Kuchisake-onna 2

A prequel to Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman. One of the weakest prequels for a superior original horror. The whole film made no sense whatsoever. Plot holes after plot holes. I wished they focused more on the horror aspects rather than the emotional undercurrents of depression.

The film started as a slice of life romantic comedy but it escalated quickly in a surprising turn of events filled with hard violence and emotional damage.

I had this movie sitting in my YouTube watch later for a while, after I had found a movie on YouTube titled "Japanese Horror Movie (English sub)." Sitting down with a friend to watch the movie, not knowing what we were getting into, we made some observations:

When we watched the movie, we had no idea that this was a movie about the slit-mouthed woman, and as such we had no idea what the story was about. With that being said, the movie starts out pretty nicely seeming like a "slice of life" style. Me and my friend were sat wondering when the movie was going to transition into a horror. The story was a little difficult to follow, but we got it down to: "a girl gets made fun of because of how she looks, and she doesn't take it so well."

Once the movie gets into the horror aspect, that's when it start to go down for me. Some of the decisions made by the characters just seemed ridiculous like no thought was put into it. My and my friend ended up laughing a bit at some of the more serious scenes of the movie because of that. As the end of the movie approaches, it is the very last scene of the movie that sticks with me the most, and one that made me who the girl actually was, the slit-mouthed woman.

"Kuchisake-onna 2" is often seen as a prequel to the first part but this is wrong. The story line and even the genre are completely different and there is almost no connection between both movies. Instead of a possessed mother that tortures her own children and starts to kidnap pupils, we see a wonderful and emotionally driven tragic drama. The story is centred around a famous sixteen year old girl who lives a great life. She is close to her two older sisters and her parents, she has two best friends at school, is adored by the boys, has a crush on the gorgeous captain of the track team who is about to leave for a college in Tokyo and she is the fastest girl of her high school. One day, she becomes an innocent victim of a tragic crime that changes her whole life. Her friends turn away from her, her crush changes town, the boys start to laugh about her, the pupils spread cruel rumours about her, her father falls into morbid depression and her sisters rather care about their own problems and leave her alone. At the same time, the lone girl starts to see a strange young woman in a red dress that starts to haunt her. The strange appearance seems to have a connection to the murder of several pupils at school and soon the entire town is struck by terror.

As you can guess, the movie has almost no similar points to the first parts and kicks off in a slow mood that portrays very well the beautiful and calm everyday life of the main actress who is incarnated by an excellent young actress called Asuka Rin. One really should keep an eye on this great actress in the near future. The first part is almost a little bit like an innocent teenager movie or a well done romantic flick that could come straight from a popular manga. The first thirty minutes or so in this movie really lead you on a wrong trace and may be hard to sit through for those who are expecting a horror film but these thirty minutes are absolutely essential for the scenes that follow. The horror of this movie almost strikes from one moment to the other and that's why it hits so hard and leaves the viewers almost speechless. What follows is a brutally detailed focus on the new everyday life of the main actress who goes through hell. A series of more than just tragic events kicks off and really touches the viewers. This intense drama gets darker and tension filled. A few sinister slashing scenes only kick off at the very end of the movie that has an amazing ending as well that you won't forget anytime soon.

Everything about this drama is close to perfection: the slow mood and the sudden change of atmosphere, the outstanding main actress as well as a very good job by the secondary actors, the atmospheric soundtrack and the calm and down-to earth way the movie is filmed. What makes this movie even greater from my point of view is the detailed view on everyday life in Japan at the end of the seventies. I'm not sure if this part was purely intentional or not but it simply puts the cherry on the cake. One sees a brutal analyze of a highly competitive and cold society caught between traditions and progress. This analyze happens without any moral or philosophical parts and isn't boring or pretentious at all. This movie rather shows us a well thought out story in a cold and precise way without judging or making comments. That remains remains the job of the viewers who might feel a little bit shaken up by this surprisingly outstanding movie.

In the end, this film is far more than a prequel, a horror movie or an ordinary slasher. This flick is an excellent and gripping drama that really touches the viewers and that includes an unpretentious analyze of the Japanese society of the late seventies and its values. You really don't need to watch the first movie because they almost have nothing in common apart of the final slashing scenes in the last ten minutes or so that are truly excellent and surpass many genre flicks. In fact, the movie shouldn't have been related to the first movie because it's fairly different and in my opinion clearly better. At the same time, I'm personally happy that both movies are related because I would have missed this excellent flick that I had checked out because I appreciated the first movie as well. To keep this short, any fan of Asian and especially Japanese cinema should watch this intense drama and will surely have a great time.

Sometimes I just have to shake my head in disbelief at IMDb ratings. The current 5.7 average rating for this film is completely unacceptable given its overall quality, which is very high and easily surpasses many titles in the 7.0 to 8.0 rating range. "Carved 2: The Scissors Massacre" (2008) deals with the origins of the Japanese slit-mouthed woman legend. Here is a brief summary of the urban legend from Wikipedia:

"In Japanese mythology, Kuchisake-onna ("Slit-Mouthed Woman") is a woman who is mutilated by a jealous husband and returns as a malicious spirit. When rumors of alleged sightings began spreading in 1979, it spread throughout Japan and caused panic in many towns. There are even reports of schools allowing children to go home only in groups escorted by teachers for safety, and of police increasing their patrols. According to the legend, children walking alone at night may encounter a woman wearing a surgical mask, which is not an unusual sight in Japan as people wear them to protect others from their colds or sickness. The woman will stop the child and ask, "Am I beautiful?" If the child answers no, the child is killed with a pair of scissors which the woman carries. If the child answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear, and asks "Am I beautiful now?". If the child answers no, he/she will be cut in half. If the child answers yes, then she will slit his/her mouth like hers."

"The Scissors Massacre" is a very different film when compared with "Carved" because it focuses most of its efforts on humanizing the ghost-like killer and establishing an origins story. This film starts off like a light-hearted teen drama, but quickly contributes a violent murder that acts as the genesis for subsequent tragedies. The conflicts shine a spotlight on specific cultural problems of Japan, which include social ostracizing (e.g., persecution against victims of crime) and dysfunctionalities within the core family unit. Most amazingly, this is one of the few films that convincingly establishes the emotional breaking point necessary to transform a normal person into a vengeful monster. The anti-hero's world slowly but surely crumbles around her, with each and every one of her hopeful relationships being severed through betrayal. A big positive is that the anti-hero and many of the supporting characters are portrayed as both likable and multi-dimensional personalities that must make difficult decisions in the face of unfortunate events and external influences.

There are a few bloody death scenes, as well as some creepy moments, but the dramatic elements are the strength of this movie. A superior film compared to its predecessor, "The Scissors Massacre" deserves a lot more attention and acclaim than it has received thus far. It's a fine representation of what I love about the horror genre.