Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! File 01: Operation Capture the Slit-Mouthed Woman
"I will catch this bitch." Engaging mix of dread and low-key hilarity. (Peppered with gently absurd touches like using the plastic bag, or every time the resounding "R E P L A Y" appears!) The way the director character is just pissed and impatient, he needs them vieeewwws and DVD money already-- yeah we're chasing a malevolent spirit d0nt worry about it I brought a bat keep recording
Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! File 01: Operation Capture the Slit-Mouthed Woman
Admittedly, starting with Kōji Shiraishi’s most popular work—Noroi: The Curse and Occult—probably set the bar a little unfairly high as I dive deeper into his filmography. The Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi mockumentary series has been on my radar for a while now, and I finally managed to snag copies to watch with my wife. File 01: Operation Capture the Slit-Mouthed Woman feels like it might be the weakest of the seven, mostly because it’s doing a lot of table-setting—introducing the core cast, establishing the format, etc.—and the entity at the center of this episode just isn’t all that scary to me. That said, Shiraishi is dead-on with the rhythm and texture of the early online paranormal investigation shows he’s obviously riffing on: the sensationalist drive of Kudo (the show’s director), the handheld immediacy, the awkward dead air, the cheap urgency. Even if the horror doesn’t land as hard this episode, File 01 lays down a solid baseline for what’s to come. That final shot is pretty fucking creepy though. I’m not gonna lie, it had me and my wife looking into the corners of our room that night. • Watched in 2025 — Ranked (https://boxd.it/C7Jq6)
