Suicide Forest Village

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Scott M Criminally underrated horror drama from Takashi Shimizu. It doesn't go for the big scares like the Ju-On films, but instead offers a complex and harrowing plot, emotional and thematic depth, and lots of very bizarre, very unsettling imagery that's quite different from his usual style. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/18/25 Full Review Gabriel S After teen friends find a mysterious box under the house of one of them, strange events lead Hibiki to believe they are all cursed. Seeing her sister's downfall, Mei must discover the truth before the curse gets to all of them. Suicide Forest Village (2021), by the director of Ju-on, is one of those Japanese lore-intensive stories, heavy on folk elements and the basic ghost haunting premisse that we see on most Japanese stories — not a bad thing at all. This movie is good enough to keep us hooked, though, Western audience might feel the heavy hit of drama-related Eastern acting; they do tend to repeat each others name often, apparently. One a few occasions, I felt as if I was missing bits of the plot. At one point, one of the characters gets hurt, but that apparently happens offscreen, or editors removed the scene, and the result is a confusing setup, regardless of it being linear. The horror elements are light on this movie. Don't wait for the sinister haunting of crawling-shoked Kayako; in Suicide Forest Village, the ghost presence is subtle, but effective. The finale is heavy on folklore, which could diminish its effectiveness. The story does not explain any rules, leaving us with a heavy drama scene that feels Ex-Machina. It kinda works, but I'd want more explanations as to WTH is going on. There is one post-credit scene that was nice. Hopefully, Suicide Forest Village enables a sequel. I'd recommend this movie for fans of East-oriented horror. If you are too mainstrem, skip this entry. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/06/23 Full Review Audience Member This is part two of Takashi Shimizu's "folk horror" trilogy, with part three due this year. It's set in the famous "suicide forest" of Aokigahara. The movie's plot revolves around a cursed box, and not so much about the actual phenomena. It also follows three different timelines that can be hard to keep track of. Although the movie contains some interesting ideas and imagery, I can't really recommend it due to the highly convoluted story and uninteresting characters. Check out creepysoba.com for more recent Asian horror! Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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