User reviews

This is about a cursed box that is linked to Japan's suicide forest.

This was more slow burning than I expected it to be. It took a while for things to get going and it made things feel a bit disjointed at first. To be honest though, there were webpages that were displayed and may have provided more context to the story had I been able to read them. The subtitles I had were decent but didn't cover webpage dialogue and I may have missed a few things.

The overall story wasn't bad and the acting was good. The horror aspects were sparse throughout most of the film but when we finally got there, there were some unnerving and creepy moments that were well done.

I'll probably watch it again just to see if I can pick up on what I may have missed but I don't have a problem recommending it for a creepy watch.

The second installment in the "Horror Village" series by Takashi Shimizu, following "Howling Village." Takashi channeled his Ju-On era by creating a frightening lore surrounding Japan's infamous suicide forest. The out-of-the-box innovative death scenes and a brilliant cast of prettiest girls proved J-horror still got the originality and aesthetics.

This film essentially begins with a YouTube blogger by the name of "Akina" (Rinka Otani) recording herself as she enters a thick forest known for the number of people who venture inside to commit suicide. While she is recording, strange things begin to happen, and her screams are the last things anyone hears. The scene then shifts to a teenage girl named "Hibiki Amasawa" (Anna Yamada) watching the video at home and becoming quite disturbed by it. Not long afterward, while helping some friends move into a new apartment, a strange box is found under the house which terrifies Hibiki--and immediately afterward the people around her begin to die in horrific ways. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I was extremely impressed with this movie--for the first hour or so. Unfortunately, the plot began to drag to such a degree that I almost felt like entering this deadly forest myself. It was almost as if the director (Takashi Shimizu) decided to abandon any pretense of a plot and simply fill in the remaining minutes with special effects instead. That being said, while I don't consider this film to be that bad necessarily, I do consider it to be a missed opportunity, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This movie has a heavy emphasis on creepy visuals and there are plenty of them here. It doesn't place much emphasis on tell a coherent story or explaining why any of this is happening.

The movie starts with a video from a vlogger going into Aokigahara. She goes off-trail despite the many warnings signs in the actual forest telling you not to do that for good, if mundane, reasons. Something happens to her, It's not clear what. The main characters find an evil creepy box that's cursed with the curse of the forest. What is that? That's a good question. The characters start dying off in various odd ways. They have to figure out the curse. Good luck with that. I have seen the whole movie and I don't know. Jun Kunimura pops up now and then to say vaguely ominous things about the forest but he's barely in the movie.

This movie sort of explains a lot of things but doesn't actually explain them. Later, we find out what happened to the vlogger but not really. We find out what the box is about but it doesn't really explain anything. This movie isn't big on explaining things.

It's worth watching if you are just looking for some creepy visuals and J-horror stuff. Don't expect a coherent story or any explanation of why any of this is happening though.

This movie offers some sharp direction, with certain angles that instantly put the viewer on edge. It has some unexpected style changes throughout the movie, of which at first, I thought I wouldn't appreciate, but grew to enjoy the differences. The story is fairly unique as far as Japanese ghost related movies go. While I wouldn't call it a scary film, you'll definitely experience some cringe-worthy scenes and the perfect mix of bright and dark cinematography that kept my eyes on the screen.

When I stumbled upon the 2021 Japanese horror mystery titled "Jukai Mura" (aka "Suicide Forest Village") of course I had to watch it. Sure, I hadn't ever heard about the movie, but I am familiar with the phenomena of the 'suicide forest' in Japan and have seen other movies dealing with it. And given my love of both Asian cinema and horror cinema, of course I had to watch what director Takashi Shimizu had to deliver here.

The movie wasn't off to a good start with the video blogger style of footage. I can't take those self-absorbed people serious, and nor is that style of shooting a movie something that entertains me in any way. And not even 10 minutes into the movie I was good and ready to get up and turn off this laughable footage. But luckily the movie switched back to ordinary movie style around 10 minutes in.

But while the movie returned to normal movie style of shooting, then the narrative just was insanely slow paced and uneventful. I grew more and more bored and distant as the narrative progressed, because there simply wasn't anything interesting happening on the screen. It felt like I was watching a tirade of random scenes shot independently of one another and then pieced together to make a movie.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with actor Jun Kunimura. The acting performances in the movie were a bit bland, because the actors and actresses didn't really have anything solid to work with in terms of character gallery, dialogue or contents of the storyline.

For a Japanese horror movie then director Takashi Shimizu failed to deliver anything worthwhile or watchable with "Jukai Mura". And it most definitely is not a horror movie that I would recommend fans of the Japanese horror scene to rush out and get to watch. Nor is it a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.

My rating of "Jukai Mura" lands on a generous three out of ten stars, and that is primarily because of the production value of the movie.

After teen friends find a mysterious box under the house of one of them, strange events lead Hibiki to believe they are all cursed. Seeing her sister's downfall, Mei must discover the truth before the curse gets to all of them.

Suicide Forest Village (2021), by the director of Ju-on, is one of those Japanese lore-intensive stories, heavy on folk elements and the basic ghost haunting premisse that we see on most Japanese stories - not a bad thing at all. This movie is good enough to keep us hooked, though, Western audience might feel the heavy hit of drama-related Eastern acting; they do tend to repeat each others name often, apparently.

One a few occasions, I felt as if I was missing bits of the plot. At one point, one of the characters gets hurt, but that apparently happens offscreen, or editors removed the scene, and the result is a confusing setup, regardless of it being linear.

The horror elements are light on this movie. Don't wait for the sinister haunting of crawling-shoked Kayako; in Suicide Forest Village, the ghost presence is subtle, but effective.

The finale is heavy on folklore, which could diminish its effectiveness. The story does not explain any rules, leaving us with a heavy drama scene that feels Ex-Machina. It kinda works, but I'd want more explanations as to WTH is going on.

There is one post-credit scene that was nice. Hopefully, Suicide Forest Village enables a sequel.

I'd recommend this movie for fans of East-oriented horror. If you are too mainstrem, skip this entry.

After finding a strange box in a friend's house, a woman and her sister learn that they've become embroiled in a frantic search to unravel the mystery surrounding a local forest rumored to be cursed with the spirits of numerous visitors that have committed suicide in the area and must try to stop it.

There's quite a lot to like with this one. The film is at its best in detailing the great atmosphere of the forest in addition to the main central mystery surrounding the titular area of the country. There's a lot of folklore given about the use of the forest as a popular site for suicides and strange deaths which serves to entice the girl rather easily into investigating which provides an excuse to investigate the cursed area and uncover the mystery about why it's haunted. This investigation not only uncovers the dark secret of the forests' history with the use of the cursed box and its meaning but also the family legacy of mental illness that crops up. With this section also leading into the backstory of the village and how it got cursed, this all has a lot to like about it, and on top of that, these scenes manage to generate some decent jump-scares including the cursed video call with her friends or the visit to the hospital to visit an injured friend that helps to influence more of the storyline while also giving those jump scenes with the ghosts. As well, the film manages to follow this up with an array of impressive and chilling haunting scenes. The opening video of the Youtube star going through the forest on a Livestream with her fans offers up some startling imagery with the forest seemingly coming to life to attack her live on camera. The later scene where the girls and their friends manage to find the cursed box only to be met with tragedy moments later contains a similarly startling sequence that comes off rather well. A trip through the woods with the group where she's attacked by malevolent trees yet no one is aware of it through the circumstances involved in rescuing a trapped friend likewise has some freaky visuals present, and a later sequence with a crying baby wailing in the distance keeps up the eerieness of the scene. That becomes a prominent aspect throughout the second half of the film where it's focused more on quick chilling setpieces or visuals to denote the curse has taken hold as the environment around the character comes to life in chilling means. The frantic finale, offering all sorts of fun scenes from the group of hikers encountering the deformed bodies left behind, the visions of what happened to the original villagers that started the curse, and the final confrontation with the spirits of the forest all come together to provide plenty of likable aspects here. While there's a lot to like, this one does have some minor issues. The biggest factor involved in the film is the sluggish and drawn-out pacing which offers up several scenes that don't need to be there. A trip to the hospital that centers around the main girl being treated for schizophrenia and other mental issues that sidelines her as the lead character in favor of her sister could've provided something had it been used for anything other than baseless psychological jargon attempting to explain the medical condition plaguing her. Since this section requires her to be under lockup for the duration of the study, switching characters to the less expressive and just generally lifeless sister does the film no favors by bringing her into the forefront rather than the side character she was before. Another factor for the dragged-out pace is the need for several flashbacks explaining the cursed forest and how it came to be known in the present day. A single retelling of the legend involving the locals tormenting and killing the undesirable ones and causing the curse to come into play would've made more sense than stopping the pace three different times to reveal more of it, especially if the only thing the later reveals add to the folklore is more gruesome gore in the tortures shown to be afflicted upon others. With these aspects making the film far longer than it needs to be, they're enough to knock this one down despite the positive features here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

I thought this film had excellent acting, really amazing high quality CGI effects, and the scary parts were actually terrifying. It's by the director of "Ju-On", or "The Grudge" which the Japanese version will always haunt me. It even had HBO's "The Last of Us" vibes and the overall storyline was excellent. It is slow in some parts but like I said, when the scary scenes happen they make the movie. I actually cringed in fear a couple times which it takes a lot for me to do! Not sure why it got some negative reviews, maybe they wanted more action, but to be a truly scary film, it has to have subtle fear that really digs into your soul. I've watched countless horror films and this was something definitely different and refreshing.

Horror is tricky. It's one thing if you're making a straight horror-thriller, or a sheer romp, where you can just charge ahead and do what you want. But if one is intending a subtler atmospheric piece, the sort to shock and chill at precise moments, it's necessary to very carefully and precisely develop the picture. The pacing can't be too soft or too swift, and the tone likewise has to be exactly balanced. Discrete moments of horror and surprise must be measured instead of forthright, but still readily apparent and sensible within the context of the story at hand. It's fair enough to build one's feature on recognizable elements, but it won't do to be a pure copycat; you might want variety, but there can't be overload; there must be a balance or at least a distinction between the ostensibly realistic and the plainly fantastical. Moreover, should any one aspect feel too overt or out of place it will jeopardize the whole, and likewise, explanations in the plot can't be too easy or the power of the storytelling collapses. This is the nature of genre storytelling, and a wide spectrum of fare exists on a wide spectrum of quality with or without such considerations.

This is the risky path that filmmaker Shimizu Takashi, and co-writer Hosaka Daisuke, adopted with 'Suicide forest village.' A very muted tone, and even more so very gentle pacing, make more difficult the great abundance of notions that are put forth in the screenplay well within the first hour. We're greeted with an infamous forest, here lent an additional suggested supernatural component, and a strange box; Internet culture, and ties between real-life family and friends; family history, childhood trauma, and mental illness; uncertainty between dreams, hallucinations, and lucid visions, and the third-person equivalent of an unreliable narrator; and more. The least that can be said, thankfully, is that Shimizu very attentively crafted his movie such that, with a couple arguable exceptions, we don't need to worry about any question of balance, or appropriate dispensation of any particular idea or beat. Whatever one's experience with his oeuvre otherwise, he shows himself to be a capable filmmaker. There's still the matter of the storytelling, however, and how all the many thoughts will be drawn together, because as we enter the second hour it doesn't seem as if the flick is even close to providing answers to its mysteries even as we're given more, even as the plot continues to develop, and even as characters meet grim fates.

The good news is that, while in a manner that's more deliberate and gradual than in any similar works I could name (even the tales within Kobayashi Masaki's classic 'Kwaidan' advanced more steadily), by and large all these disparate facets are indeed brought together before all is said and done. Along the way, we get no small amount of what we anticipate from horror: horrific imagery, jolting violence or death scenes, hair-raising dread, and a haunting ambience that's far more nuanced than what we may be accustomed to, but which is most assuredly present, palpable, and effective. True throughout, much of the entire last half hour is a veritable feast in that regard, and there's even earnest emotional weight to the saga at just the right points. Furthermore, in stark contrast to too many genre titles of the 2010s and 2020s, 'Suicide forest village' is very sharply made in every capacity. Stunts, practical effects, props, special makeup, and tangible creations are all outstanding; far more than not computer-generated imagery is employed if not sparingly, then at least very judiciously to serve the story instead of becoming its own ill-advised centerpiece. Of course I would prefer more physical fabrications, but I have to give credit where it's due, and the digital rendering looks fantastic here.

This is to say nothing of the truly superb production design and art direction, beautiful filming locations, and choice lighting that brings out all the magnificent detail to be had in all of it. This also includes, more generally, nice costume design, hair, and makeup. Shimizu's direction is rock solid, actually, masterfully bringing the tale and all its grimness to bear with shrewd calculation, and meaningful impact, even with that piecemeal pacing in mind. In turn, the cast give commendably strong performances, truly realizing the gloomy weight of the proceedings with acting of nuance and range; among others, Yamaguchi Mayu and Yamada Anna certainly stand out as sisters Mei and Hibiki, and Kunimura Jun's is always a welcome visage. With lovely cinematography and keen editing the viewing experience is as pleasant as something so dark could be, and it should be mentioned that robust audio allows great sound effects to ring out clearly. Moreover, while Ohmama Takashi's score rears its head relatively infrequently, it's a terrific complement for the proceedings at all times. Dynamic and varied, but commonly characterized by brooding soundscapes, the music lends tremendously to the dreary, quietly unsettling ambience of the film.

And the picture really is swell, all told, when it comes to the screenplay. There was a lot that Shimizu and Hosaka endeavored to blend together, and I think they pulled it off; above all, the scene writing is fabulously vivid, and as director Shimizu's vision couldn't be sturdier in that fashion. This isn't to say that everything here is perfect, however, for while the pacing especially is noteworthy, it's the narrative that earns concrete criticism in my opinion. I said that by and large all the disparate pieces are tied together, and I mean it, but the bad news is that the doing is not flawless. Now, it could reasonably be said that an indistinct course of events is purposeful, inviting a sense of unease through the mystery and uncertainty of "who, what, when, where, why, and how." One way or another, the plot remains somewhat nebulous through to the end, declining (or failing) to absolutely elucidate the entirety of the saga. We can discern easily enough the storytelling concepts of a curse, of the anger of the dead, and of the death that lingers and takes hold in a place. What this tale doesn't answer is "why these characters, specifically," or for that matter, "why any one person, specifically." The plot isn't completely satisfying because it isn't satisfactorily complete, and we viewers can basically just surmise that, gosh, curses sure are far-reaching. Or just vague.

So yes, 'Suicide forest village' has its problems. Depending on one's personal preferences, maybe it has more than I see. Yet despite all the issues that we may scrutinize, I find myself pleasantly surprised by how good this is. I sat to watch with very mixed expectations, and I'm in fact quite taken with what Shimizu put together. I could do with tighter writing, for my part, and I totally understand that the pacing and tone will be an obstacle for many viewers. We get exactly what we came for, however, in a feature that's far more skillfully made than too many points of comparison, and even if the horror airs are less outwardly visceral, they're no less definite. I'm glad I took the time to watch, and based on this I cautiously look forward to watching more from the filmmaker and all involved. One should perhaps be aware of the broad tenor of what they're getting into, but in my mind the end product is overall excellent, and I'm glad to give 'Suicide forest village' my hearty recommendation.