A Slit-Mouthed Woman

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.

Kuchisake-onna is perhaps one of the most well known and "beloved" urban legend in Japan. It is essentially about a woman with a split mouth roaming around the streets kidnapping children on their way home. This perhaps was anticipated by many Japanese people since they finally got to see the classic monster in the silver screen, and it is still enjoyed and loved by many today. Though I enjoy this movie since there are quite a few scary moments, this is a movie that is very poorly made.

How the screenplay is lazily written is very evident from the way the characters are written. The two lead characters are the teachers of the school Kuchisake onna targets, and they are introduced as normal, flat characters. However, as the movie goes on, it feels like the screenwriters were finishing the script as they were shooting the movie and decided to cram in backstories for the teachers in the last minute. In addition, the screenwriters added Kuchisake onna herself a backstory. What they decided to do is make Kuchisake onna the mother of one of the lead teachers, and the way that is executed is literally like a your mama joke. Beyond that there are many unclear explanations on the rules of this Kuchisake Onna virus, which does not show any patterns and is just possesing random moms. If they could have just done a straight forward slasher movie without adding unnecessary back stories and depth to the characters and Kuchisake Onna herself, this could have been just a very enjoyable B grade horror movie. However by trying to be overly serious with a source material that works without seriousness, it backfired and just became plain silly.

But what absolutely kills this movie is the horrible acting. From the child actors to even the lead characters are played with underwhelming skills. It is clearly evident that the actors didn't take their roles seriously at all, and it feels like they were reading the script at the front of their face as they were shooting the movie. The only good performance was by Miki Mizuno who plays Kuchisake Onna. Overall, this is a movie that should have been better than it is, but is ruined by very poor acting and writing.

Pretty average Asian Horror film that still seems to linger in the "long hair creepy woman" category but, the storyline is promising and the creep factor is there, (in small doses,thanks to makeup) but if you are not a fan of plot holes or unexplained elements, (which sometimes work in horror, IMO) then you will not enjoy this film. There is very little gore and what is there is usually in a "cut-away" scene (this is a film that would probably just get a pg-13 by American standards)-Overall the film just doesn't satisfy, absolutely no character development and not enough "suspense" to really make it an enjoyable film.

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.

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.