Bland direction that doesn't allow for suspense, plus there's a sleazy, exploitation-like child-torturing premise. Muddled plot full of logic holes.
If demon-frau promised not to kill her son if he got rid of her, then why does she kill him anyway decades later? How the hell did demon-frau kill two of her kids without the authorities noticing that they were missing from school? Does Japan have no Social Services, or is it normal there for kids to come to school continually bruised and beaten without anyone taking any measures to protect them? Why does Mika's mother just push demon-frau to the side and then turn her back to her to be then very predictably - and stupidly - killed? Why does everyone move in extreme slow-motion once they enter the murderess's lair? How come some of the victims are found wandering the city - how the hell did they escape? How come they escaped but Mika - who was cutting herself loose - didn't? Why didn't the demon-frau's son report to the police what he knew?
I am always fascinated how much less critical (horror) fans are of non-English-speaking horror films. If this were an American film, it would be almost uniformly trashed for its glaring flaws. Somehow American (horror) films are held to higher standards (not counting the hyped big-studio films with fake reviews and swarm-voting), more nit-picked on, while non-American ones are forgiven even when they're blatantly stupid or mediocre.
If demon-frau promised not to kill her son if he got rid of her, then why does she kill him anyway decades later? How the hell did demon-frau kill two of her kids without the authorities noticing that they were missing from school? Does Japan have no Social Services, or is it normal there for kids to come to school continually bruised and beaten without anyone taking any measures to protect them? Why does Mika's mother just push demon-frau to the side and then turn her back to her to be then very predictably - and stupidly - killed? Why does everyone move in extreme slow-motion once they enter the murderess's lair? How come some of the victims are found wandering the city - how the hell did they escape? How come they escaped but Mika - who was cutting herself loose - didn't? Why didn't the demon-frau's son report to the police what he knew?
I am always fascinated how much less critical (horror) fans are of non-English-speaking horror films. If this were an American film, it would be almost uniformly trashed for its glaring flaws. Somehow American (horror) films are held to higher standards (not counting the hyped big-studio films with fake reviews and swarm-voting), more nit-picked on, while non-American ones are forgiven even when they're blatantly stupid or mediocre.