Editorials
Does Shudder’s ‘Noroi: The Curse’ Earn Its Reputation as the Scariest Found Footage Horror Film?
The chances are that if you’re a frequenter of message boards, social media, or any other horror-centric corner of the internet, you’ve heard of Noroi: The Curse, a Japanese found-footage style faux-documentary that’s developed a strong cult following despite it being a not-so-easy to come by title for many years. Touted as one of the must-see scariest films in horror that eschews found footage horror’s typical bad rap, Noroi boasts stellar audience scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. Though released in Japan in 2005, it’s still not had a proper physical release stateside. As a result, diehard fans have repeatedly uploaded it to YouTube only to have it pulled for copyright issues shortly after.
Now that it’s widely available as an exclusive streaming title on Shudder, it’s much easier for genre fans to access the film. But does Noroi live up to the underground hype?
Noroi plays out as a found-footage documentary by paranormal investigator Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki). Naturally, he went missing shortly after the completion of the documentary. The subject of Kobayashi’s work takes a while to present itself, initially appearing as a series of unrelated paranormal topics by way of various interviews, fieldwork, and TV clips. Emphasis on the slow unfurling; this film clocks in at nearly two-hours long. That languidly slow start plays a significant factor for the film’s detractors.
Eventually, Kobayashi discovers a connection between these random clips; death seems to follow eccentric recluse Junko Ishii (Tomono Kuga) and her young son everywhere they go. Pulling on that thread, Kobayashi starts unraveling the core mystery of a demonic entity named Kagutaba. This mystery and the elaborate mythology drive the film; much of the horror is implied until the final act. Director Kôji Shiraishi (Grotesque, Sadako vs. Kayako) employs barely any actual scares at all, forcing viewers to pay close attention to even the most seemingly innocuous of details presented. Shiraishi also skips out on employing many of the trademarks of found footage horror. All of which to say, the film’s power to scare rests solely on the shoulders of its storytelling. The more the dangling threads tie together, the more unsettling it becomes.
The methodical storytelling that ignores traditional atmosphere and scare-crafting combined with the lo-fi VHS quality is the wedge that divides those that love the movie and those that don’t. Admittedly, I fell into the latter upon the first watch. Nearly two hours is far too long for many horror movies, and the first hour does tend to crawl. The ultimate payoff may not feel worth it and certainly didn’t for me at first. But a second watch on Shudder deepened my appreciation for the film, which allowed for better absorption of the nuances and details. Details are crucial to unlocking this film, but patience is just as vital. Of all the found footage/faux documentary-style horror movies out there, Noroi sets itself apart from the pack with its unconventional approach.
Fear is always subjective, of course. Noroi spins a compelling mystery steeped in realism, though the mythology isn’t. Many of the actors play themselves, further blurring the line between reality and fiction. For many, it works. For others, it’ll drag without a satisfying payoff to merit the pacing. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of enjoyment, Noroi’s place in horror remains fascinating. When it released in Japan in 2005, the J-horror craze in the U.S. had already started to wane. It remained in relative obscurity for years, at least overseas, leaving it up to fans to spread the word and keep it at the forefront of discussion. Over ten years later, the only DVD or Blu-ray offerings are imports, leaving Shudder as the only legal means of viewing.
And that just fuels the hype and mystery surrounding a unique anomaly such as this.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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