The Curse (2005 film)
| The Curse | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Kôji Shiraishi |
| Produced by | Takashige Ichise |
| Screenplay by |
Kôji Shiraishi Naoyuki Yokota |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Shozo Morishita |
| Edited by | Nobuyuki Takahashi |
Production company |
Xanadeux Company |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $2 million |
The Curse (ノロイ Noroi) is a 2005 Japanese horror, found footage film in the form of a documentary. The movie was directed by Kôji Shiraishi, and is unusually long and complex[1] for the J-Horror genre, being just under two hours in length, and having a main cast of well over twenty-five characters.
Plot
The film focuses on Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal expert who produced a series of books and documentaries on supernatural activity around Japan. He disappeared in the process of making his most disturbing documentary, The Curse. His house burnt down and his wife Keiko was found dead in the ruins. The aforementioned movie begins to play, shown mostly through the recordings of Kobayashi's cameraman Miyajima.
Kobayashi investigates a woman named Junko Ishii and her son after her neighbour hears strange noises coming from her house. Kobayashi learns Ishii has moved out, and finds dead pigeons surrounding her house. Ishii's neighbour and her daughter die in a mysterious car crash a week later. Kana Yano, a girl who exhibits psychic powers on a variety television programme, disappears shortly after. Speaking to her parents, Kobayashi learns a man named Mitsuo Hori visited Kana. Hori, a strange, psychic man, who wears a tin foil hat and coat, claims Kana was taken by "ectoplasmic worms", drawing an obscure map of a blue building and asks Kobayashi what "Kagutaba" is. Kobayashi and Miyajima track the blue building to a nearby apartment block where they witness a man, Osawa, taking pigeons into his house. He is later reported to have gone missing.
Actress Marika Matsumoto is haunted by a malevolent spirit whilst filming at a shrine, and unknowingly sleepwalks and fashions looped nooses from wires. Kobayashi records her, discovering a deep voice on the tape that says Kagutaba, which Marika identifies as a voice she heard at the shrine. Kobayashi learns that Kagutaba is a demon, summoned by a religious village called Shimokage, but they imprisoned it underground for disobeying them. An annual ritual was performed to appease Kagutaba, but the village was demolished in 1978 to make way for a dam. Kobayashi is shown the recorded final ritual by a historian, where the daughter of the ritual priest is possessed by Kagutaba. Kobayashi tracks the daughter down, discovering she is Junko Ishii. Kobayashi learns Ishii worked at a nursing school where she helped with illegal abortions and stole the embryos.
Marika visits Kobayashi, revealing her neighbour hanged herself using similar nooses she made. Six other people died too, including Osawa. Kobayashi learns Ishii likely influenced Osawa to worship Kagutaba. Marika exhibits demonic possession; she, Kobayashi and Hori go to the Shimokage dam to perform the ritual so Marika can be free of Kagutaba. They perform the ritual, only for Hori to run off in panic, claiming to see Kana. Marika exhibits demonic possession again. Kobayashi and Hori find a secluded shrine, finding mutilated animals. Kobayashi sees Kana covered in undead fetuses. Marika recovers, and both she and Hori are taken to a hospital.
Kobayashi and Miyajima find Ishii has hanged herself and her house is dedicated to Kagutaba. They find Kana's body and Ishii's young son alive, Kobayashi adopting the boy. The historian shows Kobayashi a scroll describing how Kagutaba was first summoned, which Ishii tried replicating by feeding stolen embryos to Kana, who she kidnapped and used as a medium. Marika recovers, whilst Hori is placed in a mental institution, only to escape, and then be found dead a day later.
After Kobayashi's disappearance, Miyajima receives his video camera which shows events that led to the destruction of Kobayashi's house - a crazed Hori attacks Ishii's son claiming he is Kagutaba, and Kobayashi sees through the camera that the boy has blood on his face and Kana's ghost stands in a corner. Keiko suddenly becomes possessed and sets herself alight, whilst Hori leaves with Kagutaba. The film ends noting Kobayashi is still missing.
Cast
- Jin Muraki as Masafumi Kobayashi
- Marika Matsumoto as herself
- Rio Kanno as Kana Yano
- Tomono Kuga as Junko Ishii
- Maria Takagi as herself
- Ai Iijima as a TV program guest
- Satoru Jitsunashi as Mitsuo Hori
Reception
The movie received generally high reviews, though some critics were displeased by its unusually long and complicated plotline. However, this departure from the typical J-Horror template found favor with most critics, particularly those who specialize in the horror genre.
See also
- Occult (2009), another found footage mockumentary by the same director
- Shirome (2010), another found footage mockumentary by the same director
- Chō Akunin (2011), another found footage mockumentary by the same director
- Bachiatari bouryuku ningen (2011), another found footage mockumentary from the same director.
External links
- Noroi at the Internet Movie Database
References
- ↑ 3:AM Magazine, "If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It): An Interview with Koji Shiraishi," by David F. Hoenigman (November 29th, 2009 - retrieved on September 23rd, 2011).
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