Check out my updated review! http://thevagrantrises.blogspot.com/2014/02/updated-review-1-pov-cursed-film.html
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A TV show's crew view a strange "ghost video" and decide to investigate the location first hand.
Review: We have yet another "found-footage" style film here, although this film is mostly observed through the lens of the TV crew's cameramen. I must really love these movies because I keep finding myself watching them! I was actually surprised how much I liked this movie. It had some impressive effects and shots for a low-budget, Japanese horror movie. The story is also unique in that the crew is trying to film a simple show but decide to add "ghost videos" as a segment to said show. The two leads, Haruna Kawaguchi and Mirai Shida, are cute and do a commendable job making the audience care about their well being. When watching one of the videos, it keeps changing each time they rewind it which I found to be a nice touch. While there are some cheap, jump scares, for the most part, this film sticks to some genuine scares that, I must say, are original for once; the scares do play off some known cliches, but there was a great deal of creativity in the execution. The atmosphere works well here, the pacing is decent enough, and the ending was interesting and, once again, quite original. Also, make sure you stay to the very last second as you might actually miss out on a few things. As for the downside: some of the effects are shoddy, the acting is weak at some parts, there was a highly predictable plot twist in the middle, a lot is left unexplained, and certain plot elements were not fleshed out properly, but none of this is to a degree that it hurts the film significantly. In fact, these are more minor grievances that I wish could have been rectified to bring this film to its maximum potential. I honestly believe this movie has the potential of being one of the greats due to its originality and tight pacing of scares, but I wish certain things could be changed or improved on to launch it into legendary status alongside films like "The Grudge" and "Ringu." It's so hard to come up with original and successful scares that I have to recommend this film for those facts alone even if this isn't necessarily as scary as it could be. Much like "White: The Melody of the Curse," this film is severely overlooked when it deserves some serious attention. Definitely give this one a chance, and it's on youtube for free!
Notable Moment: When the main girls are watching their footage at the movie theater and all the accompanying scenes up until the final shot.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
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