Director
Takuaki Hashiguchi
Cast
May Asada
Minami Aoyama
Lemon Hanazawa
Mikiya Sanada
DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 63 Minutes
The Movie
Now Carved and The Slit-Mouthed Woman are not the exact same film, but they do tell similar stories. There is a hospital with a condemned room that no-one must set foot inside of. It is rumored that the horribly disfigured Slit-Mouthed Woman occupies that room and is ready to kill anyone that may come inside. Not only is the door to the room locked but its also taped shut around the edges to keep any connectivity to it trapped away. The legend has been passed down from person to person so everyone knows of the warning, but not all heed it.
Many, mostly doctors and nurses, make their way into the room for a little lunch break sexual romps and all end up meeting their doom at the hands of the Slit-Mouthed Woman. A young reporter named Hitomi gets the unfortunate task of finding out what the true legend is and if there really is any ghost. Hitomi does her research and heads out like any good reporter to get the story. The only problem is that she finds out a lot more then had ever expected to.
Ok, so if you’ve seen both films then you’ll learn that the only similarity is the main character of the Slit-Mouthed Woman. Carved tells the story of a village tormented by the woman who kidnaps and kills all the children she can get her hands on. In this film we get a bunch of people wanting to test the urban legend and end up dead because of it. But it’s the added sex scenes that really set the two films apart.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman is not scary by any sense of the imagination as the most you usually see of the freakish villain is her long black flowing hair (generic yes?) and then a quick cut scene of her mouth before someone screams. It truly is amazing though how long the sex scenes last from the moment the “scary” music starts up so that you know she is nearby. I do believe they were trying to make a porn-film here and simply threw in some scary moments from time to time instead of the other way around as it’s intended. It doesn’t mix well because if you’re going for a horror film, then just add some random nudity for thirty seconds here and there. Don’t add full out sex scenes because you’re going to totally ruin what you’re going for; as was the case here.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.77:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and it just looks too odd for my taste. I’m not sure if it was over-compressed or what but everything just seemed off. Not to mention that the entire film has that greenish tint to it which tries to give it an eerie feel. Didn’t help much; more so annoyed me.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital Stereo and sounds good enough. The music is never too loud so that it is overbearing and all dialogue can be heard quite clearly. No real need though considering there are English subtitles which you’ll be paying attention too so be happy they are well-timed.
Special Features
Pink Cinema Introduction – A three paragraph introduction all about Pink Cinema which in a nutshell is Japan’s creative take on erotica when extreme censorship took place starting in the sixties. Pink Cinema decided to take the route of the sadist and show the dark and disturbing side of both romance and erotica.
Stills Gallery – Exactly what it says. This is a bunch of still shots from the film and a few behind the scenes looks.
Short Film: Birds Of Prey – This is a thirteen minute British short film that is just extremely strange but rather interesting. An older gentleman has an eagle as a pet and has a fondness for a stripper. One day his eagle is stolen from him by some thieves so he decides to go out and get himself a brand new pet, but of a different species. I actually thought this was better the feature film itself.
Satanic Slut Book “Blood & Dishonour” Trailer – This teaser is on every single Redemption DVD and it is for a book of women dressed in slutty, satanic costumes.
Trailers – Hurt, Black Mass, and The Witching Hour
The Inside Pulse
If you pick up this DVD for anything then let it be for Birds Of Prey because it is the only worthy thing of interest. The rest of the special features are nothing to write home about so no use even checking those out. As for the film, you’re so much better off going with Tartan Extreme’s Carved because even though it wasn’t a perfect rendition; it’s better then this one. The story of the Slit-Mouthed Woman is really quite intriguing and can be downright frightening, but some nudity and sex scenes are just ways of covering up how lousy the filmmakers’ attempt at horror really was.
