‘Kuchisake Onna 0: Beginning’ ready to eviscerate a dead horse

Here's yet-another movie based on the Kuchisake Onna (slit-mouthed woman) urban legend, Kazuto Kodama's Kuchisake Onna 0: Beginning. Of course from that title you'd assume it's a direct prequel to 2007's "Kuchisake Onna" (aka "Carved" in the US) starring Eriko Sato, et al. But considering that's what Kuchisake Onna 2 was, this one is likely unrelated.

The Kuchisake Onna legend has probably been around for hundreds of years, but it went urban in 1970s. It has countless variations, but the general idea is that a woman in a surgical mask will approach you and ask if she's beautiful. The mask is then removed, revealing that her mouth is slashed open on both sides. And, depending on which variation of the story you go with, you're probably dog meat soon thereafter.

“Beginning” centers around two sisters, Yayoi (Mai Endo) and Misato (Miyu Oriyama), who have a close, loving relationship. However, Misato has always been insecure about a facial scar caused by a burning accident as a child so she decides to get it removed by a plastic surgeon. On the way home from the hospital the two girls get into an argument while walking through a wooded area and Masato falls down, discovering a human skeleton. From that point on Misato begins to behave very strangely. Gruesome murders soon begin occurring around the two of them as Yayoi is pushed to her mental limit.

Endo is a member of “Idoling!!!”, the teen idol group Fuji TV put together in October of 2006 after a massive audition process. Oriyama is a newcomer.

Trailer:

“Kuchisake Onna 0: Beginning” will be screened at Theater Image Forum in Shibuya on December 6 and the DVD (no subtitles) will be released on January 2, 2009.

Sources: PAL-EP / Minipara.com / Gomorrahy.com

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Tags: akira koyasumi, idoling, kazuto kodama, kuchisake onna, mai endo, miho harita, miyu oriyama, mochihito igarashi, toru shinagawa, yurei yanagi