口裂け女 Kuchisake-onna (The Slit-Mouthed Woman aka Carved)

(2007)***1/2

If I’ve learned anything from J-horror is that there are many urban legends in Asian culture and it’s generally accepted that ghosts are real and occasionally go awry. In The Slit-Faced Woman there is a story among school children about a woman in a mask who catches and kills kids. She doesn’t do this for the usual angry ghost reason (i.e., vengeance) she does it because she’s insane. Adults appear to believe in her as well and generally chalk it up to something they must put up with – kind of like living somewhere where there are annual hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, etc. Thus, when kids start disappearing among murmurs of the slit-faced woman, parents keep a closer eye on their children but don’t make a big deal out of it.
Kyoko, an elementary school teacher, becomes personally involved when a child is nabbed under her watch – in her defense, there’s not much you can do when a crazy ghost shows up with the largest pair of scissors you’ve ever seen and threatens to cause you much personal damage if you attempt to intervene. As other children disappear Kyoko makes it her mission to save them, eventually teaming up with fellow teacher, Noboru, in a pact to stop the slit-faced woman’s reign of terror once and for all.


Wow, like many J-horror films, the Slit-Mouthed Woman packs a punch! One thing I love about this genre is that ghost attacks don’t just occur in the dark of night, they can happen anytime, which makes the threat even more frightening; you are never safe. In The Slit-Mouthed Woman the vengeful ghost thinks nothing of showing up on a schoolyard in the middle of the day to snatch a kid, which ups the creep factor.

The subject matter itself, children who are the victims of child abuse, would never pass muster in the American market. In the Slit-Faced Woman parents beat the living shit out of their kids – not just a slap but hard blows to the face. Although disturbing, it’s one of the reasons I love Asian cinema, anything is possible and there do not appear to be any limits to what can be shown onscreen. Everyone knows that a big American cinema taboo is killing children. I remember how shocking it was when the Blob in the 80s remake ate a kid. In J-horror nobody is safe, not even the children. Sure children are placed in peril in American horror movies, but we always know (wink wink) that they’ll be fine in the end. This is not the case in J-horror and it’s certainly not the case in the Slit-Faced Woman.

Like most J-horror films TSMW drips with atmosphere and dread, particularly in the climax, which involves a super-creepy house with no electricity. The climax is intense, disturbing, and unremitting – this is one powerful ghost - she’s pissed and she’s insane.