2008
Directed by Kotaro Terauchi
Starring Rin Asuka, Yukie Kawamura and Mayuko Iwasa
A few months back I reviewed Carved, the 2007 J-horror semi-classic (now that's a compliment) that gave us a sort of modern retelling of the Slit-Mouthed Woman urban legend. At the time I ordered the flick off Amazon, I wasn't even aware that it had a sequel, but lo and behold, there is. The universe works in mysterious ways sometimes, but much to my surprise, Carved 2 does an even better job than the original of taking the admittedly very frail framework of the folktale and making it emotional and resonant. It's rare when a horror film leaves me sad in a good way. Normally, sadness in horror equates to the "oh my God, I want to kill myself" kind of sadness. So 15 Fonzie cool points to the movie in this regard. If you're in the mood for something that will kick you in the gut, look no further.
PLOT: The movie's handy-dandy Wikipedia page calls this film a "prequel" to the original movie, but nothing could be further from the truth. It's more a straight-up redux - an alternate take, if you wiiiillllll (/Dusty Rhodes). The main character this time around is Mayumi Sawada (Asuka), good-natured 16-year-old girl living a charmed life. She's on the track team, appears to have a requited crush, and has two supportive older sisters. All of that comes crashing down when one of said older sister's spiteful ex-boyfriends sneaks into the house and pours sulfuric acid all over her face (believing it was the older sister, natch). Mayumi returns to school after the tragedy wearing a mask over her mouth, and it isn't long before the proverbial shit hits the fan, as various people who inconvenience/cross Mayumi wind up meeting a horrific end at the hands of the mysterious "red coat woman." The twists in the movie are quite predictable, but this is one of those movies where predictability isn't such a bad thing. Setup and payoffs. Vince Russo could learn a thing or two from this movie.
PLOT RATING: *** out of ****.
CHARACTERS AND ACTORS: All three of the sisters in this movie are painted very well, with approximately 713% more development and heart than Rob Zombie could ever hope to muster. The movie gives us decisions and quirks with all of the characters that make them genuinely memorable, and every actor in the film is more than up to the challenge. A good portion of the middle section of Carved 2 concerns the family tragedy that stems from the aforementioned acid bath, with the father eventually committing suicide to save the family's debts with life insurance money, making this flick at its heart a story about three sisters dealing with internal (financial burden) and external (a whole heap o' murder) hardships. Even Seichi - the guy at school whom Mayumi is smitten with - is written to be likable and thoughtful where pretty much any American writer would make the guy an emo douchebag. Add another 30 Fonzie cool points to the movie here, because these people will stick with you after the movie's startling-in-the-best-way finale.
CHARACTERS AND ACTORS RATING: A very Dave Meltzer-esque **** out of ****.
COOL FACTOR: *** 1/2 out of ****.
OVERALL: I've got to hand it to Kotaro Terauchi (the director and also screenwriter) on this one, because he managed to take the original film and do it in an entirely different way that manages to, you know, not suck. In fact, it's a damn good film - not just by horror standards, but by any standard. If you're into J-horror in the slightest, I would quantify this as a must-watch, and even if you're not, check it out anyway. It's hard to find horror movies with a more likale, less douchey group of characters than this one.
OVERALL RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****. A little familiar at points to those with J-horror experience, but Ric Flair-esque in every other regard.
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