| Kuchisake-Onna 2: The Scissors Massacre | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Rin Asuka Yukie Kawamura Mayuko Iwasa |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Kuchisake-Onna 2 is the prequel to the movie Kuchisake-Onna. It was released on March 22, 2008, and was directed by Kotaro Terauchi. It is based on a legend and some actual events that occurred in Japan. It deals with the origins of the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
Sixteen year old actress Rin Asuka takes the lead as high school girl Mayumi, whose face is disfigured by an attack with sulfuric acid. As more unfortunate events occur, it eventually leads her to becoming a supernatural mass murderer.
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The setting is Japan in 1978, from March to May. Mayumi Sawada lives a positive life. She is the fastest runner on her track team. Her family runs a farming business that is a success. She has feelings for the track team's captain, Seiji Moriyama, even though he's about to leave for college in Tokyo. Her sisters are doing well, too. The eldest, Sachiko, is about to become married, and Yukie does great business at the hair salon.
However, that happiness soon ends one night. While Sachiko and Yumie went out to Tokyo, Mayumi slept in Sachiko's room. Unfortunately, Sachiko's ex came in, believing that it was Sachiko in bed, and poured a whole bottle of sulfuric acid on her face. Soon after, he killed her mother – stabbing her in the mouth – before being shot in the head by Mr. Sawada. Mayumi was rushed to the hospital.
Meanwhile, rumors of the night had spread around. Upon her return to school, many people call her a "mutant girl", since she covers her face with a surgery mask. However, she still had her family, friends, and Seiji, who writes letters to her. Mayumi noticed a woman in a red coat standing outside her house one day, but she soon disappeared.
Things only became worse when her father committed suicide, as a way of saving the family's debts with his life insurance. Mayumi saw the red coat woman again, but she vanished once more. Her two friends began to distance from her, admitting to another student that they "wouldn't say [they were] best friends..." Now all Mayumi had were her sisters and Seiji. However, back in Tokyo, Seiji himself has his own girlfriend, and has been ignoring her letters.
The red coat woman had shown up once again, this time in Mayumi's house. Home alone, Mayumi calls Yukie and begs her to come home. After the phone conversation, she hides in the kitchen when the red coat woman appears once again. The woman makes it to the kitchen, but as Mayumi screams, it actually is Sachiko, who just got home.
The next day, the news announces that two high school girls were killed by a woman with scissors. The two girls are revealed to be Mayumi's friends. Despite how they treated her, she goes to their funeral to mourn. There, she meets Seiji, who was back in town until the next day. Mayumi wants to spend time with him one last time before he leaves so Tokyo again, so he promises to take her to "their view" the next morning.
Later that night, Mayumi goes to Yoshizawa Hair Salon and asks Yukie if she could have a hair cut, so she would look nice for Seiji. Eventually, Yukie is able to slide her in for one, but they were moved to the other side of the room.
The next morning, Seiji begins to talk about the rumors that he heard of him and Mayumi "going out". He tries to let her down easy, saying that he's always seen her as a little sister. She assumes it is because of her face. Seiji denies this, but when she asks again, she takes her mask off. Hesitant, he tells her that he's already seeing someone. On the walk back, he ignores her. The next scene shows a bloody Mayumi cleaning off a pair of scissors. In the flashback, it shows the red coat woman killing Seiji, as well as the two high school girls. It is revealed that the red coat woman is Mayumi, as some sort of alter ego.
With Mayumi's friends' murders, Seiji's going missing, and Mayumi's odd behavior, Yukie begins to become suspicious of her. While Mayumi is in school, Yukie comes home early and searches her room. To her dismay, her suspicions came true when she found the bloody dress in her closet. She tells Sachiko about this, but with what's going on in their lives right now - with Sachiko's marriage and Yukie's great business - Sachiko didn't want to act on anything just yet. Soon, Mayumi realizes that her secret has been uncovered.
In the dining room, all three sisters sit quietly at the table. Mayumi hides the scissors behind her, and she unmasks herself before taking a drink of her orange juice. However, Sachiko had poisoned her drink with rat poisoning. Mayumi eventually dies, lying on the floor, so Sachiko begins to clean up the mess. To cover her up, Sachiko places a beige trench coat over her body. Yukie, shocked at what just happened, reluctantly helps her clean the mess up. The two sisters take the body out in the middle of the woods and bury her body.
The next day, the two resume their normal lives. Though Yukie has more trouble coping, Sachiko stays home and cleans, thinking about her upcoming days with her husband and her yet-to-be-born child. However, Mayumi mysteriously returns from the grave. She goes to the hair salon, killing Yukie and her employer. It isn't too long before she returns home. Sachiko begins to run, but returns to the kitchen to grab a knife. She successfully stabs Mayumi, so she runs away. She searches for help before seeing a market of people just ahead of her. Relief was soon taken from her as Mayumi stabs her repeatedly with her scissors. Before falling to the ground, she hears Mayumi ask her, "Am I... pretty...?"
As it begins to rain, Mayumi looks up at the sky. Then, she sees a young boy look at her in horror. She stares back at him for a moment before going after him with an abnormally crazed face.
These are the facts that appear before the ending credits begin.
On May 18, 1978, a serial killer claimed thirteen lives and injured 52. Police found evidence linking them to murders of two other high school girls. A witness at Yoshizawa Hair Salon identified Mayumi Sawada as a suspect. A knife and large quantities of blood were discovered in the Sawada residence. Prints on the knife matched those of Sachiko Sawada, but not the blood type. The blood type matched Mayumi Sawada but due to lack of advanced DNA testing, conclusive links were never made and the case remains unsolved. Seiji Moriyama's body was never found. Mayumi Sawada's whereabouts are still unknown...