Noroi: The Curse (2005)

First off, let me just say: I love this movie. I love, love, love, love, love this movie. So much so that I bought a copy of it so I can watch it whenever the hell I feel like it!

Noroi builds up atmosphere and a sense of dread in the watcher more effectively than I have ever experienced in a film of this nature. The story is engaging; it piques your curiosity right from the beginning and keeps you engaged and hungry for all the answers to the riddle right along with the "main character".

The acting is good. So good that you don't really think about the fact that they are actors, which is exactly what you want out of a POV film. They're just people.

The special effects are a little on the corny side when they do finally come around, but it definitely does not detract from the film itself, since it is so effective at building up tension leading to the climax.

Watch this movie (alone or with a friend) with the lights out and plenty of blankets around you and I promise you will not regret it.

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While I am a fan of Asian horror, the pacing of most Asian horror films is incredibly slow. When I watch a horror movie I don't want a constant stream of scares and kills with no suspense but I also don't want the scares to be so far apart that I'm falling asleep. Thankfully this movie managed to keep a nice pace throughout. I wouldn't say that this film is scary but it was very atmospheric and creepy. The documentary style film making works well with the plot-the footage from Masafumi's show, various variety shows and news programs really add to story. Overall, this is one of the best Japanese horror films I've watched with solid acting, great pacing, creepy visuals and a decent story.

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Engaging narrative that ties everything together.

Slow paced storytelling that trusts the viewers are smart enough to connect the dots themselves. Noroi opens with seemingly random plot lines that do not quite fit together, but as the story progresses, you start to notice the connections and by the end of the movie, everything falls into a perfect picture. Not a scene nor a frame seemed redundant.

I appreciated how Noroi: The Curse believed in my memory skills and brain power, and did not spam me with countless flashbacks that are supposed to help me connect the scenes and lore elements. It’s up to a viewer to either see the patterns and hints in the background that are dropped throughout the movie. With that, it presents itself as a perfect rewatch material - as a viewer, it’s entertaining to try to find things you might have missed on the first watch.

If you expect a lot of jump scares and a fast paced scary story - you won’t find it here. It relies on building the creepy and disturbing atmosphere framed into a realistic documentary style. It takes a while before anything truly happens, and yet the plot itself is interesting enough, so you won’t get bored waiting.

Overall, one of the best documentary-like horror movies I have seen in quite a while. The filming, editing, acting - all comes together to make it seem like a real story that truly happened. It requires you to pay attention to understand the it completely, but it’s worth it.

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