Kuchisake-onna

Kuchisake-onna, or the Slit-Mouthed Woman, is an urban legend in Japanese culture about a woman who approaches people wearing a surgical mask and asks if they think she is beautiful. If they answer yes, she removes her mask to reveal a horrific wound stretching from ear to ear and repeats the question. Answering no results in a grisly death, while answering yes can lead to her mutilating the victim to resemble herself. However, there is supposedly a way to escape her: answer "so-so," leaving her confused long enough to get away.

Ironically enough, that's how I would rate this movie... "so-so!" It's less about the mythology and more about family trauma, child abuse, and the cycle of parental neglect. That normally would be an interesting spin on this legend, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The family drama often overshadows the horror, and the movie spends so much time on its characters that the pacing suffers. Kuchisake-onna herself has a genuinely unsettling design, but the atmosphere and effects don't always do her justice. The acting is fine, and the idea of a supernatural kidnapper who preys on children is terrifying, but the movie never quite reaches its potential. For everything I like, there are just as many things I don't.

I guess you could say... I'm split down the middle!