Directed by Kenta Fukasaku, who made Battle Royale 2 and Yo Yo Girl Cop (both of which weren't as good as they should have been), and scripted Battle Royale (which was a masterpiece), this deceptively small creepfest is riding high on my recommendations list for 2008. Based on the novel by Noboyuki Joko, which I believe is a set of serialized adventures, this film is the perfect midnight party movie of the decade. Equal parts slasher movie and crazed villager film, this epic achievement revitalizes Japanese horror cinema, and it was about time, too!

Aiko has decided to taker her friend Shiyori, played by the amazingly beautiful Nao Matsushita, to a secluded hot springs to help her get over her recent breakup with her boyfriend. They arrive at this isolated inn deep in the woods, which appears to have been forgotten by time, and ignoring the strange way the villagers act they try to enjoy themselves. But almost immediately, crazy shit starts to happen. Shiyori finds a cell phone ringing in her closet, and answers it to find a man on the other end warning her that the villagers are planning to sacrifice her to their god by chopping her left leg off and keeping her, crippled and weak, in a temple for the rest of her life. She doesn't believe him until the old villagers swarm her cabin carrying axes and knives. She escapes and spends the rest of the night running for her life.

Aiko, having had an argument with Shiyori before the villagers went crazy, is in another part of the forest dealing with her own problem. She's run into a maniacal girl in Gothic Lolita attire (meaning frilly Victorian gowns) who is determined to kill her for some reason. The slasher part of the movie begins as the agile weirdo with an eye-patch wields giant scissors in her attempt to slice and dice Aiko. We find out that Aiko had stolen this girl's boyfriend and she is seeking revenge, and in true Jason Voorhees fashion she is unstoppable and unkillable. The best scene in the movie occurs in a lonely public restroom where Aiko hides from the girl, and is the freakiest, most effective bit of slasher cinema I've seen in a while. Their battle eventually ends at a garbage dump as the girls tangle giant scissors to rusty chainsaw! The film eventually ties up these two stories as the villagers catch up to both girls, and the scissors lady becomes an unlikely ally.

Told in a fractured style, and revolving around the use of cell phones, which is too complicated to get into right now, the film is constantly surprising and completely entertaining. This is a welcomed change for Japanese horror, which has spent too much time worrying about long-haired girls, and forgetting about plot and entertainment value. This is a fun popcorn flick which according to the director was based on 80s horror films, and you can really tell. The gorgeous location it was filmed at doesn't hurt the picture either. In fact, I loved the juxtaposition of the horror with its breathtakingly picturesque surroundings. But, in conclusion, this is a fun, bloody good time with surprises around every corner and plenty of original bits to steal from for years to come!

- Jose Prendes