Running Low on J-Horror Scares? Check Out This Eerie, Overlooked Urban Legend Chiller
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman uses urban legend and J-horror to explore the impact of violence and childhood abuse.
You know director Kōji Shiraishi, even if you think you don’t. He’s directed J-horror classics like the acclaimed Noroi: The Curse and the campier classic, Sadako vs Kayako. If you’re looking for something down the middle, one of his lesser-known works, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, is perfect. Based on the popular Japanese urban legend of Kuchisake-onna – the Slit-Mouth Woman – the film follows a pair of teachers as they investigate the disappearances of their students. The urban legend focuses on a woman and her relationship to vanity. Kuchisake-onna is, at first, by all appearances, a normal woman. She approaches her victims wearing a small surgical mask. She asks her victims if she is beautiful.
