Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Noroi: The Curse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 23, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the J-Horror Rising set from Arrow Video.

When a set like J-Horror Rising offers someone like the venerable Tom Mes freely detailing how at least some elements that combined to create what is commonly called J-Horror (at least vis a vis J-Horror as it's about to be defined, below) might be likened to American B movies or even direct to video or made for television efforts, there may be a bit of a subliminal warning to be gleaned, all of which is to say, perhaps expectations need to be reasonably set when approaching some and potentially all of the films in this set. Mes unabashedly lists Ringu (the original Japanese Ring film, for the uninitiated) as a defining J-Horror landmark, at least within the context of the films offered here, in that none of these films probably could be imagined and almost certainly wouldn't have been made without the influence of the celebrated Hideo Nakata outing. It's also salient to note that several of the films in this collection were first exhibited as the "down ticket" item on "double features", sometimes not so coincidentally under main attractions like Ringu 2 and/or Ringu 0. As Mes overtly mentions in his overview of J-Horror included in this set, the wake left by Ringu was wide, but it wasn't particularly deep, at least as evidenced by how quickly this particular "rage" ebbed, and so as such even the Rising part of the title of this collection might be slightly misleading, since as Mes describes, by the time these offerings came along, things may have already been fading.

Note: Those interested in this release may want to also check out Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories, from Radiance, which is streeting the same day as this collection.

Director Kôji Shiraishi is on hand in an interview included as a supplement on this disc mentioning how there was a trend in Japan for documentaries about ghosts to go straight to video for the rental market, which led Shiraishi to consider making a fictional narrative film about someone making one of those documentaries. That decision of course placed Noroi: The Curse firmly in the "found footage" tradition, though Shiraishi makes some perhaps slightly feeble attempts in his interview to divert attention away from such efforts as The Blair Witch Project. In this case paranormal investigative journalist and video documentarian Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki) has mysteriously disappeared after a tragic house fire that also claimed the life of his wife. There is in fact a perhaps dangerous drinking game some enterprising sorts might want to try, taking a swig every time a character in this film mysteriously disappears and/or dies, though chances are those "players" are going to be seriously drunk after just a short while.

The film basically reassembles footage of Kobayashi on the hunt for any number of mysterious people (maybe most of whom do, yes, disappear), with some especially "meta" elements added into the mix courtesy of real life Japanese actress Marika Matsumoto, here playing at least a version of herself (just one of several performers in such "roles"). The film ping pongs between the Kobayashi "documentary" (which itself includes interpolated "archival" material) and more contemporary vignettes, just one of several disjunctive stylistic choices that also tend to suffuse the screenplay. This is a film literally stuffed full of competing ideas, and not even the repeated disappearance of several characters can probably make room for everything. There is a kind of horrifying coda included here that attempts to provide a few answers to lingering questions.

Noroi: The Curse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Noroi: The Curse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following minimal information on the transfer:

The films in this collection were remastered in high definition and supplied by Kadokawa.

Noroi: The Curse is presented in 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo sound. Additional remastering work was completed by The Engine House Media Services, London.

There's an unavoidably heterogenous appearance on tap here, courtesy of all the supposed different formats and/or technologies at work, though generally speaking whether intentionally or not, a lot of the material here that's supposedly video based has a definite upscaled quality. Everything is generally kind of mottled looking, with a kind of washed out palette and generally only passable detail levels. Other, ostensibly "newer" footage is considerably sharper and better detailed, along with offering a more nicely suffused palette. This presentation probably needs to be accepted with an understanding that this outing is by design cobbled together from (supposedly) different sources.

Noroi: The Curse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Noroi: The Curse features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options in the original Japanese. This is another effort where the surround track may open up ambient environmental effects a bit, but where there really aren't huge differences between the 5.1 and stereo presentations. There are occasional passing sound effects in addition to ambient environmental sounds, but by and large this is a talk fest, and as such, the stereo track may suffice perfectly well for many. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Noroi: The Curse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Julian Singleton


• Interviews are subtitled in English:

  Director's POV (HD; 25:38) features director Koji Shiraishi.

  
  

  The Man in the Shadows (HD; 17:48) features producer Taka Ichise.

  
  

  Changing Perspective (HD; 21:56) features Lindsay Nelson discussing this film's "mockumentary" approach.

  
  

  Ectoplasmic Worms (HD; 20:32) features critic Amber T. discussing the film.

• Bonus Footage are subtitled in English and look kind of like vintage EPKs:

  How to Protect Yourself Against Curses (HD; 13:35)

  
  

  Urgent Report! Pursuing the Truth about Kagutaba!! TV Special (HD; 38:11)

• Deleted Scenes

  Deleted Scene #1 (HD; 4:00)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #2 (HD; 1:10)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #3 (HD; 3:13)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #4 (HD; 3:29)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #5 (HD; 2:13)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #6 (HD; 2:18)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #7 (HD; 2:18)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #8 (HD; 2:57)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #9 (HD; 1:27)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #10 (HD; 00:28)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #11 (HD; 2:28)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #12 (HD; 00:49)

  
  

  Deleted Scene #13 (HD; 2:22)

• Trailers and TV Spots

  Teaser Trailer (HD; 00:40)

  
  

  Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:43)

  
  

  TV Spot A (HD; 00:30)

  
  

  TV Spot B (HD; 00:16)

  
  

  TV Spot C (HD; 00:16)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Noroi: The Curse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Noroi: The Curse manages to do a couple of interesting things within a general "found footage" (or "found footage" adjacent) context, and the ending is pretty disturbing. Technical merits are decent, with an understanding that video quality is intentionally pretty shoddy looking quite a bit of the time. This disc offers more bounteous supplements than some of the others in the J-Horror Rising collection, for those who may be considering making a purchase.