[Fantasia International Film Festival]: The Mouths

Rihito Itagaki as Shota

J-Horror legend Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On) returns with supernatural curse thriller The Mouths which has its North American premiere at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival. Packed with long-haired ghost ladies, mystery curses seeking to be unravelled, and creepy atmospheric set pieces, The Mouths follows a group of college friends who, after visiting a cursed tree, begin to experience haunting phenomena.

Shota (Rihito Itagaki), encourages a group of his university friends to visit a supposedly cursed tree standing in a cemetery in the middle of a forest. Once there, the deafening sound of cicadas and the ominous tree causes the group to fail in their courage, and Shota’s friend Anne (Ai Yoshikawa) soon begins to babble incoherently and act strangely. When Anne disappears, Shota and his two friends Tatsuya (Keito Tsuna) and Mirei (Momona Kasahara) are haunted by a long-necked woman as the curse of the tree infiltrates their everyday lives. Meanwhile Detective Kusakabe (Shidō Nakamura II) investigates Anne’s disappearance which soon leads him to the roots of the cursed tree.

Shimizu is well known for foregoing cheap jumpscares, instead opting for creating a slow creeping tension resulting in long-lasting terror. Through the cinematic adaptation of the novella A Questionnaire About the Mouth by Sesuji, Shimizu creates a dark and gothic world with a striking supernatural antagonist in the long-necked lady, utilising the J-horror trope of peripheral scares effectively.

Despite excellent world building, there seems to be a lack of enough source material to bulk the film out, causing the plot to meander somewhat, resulting in a clunky and unsatisfying conclusion. However, for audiences seeking an unravelling mystery wrapped up in a chilling, paranormal package, The Mouths is a perfect popcorn horror, which explores the danger of oral communication and the transference of curses from one person to another through word of mouth.

3.5 Screams out of 5