Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007)

Best movie of this year hands down!

best movie i've ever seen.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This movie mixes elements from the Western tradition of Slasher movies along with a peculiar kind of creepiness so typical to Asian horror. An interesting combination that should have been much more successful. Unfortunately 'Kuchisake-onna' is overall mediocre and downward pedestrian at times. It fails whenever it adheres to clichés such as making sure that everyone confronting the villain in the grand finale is without weapons of any kind but there are a few redeeming points. The positive parts include the child abuse angle that pervades and drives the plot, the fact that the villain does not only lurk in dark shadowy places but actually acts in broad daylight and a possession story that is original.With so much going on for it, it is a true shame that the movie manages to fall into tired recipes that do away with so much potential. After all, in a story in which the villain targets children is open to horror as perceived from their point of view. That approach would have elevated it from the usual supernatural thriller to something more unique. And the movie itself seems to be aware of this on occasion.With some psychological bits and a decent slasher angle this is a movie that fans of the genre will probably find worth watching but it does have a limited appeal without being part of the elite in the competitive world of J-horror.

Alright, this has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. True Japanese film at its best, I'd say. It's pretty predictable, my friend and I (who watched it together because she was too scared to watch it alone) guessed that the siblings had been killed by the mother. I mean really; an abusive mother, then the children 'dissapear'? Kind of obvious, I'd say. But still a great movie.The ending was also kind of unfinished. Cause it left the slit-mouthed woman still out there. And I'm not sure if there's a sequel, but if there is, it's probably going to be similar to The Ring duology. They could've ended it with the first one, but just HAVE to make a second. I was mad when the teachers daughter died, cause she was cute, and they finally had a happy ending, but then the stupid woman had to come along! I think she wasn't destroyed because it wasn't her son who ended up slitting her throat, was it? It was the woman teacher, I believe. Also,did anyone else notice the little boy at about a third of the way through the movie looks just like Dustin from Zoe 101 only Asian? 10/10 pce.ps; Am I pretty?

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.

A small town in Japan is facing a serious crisis... the curse of the Kuchisake Onna (a.k.a. The Slit Mouthed Woman). A facially disfigured spirit of a woman who sports a huge pair of scissors and an immense hatred for children. After an opening which features the legend of the Slit-Mouthed woman being told through several sets of characters. The film wastes no time and goes right into the children's abduction. The only thing standing between the spirit and innocent children are two teachers at the local elementary school; Ms. Yamashita and Mr. Matsuzaki. As the list of children whom have disappears begins to lengthen, the two teachers set out to solve the mystery of the Kuchisake Onna. Slit-Mouthed Woman is not necessarily a "bad" film. The plot has a dose of originality and the premise is great. Also, some of the scenes involving the spirit and the abducted children are truly horrific and harrowing. However, the delivery is stilted, and the film has two major faults (as listed below).Kuchisake Onna is plagued with (in my opinion) the worst horror cliché in the book. Anytime the Slit-Mouthed Woman appears, the films protagonists stand around, frozen like rabbits in car headlights, seemingly incapable of running, or defending themselves. In 2007, this type of lackluster horror formula is played out. Especially considering that the Kuchisake Onna can't be killed, it would have been much more fun to watch the film's characters give the demon some serious beat-downs... but alas, all they do is scream and try their best to look terrified (while the viewer does their best not to look bored).My other major reservation about Kuchisake Onna, is that I was struck with the feeling that Director Kakesu Shuichi just might have a deep seeded hatred of women. Because the film's female characters-including the ghost-all have one thing in common... they beat the holy hell out of their children. The film's misogynistic tomes seem to come out of nowhere and the female characters (while not beating their children) stand idly by while the Kuchisake Onna steals children from under their noses. My question is, "Where's the Motherly instinct?" I couldn't help but feel that most women would go frantic if placed in similar situations, risking life and limb to protect their offspring... but not in this film.To be sure, the film has some redeeming qualities (I did enjoy how the film played the plot straight out, instead of throwing in the gratuitous plot-twist) but when coupled with the faults mentioned above, Kuchisake Onna stands out as an average J-Horror entry at best. One wishes that the director would have made the female parts more interesting, willful, and less fiendish. It would have made the film a lot more interesting.Bottom Line- Average J-Horror entry with some major faults.