Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman

Foreign Film from Japan - Japanese Title: Kuchisake-onna
Language - Japanese
Subtitles are in English
Genre - Horror (Foreign)
Year Released - 2007
Running Time - 90 minutes
Directed by Koji Shiraishi
Written by Koji Shiraishi & Naoyuki Yokota
Cast Includes:
Eriko Sato (who is also in Cutie Honey - currently in my Netflix Queue)
Haruhiko Kato (who is also in Kairo - Japan's Pulse)
Miki Mizuno

Rating: 4 Skulls

Plot Summary:

30 years ago, a Japanese suburb was terrorized by the vengeful spirit of a woman in a surgical mask who asked her victims, "Am I Pretty?" before slaughtering them.

Now, children in the community are disappearing again, leaving police and teachers to discover the reason and put an end to the new wave of carnage.

Review:

When The Ring first came out, in 2002, I absolutely loved it!!
I immediately went out and bought Ringu (the 1998 Japanese movie that it is based on) and I then rented all of its sequels. After watching those, I then bought Koji Suzuki's book that Ringu was based on.
Needless to say, all of this culminated in my love of Foreign Horror. (Unfortunately, aside from The Ring, every American Re-make of a Japanese Horror Film has failed miserably, in my opinion.)
I eventually gravitated from Japanese Horror, to Korean Horror, to German Horror, to French Horror, etc. The French, I believe, are currently producing the Best Horror Films out there, right now (films such as Haute Tension, Them, Frontiere(s), and Inside)

Browsing through my Netflix Recommendations, I came across the film that I am about to tell you about - Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman - this movie is actually based on an actual Japanese Urban Legend, which makes it that much more interesting. Like I mentioned in the Plot Summary, it is about a woman who appears, suddenly, wearing a surgical mask and wielding a pair of scissors that have got to be 2 feet long! (I kid you not)
Why she asks, "Am I Pretty?" is never explained though. . .
What makes this woman even more Freaky is that she has the capability to possess others, so even if you do manage to kill her, she merely jumps into another body, which then actually becomes her - mask, scissors, and all.

This movie relies more on Story than on Gore (which I think is better anyhow) There is actually an underlying morality tale about child abuse woven throughout the story.

If you are a fan of J-Horror, then I definitely recommend this movie.
If you are not familiar with J-Horror, this movie would not be a bad introduction.

I was going to provide you with a Trailer for the movie, in case I peaked your interest, however I have not yet figured out how to add a trailer to my Blog - please bear with me! :-)

Jason