Queen of J-Horror

Awareness of a very real issue

I liked this movie quite a lot because it highlights a real and gruesome problem that affects people in certain countries more than anyone knows and raises awareness. Although some parts of the story don't really make sense to me, it was overall an okay horror movie.
Illegal abortions is something that I haven't seen in other horror movies besides Three Extremes, and it's quite a real horror for some people. The execution of it was truly grisly and gory, definitely something I wouldn't wish on anybody.
I didn't like the "haunting" of Yaimai because it seemed quite random and the end didn't really give a satisfying explanation as to why it happened.
In conclusion, I think the movie explained the problem of teen illegal abortions in Thailand very well and highlighted its problems, but the storyline of Yaimai, Pri and Por was lacking in my opinion.

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Goofy 2000s horror

Honestly this movie was kinda funny given how goofy it is. A random group of teens that don't even get introduced decide to go against the advice of a trained individual and drive over the flimsiest bridge known to man. The deaths are so comically hilarious that I couldn't really feel bad for them, especially when barely knowing their names.
If you delete the last 5 mins it's actually a pretty good slasher with a bad end, although without much of a story. The last minutes didn't make any sense to me, it could've just ended with the car chase scene.
So if you want to see unique ways to die without a story or character development, go ahead. (The telephone booth scene was so unique I was honestly impressed. Never seen that before)

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Interesting yet kinda weird

Quite a recent movie with the house haunted by a vengeful spirit clichee we all know. This one sounded interesting to me cuz the spirit is obese and I wondered if there was a reason for that (and there was, which is incredibly heartbreaking).
I liked the pace of the movie until about halfway, when the dementia-plagued (I think) grandma turns into a hippie ghost-repelling-pro, using sheer force of will and tai-chi or smth similar to literally beat the sh*t out of the spirit. It was just so random and totally took me out, given that almost her entire family was just murdered and she could've done something to prevent it, but didn't "transform" until they were dead.
The story of the spirit is unbelievably sad and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for her, but the part where hippie grandma effortlessly gathered her living family for her to murder and then having a boss fight with the spirit after that was just weird. The love interest of the protagonist being alive "inside" the spirit instead of being killed like the family members also seems convenient for the plot.
Overall it's just the usual haunted house with the family trying to get rid of the possession but ironically not using the shaman/religious route but beating the spirit with sheer will and determination. I like the concept of not giving into the fear and despair spirits, ghosts etc would want you to feel, but the random comedic elements feel so misplaced in this otherwise okay plotline

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Great characters, missed potential

I had high hopes for this movie as it hooked me in from the beginning, but the lack of story explanations and assumptions one has to make while watching made it feel more like the first episode to a series.
I really like the protagonist, his outfit and his unique weapon. We learn a lot about him just by seeing a few scenes, but it still feels unfinished. His "job" in the post-apocalyptic world seems interesting, opposite to the typical "kill every zombie and try to survive" movie plot that's mostly used. It's also funny that his "savior" at the beginning is an old fat oba-san and not the typical hot girl or fit guy.
For its 1 hour runtime, the lack of lore is kinda disappointing. There were other japanese movies with the same short length that managed to tell a story, so it's not impossible to accomplish.
For zombie lovers I'd definitely recommend it, but for people who love horror movies for the story it leaves you unsatisfied. I personally tried searching for the original japanese source material, and there doesn't seem to be one. If there was one I'd love to read it and get context for the story that obviously was planned but didn't make it into this movie.
(Also for anyone interested, I watched it on yesmovie.lol with english subtitles)

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Gutwrenching horror

It took me a few days to finish this movie since the first quarter of it is heartbreaking family trauma without any explanations of the supernatural stuff, so it's especially hard to watch for people who've experienced extreme family problems themselves.
You need patience to actually understand the story, as the whole truth is only revealed at the very end in favor of many red herrings throughout. This type of pacing was a little annoying tbh.
For me personally, the family story hit much harder than the actual horror elements. The "mysterious old woman with glasses who can actually do some sort of ritual/magic" clichee is also a little annoying but it wasn't too bad.
Contrary to probably many people, I actually like the ending. Poor Jaa only grew up with her father her whole life, and when he used his last ounce of strength to help her rescue his remaining family, he showed that he loved both Jaa and Ing and Ning equally. Now she gets to have a loving mother in Ning and continue to live once more. Poor Ing dying while trying to save her sister was very sad, though. She never showed anything but kindness towards a sister she never knew even at her young age.

Overall it was a very good movie, but I wouldn't recommend it to people suffering from family trauma who might feel triggered while watching this.

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Good concept, meh execution

Firstly, I think the whole Akina livestream subplot was incredibly redundant. Especially once they revealed that Mei and Hibiki's family had a connection to the jukai curse and the box for at least 13 years, I just felt like Akina and her whole deal had no place in the movie. It would've been fine without it since the box and the jukai curse are interesting and feel unique. They probably only added Akina cuz she was in howling village and ox-head village so they needed to add her in for the last movie of the trilogy.
Next, It's a shame they didn't explain why the box ended up in the house the couple moved into, and just used it as an excuse to kill a bunch of Mei's friend group. Compared to the other two movies, this one holds last place (although I wouldn't say it's a terrible movie).
The english name also sucks incredibly hard. Sure, it's a reference to Aokigahara forest, but just omitting the word "suicide" would make it fit the movie better in my opinion, since the topic of suicide isn't really explored in it and just focuses on the curse making people do things against their will. Also why the hell did Mei and Hibiki's mother sacrifice herself to save their kids when the stupid box will try to take them 13 years later anyway? Makes her death feel useless.

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