Noroi: The Curse (2005)

I finally got around to watching this Japanese found footage horror that I’ve been curious about. It seemed every time I browsed the Facebook and Reddit horror groups, and someone asked about recommendations for Japanese or found footage horror, Noroi: The Curse always seemed to come up. I rented it on YouTube for about 2 bucks.

The story focuses on a prominent paranormal journalist named Kobayashi who goes missing shortly after completing his latest documentary. He spends time researching alleged hauntings and occult phenomena, where he interviews various witnesses and several psychics. Among those he crosses paths with are actress/psychic Marika, a weird psychic named Hori who appears mentally disturbed, a clairvoyant child named Kana who displays her psychic powers on a TV show, and a few other witnesses and historians. His investigation eventually leads him to research an annual ritual that was practiced in an old village called Shimokage, where the locals would do it to appease a demon named Kagutaba, until the village was abandoned in 1978. The further he delves into his research, the more links he finds to those he’s been interviewing, as well as several mysterious deaths and disappearances that have occurred.

This movie takes a bit of time to unveil everything. At around the 20 minute mark, I found myself wondering what all the hype was about, and hoping the movie would get better. It seemed like a bunch of random segments that had no relation to one another. Soon after, though, all the random characters and stories come together and form a cohesive narrative. From then on, the film remains creepy and compelling as the mystery deepens. All of the acting is good, with the possible exception of the character of Hori, who at first seems goofy and over-the-top. He gets crazier as the film progresses, but by the horrific and brutal climax, his insanity enhances the effectiveness of the story. This is one of those slow burn tales that eventually gets under your skin. It’s very good and once it was over, it lingered in my mind for a while. This is one of the better Japanese / found footage horror films I’ve seen. Now I see why it received so many recommendations.

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