Tsuruta Norio's "Kakashi" caught my attention because of the obscure mental association I made with the "Kakashi-Dori" festival held annually in the Kaminoyama-shi city in Yamagata-ken prefecture. I wonder if Tsuruta had this in mind when he made this film. If he releases a sequel called "Kase-Dori"... well, never mind. Besides being rather short and less-than-satisfying in its plot resolution, my primary complaint about this film is the horrid transfer on the Region 3 DVD which is quite good for the daylight scenes, but irritatingly pixelated during the low-light and night shots. And being a low-budget horror flick, this turkey has a lot of shadowy and nocturnal footage which I had a hard time following because my attention was constantly being diverted to the ever-changing patches of pixels fading in and out. Yuck. As for the movie, Yoshikawa Kaoru (Nonami Maho)is searching for her brother Tsuyoshi (Matsuoka Shunsuke), who has disappeared. A search of his apartment turns up an ambiguous and messily-scrawled letter from a girl in Kozukata-machi, a small rural village. Kaoru drives to Kozukata on the eve of their "Kakashi-matsuri" festival, where she finds the cliche "little town with a secret", along with her brother. Unless there is a longer version of the film out there, the character development is as thin as both the plot and the special effects budget. Perhaps the movie's budget was blown on bringing in HK actress Grace Ip to play the very out of place Kozukata resident who barely speaks any Japanese. She even has a Chinese surname in the movie, which does little to explain why she's there in the middle of the rural Japanese heartland. Shibasaki Kou (who reminds me of a short Esumi Makiko) plays the mysterious girl who lured Tsuyoshi to Kozukata, and does a decent job with the sparse camera time she gets. The one thing that impressed me about this movie was the excellent lighting and cinematography of the daylight scenes depicting the beauty of a small rural farming village. Other than that, let the renter beware and the buyer be laughed at.
19 Reviews
Kakashi
S_man2829 December 2004
Kakashi is not horror movie but it tries to be. It should be a werid Japanese drama. The movie has some great ideas but the director doesn't know how to finish them effectively. The movie if made again with all the great ideas could be a very effective horror movie. There some questions they never answered Why did Kaorus brother light his girl friend on fire? Why did the girl friend act so strange? Why was it so easy to find the village where Kaoru brother was? Why was the girl friend so powerful? and why did the dead become walking scarecrows? The movie was hard to understand. They really needed a screen writer to explain more and not go to fast. If the comic was this there's no way any Japanese person could understand what the hell was going on.
Very strange can't recommend it but if screen writers are looking for horror ideas watch this movie.
**
Very strange can't recommend it but if screen writers are looking for horror ideas watch this movie.
**
Slow, but sensitive
mandiapple7 November 2002
I haven't read the Kakashi manga by Junji Ito that this movie is based on, but I've never known Ito to put a foot wrong yet. I've read a lot of fairly awful reviews of this film - slow, boring etc. - but I kind of have to disagree with them. Yes, Kakashi is a slow-paced film, not much in the way of horror... but it does work very well as a kind of weird drama, although some of the scarecrow scenes are a little... silly, perhaps?
The cinematography is lovely, the story is sensitively handled, and the soundtrack is beautiful... and Kou Shibasaki is even more evil than her role as Mitsuko in Battle Royale ;)
I enjoyed it a lot and I'd definitely recommend it, but more on a drama basis than a horror - it's really not very scary IMHO, compared to some other Japanese films.
The cinematography is lovely, the story is sensitively handled, and the soundtrack is beautiful... and Kou Shibasaki is even more evil than her role as Mitsuko in Battle Royale ;)
I enjoyed it a lot and I'd definitely recommend it, but more on a drama basis than a horror - it's really not very scary IMHO, compared to some other Japanese films.
I feel like I got fooled by the positive reviews.
Christine_Plymouth_Fury195820 April 2012
I love a good horror or thriller, no matter how long and dragging the dialogues, but this is not one of those. It's more of a drama with one of the most irritating protagonist I've had the misfortune to come across. Seriously, I wanted to slap the beejeezus out of her. But if you like squeaky, fickle-minded women who consistently makes bad decisions and runs like a lame chicken, you have a winner here.
I was initially excited by the movie concept. Scarecrows are one of my top choices when it comes to horror "monsters", for lack of a better word. Early on, I caught the plot of the entire movie and the probable spin they'll make in the end. I thought it was nice, nostalgic even, since it reminded me a bit of Pet Sematary. Sadly, the movie did not rise to its full potential, but fell flat on its face with a loud thud.
It was like they couldn't decide which direction to go, long-haired ghost woman or scarecrow zombies...in the end, it fell short on both.
If you really want to believe the positive reviews, go ahead, but it would be wise that you don't spend hard-earned money on this. You just might bang your head on the wall right after.
I was initially excited by the movie concept. Scarecrows are one of my top choices when it comes to horror "monsters", for lack of a better word. Early on, I caught the plot of the entire movie and the probable spin they'll make in the end. I thought it was nice, nostalgic even, since it reminded me a bit of Pet Sematary. Sadly, the movie did not rise to its full potential, but fell flat on its face with a loud thud.
It was like they couldn't decide which direction to go, long-haired ghost woman or scarecrow zombies...in the end, it fell short on both.
If you really want to believe the positive reviews, go ahead, but it would be wise that you don't spend hard-earned money on this. You just might bang your head on the wall right after.
Creepy, but let down by a limp ending.
Mike Astill24 January 2002
Effectively creepy Japanese horror, about a young girl searching for her lost brother. She follows his trail to a mysterious village, where the occupants are readying scarecrows or kakashi for a rural festival. Naturally the villagers and the kakashi are not as they seem.
Disappointingly, the ending of the film is a bit of a damp squib. Performances are also uninspiring; Nonami Maho is very pretty but seems unable to bring her character to life. Shibasaki Kou is terrific, but she doesn't get much in the way of screen time. Chinese cutie Grace Ip guests for some reason, which is very welcome, but her inclusion seems tacked on and unnecessary.
That said, there are some genuinely eerie moments during the film's opening hour or so, which put me in mind of the Wicker Man a few times. It's not a waste of time, by any means, but Kakashi could have been a whole lot better.
Disappointingly, the ending of the film is a bit of a damp squib. Performances are also uninspiring; Nonami Maho is very pretty but seems unable to bring her character to life. Shibasaki Kou is terrific, but she doesn't get much in the way of screen time. Chinese cutie Grace Ip guests for some reason, which is very welcome, but her inclusion seems tacked on and unnecessary.
That said, there are some genuinely eerie moments during the film's opening hour or so, which put me in mind of the Wicker Man a few times. It's not a waste of time, by any means, but Kakashi could have been a whole lot better.
Dumb...plain and simple
andrushcourt5 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The thought of dead people being brought back to life through scarecrows really doesn't scare me at all. I watched this film in it's original form in Japanese and basically worked not to fall asleep.
The movie is predictable, boring and the premise is just comical. At times, I was thinking "why don't these people just carry some lighter fluid and a match." Here's the premise-this village of people bring dead people back to life through these stupid scarecrows. Of course, there's a bad apple-some freaky child ala Samara in the The Ring who was brought back or something like that. That screws everything up. This lady is looking for her long lost brother who ended up in this village. She finds him, escapes and of course at the end stays in the village.
When the scarecrows are chasing people, it's hard not to laugh. In short, the movie just sucked....bad. Add Jackie Chan and a flame thrower and you have a movie. The only scary part is the tunnel that you have to cross through to get to the village. Watch that over and over about 200 times and you may have a full length movie.
The movie is predictable, boring and the premise is just comical. At times, I was thinking "why don't these people just carry some lighter fluid and a match." Here's the premise-this village of people bring dead people back to life through these stupid scarecrows. Of course, there's a bad apple-some freaky child ala Samara in the The Ring who was brought back or something like that. That screws everything up. This lady is looking for her long lost brother who ended up in this village. She finds him, escapes and of course at the end stays in the village.
When the scarecrows are chasing people, it's hard not to laugh. In short, the movie just sucked....bad. Add Jackie Chan and a flame thrower and you have a movie. The only scary part is the tunnel that you have to cross through to get to the village. Watch that over and over about 200 times and you may have a full length movie.
Creepy thriller
dbborroughs6 February 2004
Although hampered by a budget that doesn't allow for sterling effects this is a creepy little thriller that works best when showing the least. The story has echoes of any one of a dozen other films from Spirited Away to Wicker Man, but there is something about the underlying tension and feeling that something thats not right thats makes the film watchable for me. Its the trip thats the joy here, not the destination simply because you'll probably know what that is way in advance of our heroine. As long as they keep the scarecrows in the distance this is a creepy little gem that should be seen by those who are willing to go with a good but flawed film.
boring and horribly wasting time
Mons66631 August 2002
It's a story about villagers bring back the souls of their love ones who passed away into scarecrow bodies. It's based on the horror manga story of Junji Ito. This is the 4th horror movie I watched based on Junji Ito's horror stories. Don't know if it's made by the same director... maybe not, but they seem to mess up every story and make them boring (long time till get to the point, fail to create the horror atmosphere). I was prepared to enjoy the movie when I first got my hands on it. But instead I was bored to anger. The only thing I haven't done is to get the cursing out of my mouth, which it would be pretty meaningless for cursing at the screen.
Sums up: it's a movie to waste time and money.
Sums up: it's a movie to waste time and money.
Lovely little suspense movie.
DazzaDaScarecrow7 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Quite a decent movie, a proper well paced slow burn with really nice acting from all characters. Some lovely dark moments especially near the end with some side characters from earlier in the movie. Supernatural element is pulled off nicely. The secondary plot is pulled off really nicely as well. The monsters appear underwhelming at first until near the end where it gets even darker (with aforementioned side characters). To be frank about the moralities of the characters there appears to only be a few victims who are truly innocent of any wrongdoing leaving plenty of grey area for your decision. The only thing putting me off from leaving it as 8 stars is the sound effect used near the beginning for a jump scare. The ambience of the wind and old lady's creepy smile is already enough and removing the sound would add to the eerie quiet and creeping dread. A good note to have taken would have been from the intro to 1988 Scarecrows where the zoom in is devoid of any loud noises, just the ambience to fill you with creeping dread. Overall a decent movie with a particularly harrowing scene, especially in the scarecrow horror movie sub-genre.
The movie had potential.....
trina_raven28 January 2005
I had high hopes for Kakashi. Much to my disappointment Kakashi failed to be scary. But it did succeed in being a bit boring. The director tries very hard to create a feeling of suspense but is unable to follow through. The movie does have several moments where the suspense potential is very high but the director seems to feel the need to rush through it. As far as the acting goes I thought that Maho Nonami & Kou Shibasaki did very well considering what they had to work with story wise. The music was good and much creepier then the story. The storyline also left me with more questions at the end of the movie. I just feel that more should have been explained. I hope that the comic was better written then the movie.
Subtle & Understated Horror
andrew-21711 January 2002
Subtle & Understated Horror, & yet all the better for it.
I have seen numerous 'horror' films & have to state that the vast majority are derivative & lacking. Kakashi however whilst dealing with a very tired subject matter approaches it in a very atmospheric way, relying on visuals & incidentals rather than narrative & action.
I cannot recommend this too highly, & if you want something a little different from the norm, give it a try, I think you may be pleasantly surprised I know I was.
I have seen numerous 'horror' films & have to state that the vast majority are derivative & lacking. Kakashi however whilst dealing with a very tired subject matter approaches it in a very atmospheric way, relying on visuals & incidentals rather than narrative & action.
I cannot recommend this too highly, & if you want something a little different from the norm, give it a try, I think you may be pleasantly surprised I know I was.
Worse than the typical horror film?
ichimaru5 December 2004
Kakashi, like quite a few other Japanese horror films, had an unresolved ending and an eskewed sense of logic.
Considering a horror film about "kakashi"/scarecrows of all things makes one wonder what the film is like. How do they make scarecrows scary? That is what I thought when I got this film.
However, the answer, in this case at least, is they can't. The scarecrows were easy to push away and tear apart even for the heroine, Kaoru, and they never once did anything that really showed any power to fear. In short, the monsters of the show were very weak. Excessively so.
The main villain, a psychotically obsessive woman who killed herself, is mostly an evil spirit who can make Kaoru have nightmares, taunts her inside the house, and who later becomes re-born as a scarecrow and dies in a blaze of laughing mania. A possible high point of the story, and the scene that reveals that Izumi was dead and why she died, ends up less than scary and more or less creepy. The woman was pathetically obsessed and completely manic in her childish flaunts of over-dramatic and emo-tistic emotion. This woman has problems, obviously.
In fact, it's safe to say that all of the characters involved in this story had some sort of problem. Kaoru had her incessant and obvious brother complex, Sally and Izumi's parents were obsessed with using scarecrows, and Izumi was... insane. Tsuyoshi was probably the least "humanized" of all the characters. Between Izumi and Kaoru, he seemed more of an object to be taken. Poor guy.
All in all, this movie wasn't frightening even in the nightmare, diary, and scarecrow/escape sequences like it possibly could have been. It was unbelievable in both story and in how poorly it was done. If you're looking for a good horror to give you a scare or even challenge your mind, this is not it.
Considering a horror film about "kakashi"/scarecrows of all things makes one wonder what the film is like. How do they make scarecrows scary? That is what I thought when I got this film.
However, the answer, in this case at least, is they can't. The scarecrows were easy to push away and tear apart even for the heroine, Kaoru, and they never once did anything that really showed any power to fear. In short, the monsters of the show were very weak. Excessively so.
The main villain, a psychotically obsessive woman who killed herself, is mostly an evil spirit who can make Kaoru have nightmares, taunts her inside the house, and who later becomes re-born as a scarecrow and dies in a blaze of laughing mania. A possible high point of the story, and the scene that reveals that Izumi was dead and why she died, ends up less than scary and more or less creepy. The woman was pathetically obsessed and completely manic in her childish flaunts of over-dramatic and emo-tistic emotion. This woman has problems, obviously.
In fact, it's safe to say that all of the characters involved in this story had some sort of problem. Kaoru had her incessant and obvious brother complex, Sally and Izumi's parents were obsessed with using scarecrows, and Izumi was... insane. Tsuyoshi was probably the least "humanized" of all the characters. Between Izumi and Kaoru, he seemed more of an object to be taken. Poor guy.
All in all, this movie wasn't frightening even in the nightmare, diary, and scarecrow/escape sequences like it possibly could have been. It was unbelievable in both story and in how poorly it was done. If you're looking for a good horror to give you a scare or even challenge your mind, this is not it.
Average Japanese horror movie
ebiros220 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Although the premise of the story is good, the story starts to fall apart because it's obvious that what's moving are not scarecrows, but human actors, and the reason for Izumi to come back was somewhat weak.
The movie would have been better if it didn't have the love connection between Izumi and Tsuyoshi, and was a strait laced horror movie, like the night of the living dead. The story's angle on what Kaoru wanted in the end was nice.
But overall, the reason why this all happened was weak. It had good material, but intrigue was low because of this.
It's not a bad movie, but not special either. It was a typical Japanese horror movie.
The movie would have been better if it didn't have the love connection between Izumi and Tsuyoshi, and was a strait laced horror movie, like the night of the living dead. The story's angle on what Kaoru wanted in the end was nice.
But overall, the reason why this all happened was weak. It had good material, but intrigue was low because of this.
It's not a bad movie, but not special either. It was a typical Japanese horror movie.
Kakashi is considered as a Horror Movie, but it isn't at all.
hessa3456 June 2004
Kakashi is considered as a Horror Movie, but it isn't at all. The story takes place in Kozukata village where the heroine brother was last seen. In this village loads of unexplained things happens..(eg. Why Kakashi is kinda worshiped by the village citizens?). Our heroine Kaoru has to face mysterious things, strange people that think about one special day .. The Kakashi Festival ..
The director tried to produce a Horror climate , but it wasn't enough and can't be noticed as well. The music was one of highlights of the film, really scary sometimes and dramatic on other points ( Thumps Up). By the way, Shinichro Ogata is the one who composed the music.
Another highlight of the movie is the stars act.. all of them acted very good and nicely. Maho Nonami who played Kaoru, the one who is searching for her missing brother.. is a good actress, but she needs more efforts to express her feelings .. The scary part is the role of Izume done by the well known actress Kou Sibasaki, she acted really good that you would feel that she is a Devil ( Thumps Up ), Grace Ip the well known HK star was good in the movie , although she was over reacting in some scenes. Shunsuke Matsuoka who played the missing brother was OK , the role was not that hard, he tried to put some efforts but the problem is that the his role is so limited and even the script writer didn't include any information as why did he went to the village and stayed for a week ?? Maybe , more explanation , would help Shunsuke to understand his role..
Overall, the movie is an average Dramatic Movie not a Horror , I advice you to rent it as in the end, loads of unexplained things would make a disappointment conclusion as 1 Hour and half should be enough to explain the concept of the story , but the movie failed to do that..
Rating: **/*****
" In Kazukata village .. Humans co-exist with Death "
The director tried to produce a Horror climate , but it wasn't enough and can't be noticed as well. The music was one of highlights of the film, really scary sometimes and dramatic on other points ( Thumps Up). By the way, Shinichro Ogata is the one who composed the music.
Another highlight of the movie is the stars act.. all of them acted very good and nicely. Maho Nonami who played Kaoru, the one who is searching for her missing brother.. is a good actress, but she needs more efforts to express her feelings .. The scary part is the role of Izume done by the well known actress Kou Sibasaki, she acted really good that you would feel that she is a Devil ( Thumps Up ), Grace Ip the well known HK star was good in the movie , although she was over reacting in some scenes. Shunsuke Matsuoka who played the missing brother was OK , the role was not that hard, he tried to put some efforts but the problem is that the his role is so limited and even the script writer didn't include any information as why did he went to the village and stayed for a week ?? Maybe , more explanation , would help Shunsuke to understand his role..
Overall, the movie is an average Dramatic Movie not a Horror , I advice you to rent it as in the end, loads of unexplained things would make a disappointment conclusion as 1 Hour and half should be enough to explain the concept of the story , but the movie failed to do that..
Rating: **/*****
" In Kazukata village .. Humans co-exist with Death "
This Is Sic
saint_brett29 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The description on the back of this DVD cover says that a woman must go to Kozukata-Mura, a cursed and insane village where people are mesmerized but (sic) the power of the Kakashi, (scarecrow.) A series (sic) strange matters will happen.
Oh brother. The two typos have offended me and the movie hasn't even started yet.
So, Kozukata-Mura is like 'Gymkata' with The Town of The Crazies, I take it?
I hope I don't have to read subtitles all the way through this? What if they're all laced with typos and poor grammar? It's double duty and a strain on my eyes.
There's already poor grammar in this 'Happy End' trailer I'm watching. It reads, "She wanted different kind of love." Can you imagine if Phil Collins sang -
Never mind.
It continues - "Both people wanted different kind of Happy End." Okay. This is going to be a long night.
Oh man, here we go again and this is the feature! "Legend has it that all man-like figures embody goodly spirits." You mean Godly right, movie?
Why can't this be dubbed in English like a spaghetti western?
Why do I have to read inane garbage like the following, "The newspapers are piled up oupside." Lord give me strength.
The lead actress, Kangaroo, who resembles the lady who makes my banh mi rolls, arrives at some bordello, rents a room, finds a letter that doesn't even belong to her and goes for a drive in the rain while looking for missing kids.
All this weird alien writing keeps popping up on the screen. (I can only imagine all the typos in it.) They're not translating the alien writing.
Isn't Kakashi Japanese porn? Now wait, that's Takeshi. (Who's making the errors now?)
The Vietnamese lady, who makes my chicken salad rolls, (No pate or chili,) breaks down in 'The Vanishing' tunnel, encounters all these people with bad teeth and evil attitudes in Zagreb, (Where they filmed The Town of The Crazies,) while an eccentric predator steals a 5-year-old girl and drives off with a carload of straw people while Kangaroo continues to wander around with no direction and a permanent bewildered look on her face as the director of this obviously went on vacation when they were filming, leaving the cast and crew lost like on 'Gilligan's Island.'
29-minutes in and nothing!
This fluffy business guy, who looks like my uncle, just said, "Ninja Land."
Nothing's happening still.
No nudity. No swearing. No action. No story. Is it PG-13?
Kangaroo, in her pursuit of bed & breakfast, interrupts some suspicious geisha maid, where it's hinted that she was fooling around with a barn animal out in the stables.
Kangaroo encounters nothing but walls of silence and looks of disapproval at every avenue.
This is as boring as the trailer for 'Happy End.'
This movie's filmed like it's under a strict communist regime holding it to ransom where everybody must obey and follow orders and protocol... or else... or else the director will come back and administer cat o' nine tale lashings for disobedience.
This movie's so boring I can only note that the lead actress, Kangaroo, has sideburns.
At last! A scarecrow, with button eyes, takes on Kangaroo in a hand-to-hand duel but unfortunately no karate is exhibited. The scarecrow takes a dive and throws the fight. Kangaroo wins by default.
Some idiot on YouTube recommended that this was highly scary. I'm here to tell you that it's not and that I'm sitting here like a frigging unwashed potato growing roots out of my head and turning green after 54-minutes.
A curse is placed on Kangaroo, via a 48-page exercise book, and she keeps encountering The Lady in Red, who does the best damn impersonation of Donald Sutherland in that 'Body Snatchers' movie as all these other wacky pea bodies watched 'The Blair Witch' so much that they mimic all these straw symbols and act like The Town of the Crazies in some festival of the bonfire.
Speaking of symbol, the artist formally known as Prince shows up in a cameo, well, it looks like him, and Kangaroo right hooks him and slaps some sense into him after he attempts to assault her.
Is this Japan's answer to 'The Wicker Man?'
Some kid, wearing puff pastry and egg wash on his face, just killed the good doctor. Why? I don't know? I may have excluded the good doctor from this scripture earlier so how he fits into the movie, who cares?
So, Prince and The Lady in Red go up in CGI flames at the end. Why? Again, I don't know? Can a flare really set human flesh on fire? No accelerant was used. Baffles the mind.
Movie turns into some sort of Jackson 5 Thriller at the end, without the dancing.
This movie wouldn't even scare a 5-year-old.
The whole movie leaves one yearning for Del Griffith's warm hand to comfort their bum for support and to whisper words of assurance that everything will be okay if you just pop on a different movie.
This is (sic,) dude. This is (sic.)
Oh brother. The two typos have offended me and the movie hasn't even started yet.
So, Kozukata-Mura is like 'Gymkata' with The Town of The Crazies, I take it?
I hope I don't have to read subtitles all the way through this? What if they're all laced with typos and poor grammar? It's double duty and a strain on my eyes.
There's already poor grammar in this 'Happy End' trailer I'm watching. It reads, "She wanted different kind of love." Can you imagine if Phil Collins sang -
Never mind.
It continues - "Both people wanted different kind of Happy End." Okay. This is going to be a long night.
Oh man, here we go again and this is the feature! "Legend has it that all man-like figures embody goodly spirits." You mean Godly right, movie?
Why can't this be dubbed in English like a spaghetti western?
Why do I have to read inane garbage like the following, "The newspapers are piled up oupside." Lord give me strength.
The lead actress, Kangaroo, who resembles the lady who makes my banh mi rolls, arrives at some bordello, rents a room, finds a letter that doesn't even belong to her and goes for a drive in the rain while looking for missing kids.
All this weird alien writing keeps popping up on the screen. (I can only imagine all the typos in it.) They're not translating the alien writing.
Isn't Kakashi Japanese porn? Now wait, that's Takeshi. (Who's making the errors now?)
The Vietnamese lady, who makes my chicken salad rolls, (No pate or chili,) breaks down in 'The Vanishing' tunnel, encounters all these people with bad teeth and evil attitudes in Zagreb, (Where they filmed The Town of The Crazies,) while an eccentric predator steals a 5-year-old girl and drives off with a carload of straw people while Kangaroo continues to wander around with no direction and a permanent bewildered look on her face as the director of this obviously went on vacation when they were filming, leaving the cast and crew lost like on 'Gilligan's Island.'
29-minutes in and nothing!
This fluffy business guy, who looks like my uncle, just said, "Ninja Land."
Nothing's happening still.
No nudity. No swearing. No action. No story. Is it PG-13?
Kangaroo, in her pursuit of bed & breakfast, interrupts some suspicious geisha maid, where it's hinted that she was fooling around with a barn animal out in the stables.
Kangaroo encounters nothing but walls of silence and looks of disapproval at every avenue.
This is as boring as the trailer for 'Happy End.'
This movie's filmed like it's under a strict communist regime holding it to ransom where everybody must obey and follow orders and protocol... or else... or else the director will come back and administer cat o' nine tale lashings for disobedience.
This movie's so boring I can only note that the lead actress, Kangaroo, has sideburns.
At last! A scarecrow, with button eyes, takes on Kangaroo in a hand-to-hand duel but unfortunately no karate is exhibited. The scarecrow takes a dive and throws the fight. Kangaroo wins by default.
Some idiot on YouTube recommended that this was highly scary. I'm here to tell you that it's not and that I'm sitting here like a frigging unwashed potato growing roots out of my head and turning green after 54-minutes.
A curse is placed on Kangaroo, via a 48-page exercise book, and she keeps encountering The Lady in Red, who does the best damn impersonation of Donald Sutherland in that 'Body Snatchers' movie as all these other wacky pea bodies watched 'The Blair Witch' so much that they mimic all these straw symbols and act like The Town of the Crazies in some festival of the bonfire.
Speaking of symbol, the artist formally known as Prince shows up in a cameo, well, it looks like him, and Kangaroo right hooks him and slaps some sense into him after he attempts to assault her.
Is this Japan's answer to 'The Wicker Man?'
Some kid, wearing puff pastry and egg wash on his face, just killed the good doctor. Why? I don't know? I may have excluded the good doctor from this scripture earlier so how he fits into the movie, who cares?
So, Prince and The Lady in Red go up in CGI flames at the end. Why? Again, I don't know? Can a flare really set human flesh on fire? No accelerant was used. Baffles the mind.
Movie turns into some sort of Jackson 5 Thriller at the end, without the dancing.
This movie wouldn't even scare a 5-year-old.
The whole movie leaves one yearning for Del Griffith's warm hand to comfort their bum for support and to whisper words of assurance that everything will be okay if you just pop on a different movie.
This is (sic,) dude. This is (sic.)
unnerving and melancholy..
Nephilim-617 August 2003
I bought this movie 2 months ago because I like Japanese cinema plus it was cheap(and from the director of Ring 0: Birthday. Yes the Japanese series is superior to the American remake. Even Rasen is more interesting than 'The Ring'.). However I didn't watch it until tonight mainly because it didn't get too many favorable reviews on IMDB. That sad I was bored and decided to watch it. And from the first scene I was drawn in... This movie has a rather creepy but melancholy tension thoughout. It's a slow movie yes but boring? Definatly not. The pacing is just right. It amplifies the mystery of the story. Most people who watch scary movies nowadays just expect cheap scares instead of a truly eery atmosphere thoughout. So I think that is what makes a lot of people dislike this movie. This movie isn't big on the scares, it has some but not many, but what it does is make the viewer wonder.
The movie basically is about Kaoru(she's a very pretty girl btw) whose brother is missing. He seems to have gone to visit his girlfriend in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere. That's the last he's heard from. As Koaru goes off to search for him there she finds that things are odd in the village... Everyone seems to be obsessed with a festival(Japan has a lot of festivals for many spiritual things) about scarecrows. And everyone seems to want her to leave and is unwilling to help her...
The ending I found wasn't a dud like someone mentioned but more like a very sad one. More I will not say about this movie. You have to watch it for yourself.
This isn't a movie for people who like cheap scares. But someone who likes mystery and eery things happening will probably like this movie. very reccomended.
The movie basically is about Kaoru(she's a very pretty girl btw) whose brother is missing. He seems to have gone to visit his girlfriend in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere. That's the last he's heard from. As Koaru goes off to search for him there she finds that things are odd in the village... Everyone seems to be obsessed with a festival(Japan has a lot of festivals for many spiritual things) about scarecrows. And everyone seems to want her to leave and is unwilling to help her...
The ending I found wasn't a dud like someone mentioned but more like a very sad one. More I will not say about this movie. You have to watch it for yourself.
This isn't a movie for people who like cheap scares. But someone who likes mystery and eery things happening will probably like this movie. very reccomended.
Wonderful little Japanese horror film.
HumanoidOfFlesh5 July 2005
A mysterious letter,the only clue left for Kaoru to search for her missing brother and the reason behind his sudden disappearance.Her blind but relentless search leads the girl to 'Kozakuta-mura',a cursed and insane village where people are mesmerized by the power of the Kakashi(scarecrow).Soon a series of strange things will be set in motion..."Kakashi" by Norio Tsuruta is a typically Japanese supernatural mystery that takes its inspiration from such great horror pictures as "The Wicker Man" and "Pet Sematary".The film is pleasant to watch with some gorgeous cinematography and fine lighting.The soundtrack is minimal and haunting and the mood is well-captured.The main theme in "Kakashi" is the endless cycle of death and rebirth and this is cleverly paralleled with various social concerns throughout.So if you want to see a poetic and atmospheric piece of horror give this one a chance.8 out of 10.
eerie shots of the Japanese countryside
christopher-underwood11 January 2007
Not at all bad! There is always a bit of a problem with the odd scarecrow horrors that there have been and that is basically it's hard to get too scared over a man of straw. This is creepy though and with convincing performances, effective music and beautiful but often eerie shots of the Japanese countryside, this at times reminds one of Wicker Man. Kaoru is searching for her brother and ends up in some sort of village of the damned made out of straw. Not entirely original and not too many heart stopping moments but it does have it's own momentum and plenty of innovative elements to keep one more than interested throughout. Most likable.
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