bit of humour injected into some of the characters which makes the experience a bit more enjoyable.

Some of the effects are a bit hokey but others are original and creepy and atmospheric. There are enough twists and turns to keep the viewer's attention as the tension escalates.

The three girls get a little annoying at times but do a passable job in their roles and some of the secondary characters really stand out.

All in all an interesting and refreshing Cult movie from Japan.

Shiraishi's Occult movie and Noroi managed to impress me, those movies were found footage classics, but I couldn't get that energy in this movie, the movie progresses very monotonously and after a point, I got into the mood of watching Ghostbusters, I couldn't devote myself to the movie and create a solid character in the second half of the movie. Even though he tried to fix it, it wasn't enough, the dialogues were very strange and there were constantly shouting elements, even though it got into the subject, it was literally like a comedy, and even though it included mythological elements and the cult issue, I couldn't hold on to the movie.

I don't know if you can still watch it to give Shiraishi a chance, but try it anyway, I couldn't hold on to it very well.

3/10.