Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A film crew documents the mystery surrounding various individuals experiencing supernatural phenomenon.
Review: I often like to think of this as Japan's answer to the Blair Bitch...except better with an actual payoff beyond some dude jacking off in a corner while a, literal, snot-nosed brat fumbles with her camera. Though, while I do think this is a pretty good movie, I feel it's greatness and scares have been grossly exaggerated by fans; I mean, this has the same rating as "Shutter," and that is simply preposterous. Sure, the mystery is intriguing and the final implications of the film can be unsettling, but, at the end of the day, there are, maybe, two legitimately scary scenes. The real strong point is more toward the atmosphere as it creates a feeling of uncertainty, but, fundamentally, the film heads in just the direction you would expect anyway.
The story is overly convoluted so I will try to sum it up chronologically from my own understanding. For an unknown amount of time, a small town full of cult-like individuals would summon a demon called Kagutaba to do their bidding. One day, Kagutaba said "fuck this shit" and the townspeople had to imprison the demon. This led to the tradition of a yearly ritual to keep the demon from going apeshit. By the late '70s, the town was to be flooded by a dam's construction which led to one last ritual for Kagutaba; this resulted in the daughter of a priest, named Junko, being possessed by the demon. Junko, seemingly possessed for years, came to be a nurse that worked at, what I'm guessing was the, equivalent of an abortion clinic where she was responsible for disposing of the embryos. I don't know exactly what happened next, but we can assume somehow Junko was able to secure a body or host for Kagutaba to grow within; he would take on the role of her son. This led to the transition of Junko from being possessed to enthralled by the demon. Junko and the son then traveled about Japan, for unknown reasons, as they semi-possessed/cursed people they came across.
At this point, we are in the present time as these activities catch the attention of a documentary crew that investigates various supernatural phenomenon; this consists of the director or whatever he is, the camera guy, and an actress that was inadvertently cursed. This portion of the film is presented with all manner of clips edited together that show the demon's influence on various people's lives with most ending up dead. One of the best aspects of the film is when they come across an extraordinarily psychic girl named Kana. Kana's immense powers are somehow needed to complete Kagutaba's full summoning within the boy as she must be fed the embryos Junko had kept. While the crew tries to piece the mystery together, they are assisted by a guy named Hori who knows what's happening, but he cannot properly communicate this due to his apparent insanity from his own psychic powers. Toward the end, Kagutaba appears to have completed his resurrection as Junko is discarded and kills herself, Kana is killed, and the director idiotically decides to adopt the demon boy--not realizing he is Kagutaba. One night, Hori, breaking out of a mental institution, tries to kill Kagutaba but fails as the kid regenerates from his wounds. Realizing the jig is up already, Kagutaba enthralls Hori and seemingly kills the director and his wife. The ending explains that Hori was found dead a few days later, no one knows for sure what happened, and Kagutaba is out there...somewhere.
There are definitely a lot of interesting and well done aspects to the film. The acting is commendable and, along with an accurate representation of Japanese TV and editing, this goes a long way to enhance the sense of realism. The few scary moments that do show up are unexpected and memorable while the mystery and atmosphere keep you properly engaged. On the other hand, the film is way too drawn out, the characters often make nonsensical decisions, and the buildup to the finale can certainly feel underwhelming. I would recommend checking this one out, but I would never think to hype this to be on the level of something like "Shutter" or better than the entire Grudge franchise.
Notable Moment: When we see Kana being tested for psychic powers. Her character was really cool--it's a shame they didn't spend more time exploring her importance in the plot. Hell, they slapped her on the poster even...she could have done some next level Sadako shit.
Final Rating: 6/10
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