Customer Reviews

Carved

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Kuchisake-onna, known in English as the Slit-mouthed woman, is a popular bogeyman and urban legend in Japan. Although an ancient legend, she still holds a powerful sway on the Japanese psyche, and as recent as 2004 there have been sightings reported in newspapers, and a mild panic back in 1980's had people running scared from a Kuchisake-onna who had been supposedly hunting down children. "Carved" (Japanese title "Kuchisake-onna") is the latest film to play on the fears of Japan, and manifest this folkloric monster onto the screen.

Almost a straight-forward monster/slasher movie, "Carved" does a good job updating the kuchisake-onna, making the most of her frightening appearance and equipping her with a signature weapon, a giant pair of scissors that make her even more fearsome. The plot holds along with the established legend, with the whisper of the appearance of a Kuchisake-onna spreading fear amongst the school children yet being dismissed by unbelieving adults. Some of the braver children try to catch a glimpse of her, with deadly results, and the plot thickens and the bodies pile up. Some of the story is unexplained, because every Japanese person would be aware of the legend and not need it pointed out to them, and this might be a little confusing, but these instances are rare.

Director Kôji Shiraishi has put out a number of B-ranked horror flicks, like "Ju-rei" and "Noroi", without ever scoring a really big hit. His films do the job on a dark cold night of sending some chills up your spine, but no one should expect any sort of masterpiece. With that in mind, I really enjoyed "Carved", more than I thought I was going to, and feel that he upped the ante over his previous films. The Kuchisake-onna has never looked better, and he managed to make a scary folklore figure even scarier. Most of the real horror of "Carved" comes from the cruel slaughter of children, something rarely seen in US horror flicks. You see a couple of scrappy kids get cornered by the beast, and wonder "How are they gonna get out of this one?" Well, they aren't. They are going to get a big ol' pair of scissors stabbed into their eyes.

I found the description on the back really interesting. Of course I want to see a woman have her face cut open by her husband! Unfortunately, it wasn't like that. This movie is about a woman who abuses her children in fits of madness and then starts kidnapping other kids years later... spooky basement, angry female black-haired ghost, but nothing really interesting. It's okay but it's not wonderful, you can live without seeing it.

CARVED (THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN) is another grisly spooker from Japan. As ghostly killers go, this scissor-wielding ghoul certainly delivers the shivers! She attacks ruthlessly, even outdoors in broad daylight! Children are especially targeted, and not even they are sacred! We have no idea who will survive, regardless of age, gender, or seeming heroic status! If you're looking for a creepy, disturbing twist on urban legends, then you've just found horror heaven!...

Asian horror movies have really set the standard lately for the genre. Almost all of the Hollywood horror movies nowadays are either direct remakes or homages to Japanese horror films. Movies like Paranormal Activity tend to follow the uber-creepy style of movies like Ringu, while the torture porn like Saw pay tribute to the splatter-fests like Angel Guts (and, to be fair, the Japanese gore-fests are just the Italian Giallo redone).

So, a movie like Carved has some pretty big expectations. Unfortunately, what we get is less top-flight J-Horor and more just the tedious American Freddy Kruger type slasher.

Carved brings a Japanese folktale to the screen, but in the process there is almost no drama or tension. The characters are never really brought into full life, and there is never enough build-up in the situations to make them approach the minimum required scare level. Instead, the movie just floats along as a basically non-threatening series of sharp cuts and growing victim count.

Which is really sad considering just how good some Japanese Horror is. Their studios are really setting the pace for all manner of horror, and movies like Carved really fail in comparison.

That's not to say Carved was bad, per se. In fact, as a standard slasher it stands quite well. It's just when placed next to other Asian Horror where it shrinks.

Excellent, suspenseful scary movie. Kept me on the edge of my seat and make me scream several times *and* yell at the screen. The pacing was great, and the story itself is good enough that it could have been a happy film and still be awesome (but I like horror better!) Nuanced performances by the actors, including the kids. I wasn't expecting the kids to be so good, but it's great that they are considering the roles they play.

If you like edge-of-your-seat movies and twists and turns, buy it! You won't be sorry! :^)

Carved is a great ghost story that is extremely dark and extremely creepy at times. It deals with things that American film won't touch, namely, the killing of children with a large pair of scissors. Now if that isn't dark I don't know what is. The film can be quite shocking at times and I don't understand why some of the other reviewers said the pacing was too slow. The movie doesn't go at a breakneck speed but at the same time the film doesn't take it's time with introducing the villain. Overall, a great horror film that will appeal to most people even if they aren't interested in Asian horror. On a side note, read this account from wikipedia of the actual legend,

"The legend is said to originate with a young woman who lived hundreds of years ago (some versions of the legend state the Heian period) and was either the wife or concubine of a samurai. She is said to have been very beautiful but also very vain, and possibly cheating on her husband. The samurai, extremely jealous and feeling cuckolded, attacked her and slit her mouth from ear to ear, screaming "Who will think you're beautiful now?"

The urban myth picks up from this point, stating that a woman roams around at night (especially during foggy evenings), with her face covered by a surgical mask, which would not be especially unusual, as people in Japan often wore masks in order to protect themselves from the flu. When she encounters someone (primarily children or college students), she will shyly ask, "Am I beautiful?" ("Watashi kirei?"). If the person answers yes, she will take off her mask and say, "Am I beautiful now?" ("Kore demo?"). At this point, if the victim answers "No," she will slay them or cut their mouths to resemble hers (in many versions, her weapon is a pair of scissors). If the victim tells her she is pretty a second time, she follows the victim home and slays them at the doorway to their residence, due to the fact that "kirei" ('''), Japanese for 'pretty,' is a near homophone of "kire" (''), the imperative form of "to cut". In other versions of the myth if you reply yes after she removes the mask she will give you a large blood soaked ruby and walk away. Another version says that if you reply yes, she will take her scissors and cut your mouth from ear to ear, making you resemble her. On most versions of the myth she is impossible to escape, as she can either appear in front of you no matter which way you turn or can move at superhuman speeds and catch you.<Yokai Attack, Kodansha Publishing>"

Creepy much?

If one tales the time to pick up any good book on Japanese folklore, one would quickly learn that Japan is a country that possesses some of the most inventive and spooky stories concerning ghosts and monsters. One such creature is the Slit-Mouth Woman. Supposedly way back during the Heian era, 794-1185 A.D., there was a woman who was married to a warrior who was well known for her beauty. Haughty and brash, the woman cheated on her husband who then proceeded to split her mouth open from ear to ear. Deeply entrenched in the Japanese psyche, In 1979, tales spread of a woman who came out of foggy days sporting a surgical mask, which are common for Japanese to wear when they catch colds, and in a hoarse voice she would ask "Watashi kirei?" and if answered "yes" she would remove her mask revealing her horribly disfigured face and ask "and now?" Such a scene often ended with the slit-mouth woman killing her victims, mainly children, with a large, razor-sharp pair of sisters.

With his film Carved: A Slit-Mouth Woman, horror film director Shiraishi Koji revives the legend of the Slit-Mouth Woman in the figure of Matsuzaki Taeko, a sickly, horribly abusive mother who disappeared many years ago. With her long hair, trench coat, deathly pale skin, and deadpan eyes, Taeko's first victim is a young boy. Children are abuzz with info and rumors about the Slit-Mouth Woman, but are ignored by adults. At least they are ignored until one day the young teacher Yamashita Kyoko witnesses one of her students, a girl named Miki who suffers abuse inflicted upon her by her mother, being caught by the horrible apparition of Taeko.

Carved: A Slit-Mouth Woman is a disturbing film. The violence and gore are pretty tame because, like a good number of Japanese horror films, the violence takes place off screen, and the figure of Taeko is not as creepy as some other baddies in Japanese horror films. What makes Carved a disturbing film is that the victims are children and Taeko truly makes them suffer with the blades of her scissors and the repeated beatings she gives them. However, Taeko is not the only monster in the film. A few mothers, while not slicing and dicing their children, abuse them when their anger hits the apex and it is their negativity and hatred that summons Taeko, the epitome of hate and abuse into their town which although nice on the outside is rotten to the core with dark secrets within.

<strong>Kuchisake-onna</strong> (Kôji Shiraishi, 2007)

Now before we begin, let me say: take note of the release date. This movie was released in English speaking countries as <em>Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman</em>, but its Japanese title, <em>Kuchisake-onna</em> in Romanji, is identical to that of the 1996 cult-classic short that launched the franchise (known in English-speaking countries as simply <em>The Slit-Mouthed Woman</em>. AND, just to make things more confusing, the 2005 film <em>Kannô byôtô: nureta akai kuchibiru</em> was released in America as, you guessed it, <em>The Slit-Mouthed Woman</em>. Which is all needlessly confusing. But of the three, this is the most famous, at least on this side of the Pacific.

While this could have been an incredible piece of work, most of the criticisms of the film I've read over the past few weeks all have merit to them; the film feels rushed (female lead Eriko Satô says in the DVD extras the entire film was shot in ten days), it's painfully low-budget, etc. You can make a great low-budget flick without having it <em>seem</em> like a low-budget flick (my usual example for this is <em>Deadbirds</em>, which looks like a Hollywood blockbuster despite having been shot in three weeks and costing less than a minute of the last Transformers movie did); <em>Carved</em> in no way does this. Satô (best known for the Cutie Honey live-action flick) and male lead Haruhiko Katô (<em>Kairo</em>) spend much of their time hamming it up, rather than acting, which lends an air of sad comedy to the entire affair, rather than the horror one assumes the director was after. It's kind of hard to like this movie, but despite all that, there's a pretty nice (if totally predictable) twist to the climax; watchable, though not worth going out of your way for. ** ½

I have collected a good assortment of Japanese horror and i must say that this movie was really really good. I enjoy this style of film where they don't really have a happy ending and there is no token male/female who make it out alive and in love... This is good old-fashioned boogeyman greatness. An unsettling horror that grabs you with little gore and keeps your attention without sex. I love those as well, but this gets hold of you without it and gives you that nice Fulci feeling at the end where you made it out and all seems set straight, but NO you are somehow scarred by the experience and there is no hot chick or guy to kiss, no smiles or holding hands, but a true feeling of dread left from a traumatic encounter. I would say that if they ever made this on Blu-ray i'd pre-order it.

Like many urban myth seekers I heard about the slit-mouth woman story online and after seeing a few trailers of this movie I felt why not and decided to give it a try, and while it's not bad with the storyline of the movie and the acting is pretty good at the end unless you have a true knowledge of Japans urban myth lore or legends some areas of the movie will leave you confused. The movie does give a side story about parental abuse and the consequences of those actions to the abuser and their victims as the movie falls on the main plot of that scope. Also as some reviewers have stated there will be some violence as expected to young children both from the slit-mouth woman and some parents who as aforementioned are abusing their child, so if you dislike any showing of a child being needlessly hurt than you might find a few scenes in the movie a tad unseeingly which I did. At the end if you've seen enough J-horror movies like THE RING or JU-ON than there won't be any true surprises for you in the movie but still don't let that deter you to much from this still entertaining movie.