Because the character holding the camera is supposed to be a professional cameraman, Noroi largely avoids the headache-inducing shaky-cam popularized by legions of Blair Witch Project imitators. Noroi is a Japanese effort at the found-footage genre and comes off as one of the best. Noroi: The Curse is the Greatest Found Footage Horror Film Ever Made. In theory, this is what most found-footage horror movies attempt to do—but Noroi’s purity is rarer than you might think. The sheer plausibility of Noroi’s footage and presentation is part of what makes it such an effective horror film: despite featuring an investigation into supernatural events, Noroi consistently feels like a documentary first and a horror film second. When viewed through a YouTube window, some of Noroi’s more off-putting qualities—like the incredibly grainy VHS-style picture quality, which stands out even more in the HD era—are sneaky assets, helping the movie camouflage the fact that it’s a movie at all. The veneer of reality adds to its uncomfortableness. Director Kōji Shiraishi makes one brilliant choice upfront: Unlike most found-footage movies—which are usually presented as raw footage shot by a doomed amateur—Noroi is introduced as a mostly-completed "documentary" crafted by a seasoned journalist. Noroi: The Curse (ノロイ, Noroi) is a 2005 Japanese horror film directed and co-written by Kōji Shiraishi. It is not a spoiler to say that things don’t end well for Kobayashi; Noroi literally opens by explaining that Kobayashi’s house has burned down with his wife inside, and that Kobayashi himself has vanished. Ishii soon moves away, and Kobayashi and Miyajima return to her former residence to find dead pigeons on the property. The story would not have worked as effectively outside the mockumentary format. [3] Since its release, distribution of the film outside of Japan has been limited. The film works as it employs what is best about Japanese horror. It is available for streaming on Shudder.[3][4]. You are watching now the Noroi: The Curse movie has Horror Mystery Thriller Genres and produced in Japan with 115 min runtime. It’s why and how it happens, and what it means. Chasing these threads ultimately leads Kobayashi to an old ritual tied to a demon named Kagutaba. [3][4] The film has not received a DVD or Blu-ray release in the U.S.[3], Koichi Irikura of Cinema Today included Noroi: The Curse in his list of the best "documentary-style" horror films, calling the screenplay "excellent". Marika flees from Miyajima, but exhibits signs of possession. Hori's obscure directions lead Kobayashi and Miyajima to observe a man named Osawa, who takes pigeons into his home in a nearby apartment block. And because Kobayashi is experienced, the "found footage" is edited more like a conventional documentary meant to entertain and inform a mass audience, which means that Noroi—even at nearly two hours—is paced more like a real film than some weirdo’s old home movie. I'd classify it now as a Curse game. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Shown through the video recordings of his personal investigation and clips of television shows, the documentary ties together the threads of a collection of strange events known as The Curse (Noroi… It does get off to a slow start. LTD. in Japan. Kobayashi visits local historian, Tanimura, who tells him that Kagutaba is the name of a demon. Hori leaves with the boy, and Keiko becomes possessed, pouring gasoline on herself and setting herself alight and setting the house on fire. It’s true that when it’s bad, it’s really bad, but there are a few gems out there that make it all worthwhile. Actor Miyoko Hanai from Noroi: The Curse is cast as "Keiko Kobayashi." No, it’s not true, though. Haru's true identity is nothing more and nothing less, so there's no meaning to reading too much into her. This is the unconventional but successful trick at the heart of Noroi: By refusing to follow the beats and tropes of a normal horror movie, it ends up feeling real. So it isn't a true story. I believe that Noroi: the Curse is one of the best of the best within its subgenre. Noroi: The Curse is a Japanese mockumentary/found footage horror movie that was released around the tail-end of the found footage craze, right before the Paranormal Activity sequels hammered it into the ground.. Noroi also shares some style and vibe with supernatural horror movies like Sinister, with an evil spirit violently haunting anyone who looks too … I loved the segment with the last record of the ritual, it is found footage inside found footage. With Jin Muraki, Rio Kanno, Tomono Kuga, Marika Matsumoto. © 2021 Condé Nast. Kana Yano, a girl who exhibits psychic powers on a variety television program, disappears. If I have one complaint, it’s that—as great as Noroi: The Curse is—putting it on Shudder alongside horror classics like Night of the Living Dead and Halloween also gives the game away. Midori, along with six other people including Osawa, hanged themselves in a park using nooses similar in fashion to Marika's loops. It uses the documentary angle effectively to tell the story about the curse and its rituals, but it never relies too much on talking to move the story forward and doesn't need jump scares to be an effective film, because it's just so damn creepy it doesn't need it. I don’t want to say too much about Noroi’s plot, because one key to its success is throwing so many different things at the audience before revealing how they all come together. While all of these are excellent, none are as deeply unsettling as Noroi: The Curse. In Noroi: The Curse, the film's conclusion brings each storyline to a close but leaves a possible open-ended fate for one character — admittedly a solid creative choice. "[3], "10 Things You Didn't Know About Noroi: The Curse", "Does Shudder's 'Noroi: The Curse' Earn Its Reputation as the Scariest Found Footage Horror Film? It takes a while for the story to get going. The Blair Witch Project’s Heather begins the story as an overconfident amateur filmmaker, and ends by admitting she’s in way over her head. Chris: Noroi: The Curse is a little uneven, but it does a great job conveying a sense of creepiness via found footage trappings. Kobayashi's camera captures an apparition of Kana under a torii, surrounded by writhing fetuses. "[9] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting emphasized the film's "methodical storytelling", writing: "For many, it works. Noroi: The Curse Is a Genuinely Terrifying Hidden Gem The Japanese horror film from 2005 defies convention and has developed a cult-like following—and for … It has garnered generally positive reviews, with critics commending the presentation and pacing of its narrative. Ai Iijima's real age is N/A. She flees into the forest, pursued by Miyajima. As the narratives intersect in Kobayashi’s film, the horrible story of the curse begins to come to light. Like Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse , it shows us a Japan that's not the busy nation which we know. The aforementioned documentary begins to play, shown mostly through the recordings of Kobayashi's cameraman Miyajima. Makoto Inamori's real age is N/A. Noroi never falls into any such traps. Fans of Japanese horror in its many forms will be familiar with this trope and they do it so well. Hori, an eccentric psychic, claims that Kana was taken by "ectoplasmic worms." After filming at a shrine, actress Marika Matsumoto finds herself fashioning yarn and wires into interconnected loops in her sleep. "[4] Joshua Meyer of /Film wrote that the film, with its "intricate mythology", is "like seeing a whole season of The X-Files condensed down into two unsettling hours. He learns that Ishii worked at a nursing school where she helped perform illegal abortions and stole the fetuses. Actor Gôkyû from Noroi: The Curse is cast as "Guests of TV Program." However, I found it to be absolutely fascinating. A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the "kagutaba." Actresses Marika Matsumoto and Maria Takagi, among others, are … The film's cast also includes ac… An annual ritual was performed to appease Kagutaba until the village was demolished in 1978 to make way for a dam. Speaking to her parents, Kobayashi learns a man named Mitsuo Hori visited Kana. The boy briefly takes on the appearance of Kagutaba, and a ghostly Kana appears in a corner. Inside, they find that she has hanged herself, Kana is dead, and Ishii's young son is alive. Noroi: The Curse is filled with mystery and once the unknown is revealed to the viewer, the slow pace is well worth it! I was mesmerized by Kōji Shiraishi's 2005 Noroi: The Curse from beginning to end. Marika reveals that her neighbor Midori committed suicide by hanging. At first the plot kind of jumps around and it feels a bit like run of … Noroi’s commitment to documentary conventions is so absolute that it can be jarring if you’re not prepared for it. Osawa is later reported missing. Directed by Kôji Shiraishi. But you can also see how obscurity only fanned the flames of Noroi’s cult appeal. Some die-hard fans have been uploading Noroi: The Curse on YouTube time and again. Miyoko Hanai's real age is N/A. So ultimately, the question isn’t what happens to these characters. The film's cast also includes actress Marika Matsumoto, who plays a fictionalized version of herself,[2] as well as Rio Kanno, Tomono Kuga, and Satoru Jitsunashi. What follows is a strange mishmash of surreal imagery presented in a disarmingly straightforward way—dead pigeons, braided ropes, barking dogs—and a dread-inducing downward spiral. The fun part is watching everything start to fall in place. During the process of making a documentary titled The Curse, Kobayashi disappeared after his house burnt down and his wife Keiko was found dead in the ruins. They just (WARNING: possible spoiler, but also not really a spoiler) get devoured by it. So what makes Noroi stand out from the dozens of bad, cheap imitators that cropped up in the wake of The Blair Witch Project, which came out five years earlier? The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Kobayashi discovers that the daughter is Junko Ishii. Kobayashi sets up a camera to record her one night and captures a voice saying the word "Kagutaba." In an ideal world, this movie would still be hiding among all the amateur documentaries you can find on YouTube, ready to make anyone who stumbles onto it spend some sleepless nights wondering just how much of it was real. “The Curse” by Ryan Green is a true crime story about Leonarda Cianciulli, an Italian serial killer who murdered women to prevent her son’s getting killed as he was going to join the army during WW2. Ad Choices, Noroi: The Curse Is a Genuinely Terrifying Hidden Gem. It stars Jin Muraki as Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal researcher investigating a series of mysterious events for a documentary. After Kobayashi and Marika perform the ritual, Hori becomes agitated and runs into a nearby forest, and Kobayashi follows him. ", "5 Scary As F*ck Movies Streaming on Shudder in March 2020", "Film Review: Noroi: The Curse (Noroi) (2005)", "8 Great Asian Horror Films That Hollywood Hasn't Remade", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noroi:_The_Curse&oldid=991511212, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Indeed, people in the periphery of this story are also affected, most of them in a frightful manner. But the absence of an official release had an unintentional but potent side effect: It allowed Noroi to spread across the internet like an urban legend. Because until earlier this year, it was very, very difficult for anyone who wasn’t in Japan to track it down. Found-footage movies have a bad reputation among horror fans—which is fair, since most of them are terrible. One early scene shows a ghostly figure briefly appearing in the woods. I would, uh, never endorse watching a movie this way (and for the record: Now that it’s on Shudder, or for purchase on iTunes, that’s how you should watch it). The Japanese horror film from 2005 defies convention and has developed a cult-like following—and for good reason. "[7] Rob Hunter of Film School Rejects praised the film for "delivering an engrossing and increasingly terrifying experience packaged in the form of a supremely competent production. Kobayashi returns to Tanimura, who shows him a scroll depicting how Kagutaba was first summoned, wherein baby monkeys were fed to a medium. [6] Niina Doherty of HorrorNews.net called Noroi: The Curse "the best found footage film of the decade", referring to it as "well crafted, credible and most important of all, genuinely scary. [5] In March 2020, the film was added to Shudder's catalog in the United States. Noroi: The Curse opens with a warning: "This video documentary is deemed too disturbing for public viewing.” It spends the subsequent two hours living up to that warning. But just as you’re turning that moment over in your head, Noroi rewinds and freeze-frames the image of the figure in the woods and analyzes it closely—as, of course, any responsible documentarian would. Ishii's neighbor and her daughter die in a mysterious car crash. Cloverfield’s Rob and Beth begin the story by pretending they’re not in love, and confess they love each other just before the bombs start to drop. Many people encountered Noroi for the first time in bootleg subtitled copies that were uploaded in full to torrent sites or YouTube by devoted fans. Wikipedia says it's just a mockumentary. For others, it'll drag without a satisfying payoff to merit the pacing. Even if the movie didn’t tell you about its closing tragedy in its opening text, it’s obvious that Kobayashi and Matsumoto have walked into a trap they can’t recognize until they’re already caught, and that everyone around them will be dragged in as well. Noroi: The Curse 2005 A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the kagutaba. The film focuses on Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal researcher who has produced a series of books and documentaries on supernatural activity around Japan. Noroi: The Curse Review. Noroi: The Curse opens with a warning: "This video documentary is deemed too disturbing for public viewing.” It spends the subsequent two hours living up to that warning. The claims that Antrum is cursed have also migrated to other social media platforms, like Twitter, and have sent the movie’s popularity soaring on Amazon Prime. Of course, that’s not strictly true and there is a certain connection that ties all of these people together and to this curse, but it doesn’t mean that others can’t get hurt. For having a … [3] On June 1, 2017, it was made available for streaming in Canada on the video on demand service Shudder. Told through a compilation of television shows and interviews and documentary-style footage, it tells a spooky ghost story in a very modern way. But I wouldn't call Noroi a ripoff or remake. Noroi is one of them. As Kobayashi struggles to get to his feet, the video ends. Continue scrolling to keep reading Click the button below to start this article in quick view. A year and a half earlier, Kobayashi investigates a woman named Junko Ishii and her son after her neighbor hears the sound of crying babies coming from her house. Masafumi Kobayashi and his ally Marika Matsumoto—an actress, like The Blair Witch Project’s Heather, playing a fictionalized version of herself under her real name—are perfectly credible protagonists. It stars Jin Muraki as Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal researcher investigating a series of mysterious events for a documentary. Marika abruptly recovers. It is learned that Ishii's "son" is not her biological child; Kobayashi adopts him. The film was released in Japan in 2005. It stars Jin Muraki as Masafumi Kobayashi, a paranormal researcher investigating a series of mysterious events for a documentary. It also runs a bit long. Marika recovers, and Hori is placed in a mental institution, only to escape and be found dead a day later. Most found-footage movies at least try to sneak in a few traditional cinematic building blocks, like character arcs. The story is pure Japanese, the lost village, the forbidden ritual, and the kugataba, the demon. This immediately fixes several problems that typically plague found-footage movies. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of enjoyment, Noroi's place in horror remains fascinating. Meanwhile, Kobayashi and Hori find the villagers' dogs slaughtered near a secluded shrine in the woods. De-da-da-daaa-n. How Shiro no Noroi was born. It is best to watch Noroi: The Curse by knowing little or nothing about it save that it is a fake paranormal vhs doc, the last of its line, as the researcher responsible has disappeared after uncovering a story too vast to be fit onto vhs cassettes. The other day I managed to see what might be the most complex one yet, one that doesn’t sacrifice story for the sake of cheap shocks.This film, my friends, is Noroi the Curse, from director Kôji Shiraishi. Noroi: The Curse. But we don’t really learn anything about them, and they don’t change or grow from their encounters with the demon Kagutaba. This film, my friends, is Noroi the Curse, from director Kôji Shiraishi. Kobayashi specializes in the supernatural, and his latest project tackles a series of seemingly disconnected mysteries: a creepy house where neighbors always hear the sound of crying babies, a string of sudden and bizarre deaths, an adolescent girl with apparent psychic powers, and a ghost-hunting reality TV show that goes very, very wrong. Shiraishi, Kōji. In a normal horror movie, this would be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment designed to make you go, Did I really just see that? And it’s hard to imagine a better way to enhance this movie’s already disturbing sense of realism than dropping it on YouTube devoid of any context, where curious, brave viewers could swap the link on message boards and debate just how much of it was real. And as usual, the movie gets blocked… GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Other found-footage-style mockumentary films directed by Kōji Shiraishi: This page was last edited on 30 November 2020, at 13:15. The tape inside shows the events that led to the destruction of Kobayashi's house: a crazed Hori arrives at the house, declares Ishii's "son" to be Kagutaba, incapacitates Kobayashi, and bludgeons the child with a rock. Noroi doesn’t bother with anything like that. The residents of a village called Shimokage once summoned Kagutaba, but imprisoned it for disobeying their commands. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. The final ritual, which was filmed, was performed by a priest and his daughter. Noroi: The Curse (ノロイ, Noroi) is a 2005 Japanese horror film directed and co-written by Kōji Shiraishi. The other day I managed to see what might be the most complex one yet, one that doesn’t sacrifice story for the sake of cheap shocks. Brought to you by Watch4HD.net and directed by Kôji Shiraishi, A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the “kagutaba.” His video, formerly considered too disturbing to show to the public, is the main segment of the movie. It’s true that when it’s bad, it’s really bad, but there are a few gems out there that make it all worthwhile. "[8], Writer Megan Negrych noted that the film "weaves together a complex story of curses, demons, and the forgotten with strong attention paid to atmospheric tension and the slow-building narrative in order to pursue a more subtle and highly effective horror experience. Noroi: The Curse lives in a world that is constructed by demons and curses, rituals and shady towns. It's the same trick that Blair Witch used, more or less, and there are some other similarities between the two movies. Kōji Shiraishi’s Noroi: The Curse frames itself as a realistic documentary about some disturbing paranormal activity, but the film’s story slowly gets out of control. The film employs a pseudo-documentary style of storytelling[1] and utilizes found footage conventions, with the majority of the narrative being presented as if it were Kobayashi's documentary, made up of footage recorded by Kobayashi's cameraman. For the better part of 15 years, Noroi was the subject of only occasional international screenings, and it never got a physical release in the United States. It is a desolate, lonely ghost town whose atmosphere is enough to send chills down the spine of anybody who dares to walk on its nigh empty roads. Noroi: The Curse is a slow-burner of a horror film, far less dependent on visual scares than similar J-horror films. Offering 2005’s mockumentary Noroi: The Curse up as a counterexample, the video below underlines how horror mockumentaries have what found footage wants. At the end of the ritual, the daughter became hysterical; Tanimura says that she was believed to have become possessed. 2005. Japanese Noroi: The Curse (ノロイ, Noroi) is a 2005 Japanese horror film directed and co-written by Kōji Shiraishi. After Marika experiences strange behaviors, she goes with Kobayashi, Miyajima, and Hori to the Shimokage dam to perform the ritual to appease Kagutaba, hoping that doing so will free her from the demon's influence. Text notes that Kobayashi is still missing. Actor Ai Iijima from Noroi: The Curse is cast as "Guest on TV Program." Noroi no video is a documentary horror series made for Broadway. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. Noroi: The Curse was released in Japan in 2005, and has received limited distribution elsewhere. The film employs a pseudo-documentary style of storytelling and utilizes found footageconventions, with the majority of the narrative being presented as if it were Kobayashi's documentary, made up of footage recorded by Kobayashi's cameraman. Noroi: The Curse may not be for everyone. All rights reserved. This is a documentary-style movie, which means that the entire film is a compilation of video clips that are linked by the legend of a demonic entity named Kagutaba. So if it’s so great, why haven’t you already seen Noroi? But broadly: Noroi is a 2005 horror movie presented as a polished but incomplete documentary by an independent journalist named Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki). Ishii tried replicating this by feeding the stolen fetuses to Kana. After Kobayashi's disappearance, his video camera is discovered in a package. Noroi: The Curse, … The novel was about 100 pages and I was able to finish it within a day. After delivering Marika and Hori to a hospital, Kobayashi and Miyajima break into Ishii's current home.
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