Suicide Forest Village (2021)

For those that liked classic japanese horror (no jumpscares)

A mysterious box and an unlucky group of friends discover it. Our main lead - Hibiki was the only one interested in occultic things, thus can see ghosts.

The plotline is as simple as one can get, BUT it was enjoyable. The first half had a great atmosphere and visuals reminiscent of Fatal Frame II (yes that classic about two sisters, village and curse, seem familiar?). The second half and the final sadly weren't as great.

Characters were bland, but it was alright, because actors, even with minimal script shown decent emotions and somehow managed to create believable characters.

The soundtrack was spooky and created an atmosphere. It had major Jigoku Shoujo vibes. The cinematography was decent as well, with long-shots, reflections, and plenty of shadows that delightfully hide the spooks and main characters.

If anyone looking for an easy spooky time - this movie will do the trick.

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It’s hard to find a balance between too much and too little, and I feel like they sadly went too far into too little territory for the majority of the movie.

It had quite a strong first and last quarter, but the middle part left much to desire. It mostly felt draggy and confusing and not in the “I’m excited to see what will happen next and what it all means” type of way.

The lore is great, imaginative and presented in an interesting visual way, especially at the end. I just wish the storytelling was a little bit more tight. Suicide Forest Village did not create that tense atmosphere that would make me anticipate what’s to come. I was mostly passively watching, not exactly connecting to anything on screen, but not really being bored.

I think the biggest part in the downfall of the movie for me were the characters. If you have an interesting set of protagonists, even a slow paced film will be interesting. This bunch of young adults had little to offer in any aspect.

Without going into spoilers and being as vague as possible, I did enjoy quite a bit the design for everything that happened in the Suicide Forest Village.

Overall, not a bad movie and if you watched all the better titles, this is a good pick. but it’s not something you will remember after a month.

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