Noroi (2005)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Kôji Shiraishi

Writers:

Release Date:

20 August 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Everybody died.

Plot:

A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the "kagutaba." |

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Mask | Child | Ritual | Curse

Cast

Jin Muraki	...	Masafumi Kobayashi
Rio Kanno	...	Kana Yano
Tomono Kuga	...	Junko Ishii
Maria Takagi	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angâruzu	...	Themselves
Hiroshi Aramata	...	Guest on TV Program
Yôko Chôsokabe	...	Kimiko Yano
Dankan	...	Guest on TV Program
Tomomi Eguchi	...	Herself
Gôkyû	...	Guests of TV Program
Miyoko Hanai	...	Keiko Kobayashi
Ai Iijima	...	Guest on TV Program
Makoto Inamori	...	Kôichi Hirotsu
Ryûnosuke Iriyama	...	Psychic Boy
Satoru Jitsunashi	...	Mitsuo Hori
Takashi Kakizawa	...	Shin'ichi Ôsawa
Shûta Kambayashi	...	Boy with Junko
Kei Matsubara	...	TV Program Host
Ken'ichirô Matsui	...	Himself
Marika Matsumoto	...	Herself
Hisashi Miyajima	...	Himself
Mana Okada	...	Midori Kimino
Yôichi Okamura	...	Event Emcee
Mikako Okui	...	Herself
Ryôko Okui	...	Herself
Kazuhide Shioya	...	Himself
Hajime Suzuki	...	Himself
Hitomi Takashima	...	Takami Shimizu (as Hitomi Takashima)
Toshinori Tanimura	...	Himself
Yoshiki Tano	...	Teruyuki Yano
Toshimaru Yasuno	...	Villager
Takaaki Yuhara	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Curse (Japan) (literal English title)
Noroi the Curse (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Shiga, Japan

Company:

Xanadeux Company

Quotes:

Mitsuo Hori: My God! The pigeons!

Very good

I can't praise this film enough. It had a lot of that hand-held, first-person shaking camera which I love (and some hate, because it makes them sick), like REC, Cloverfield and Blair Witch Project.

It is a long movie for its kind, but I didn't even notice because the film was so interesting. By just showing the footage from a paranormal reporter's work the movie keeps up the pace, making it a real-time experience for the viewer.

While I would never call this film the "scariest horror ever made", I'd have to say it's certainly one of the best I've seen. The fear factor here is constructed by details in the images, camera glitches, events linked to one another which lend a very mysterious and haunting tone to the movie. The horror is more in what is not shown, but left to our imaginations. The ending is perfect, and be warned that you might have nightmares afterwards. A second viewing is highly recommended, though.

Watch this one alone in the dark, don't expect anything and you'll have fun.