Kakashi

Kakashi
Japanese movie poster
案山子
Genre	Horror
Manga
Written by	Junji Ito
Live-action film
Directed by	Tsuruta Norio
Released	2001
Runtime	86 minutes

Kakashi (Japanese: 案山子, lit. Scarecrow), is a 2001 horror film based on the Junji Ito manga of the same name. The film follows Kaoru Yoshikawa, whose search for her missing brother Tsuyoshi leads her to Kozukata, an isolated village that seems to harbor dark secrets.

Plot

The opening text narrates the tradition of "Kakashi", where humans would burn animal and human hairs to prevent evil spirits from entering Earth. They eventually began to burn human effigies made of straws as it also attracted the spirits of the dead so they can interact with them. Little did they know that it may bring consequences far greater than they thought.

Opening

), acts cold like the other villagers. He offers to let Kaoru stay for several days and tells her that Izumi is in the hospital.

On her first night, Kaoru dreams of meeting Izumi (

who haunts the village since she died grieving.

Kozo takes Kaoru to the clinic where her brother (Shunsuke Matsuoka) who had been in a trance since his arrival, is staying. Kaoru manages to bring him out by slapping him. After convincing and picking up Sally, the trio escape from the scarecrows while making their way to the tunnel before the festival starts. Meanwhile, Ayumi, revealed to be a scarecrow, kills her father and Kozo. As the festival starts, Izumi's scarecrow is the first to come to life and she subsequently kills her mother by snapping her neck. The trio stumbles to the windmill where Izumi waits. While embracing Izumi, Tsuyoshi ignites his lighter, setting both of them ablaze, with Izumi laughing at Kaoru, who can only watch helplessly. Kaoru and Sally hastily go to the tunnel while other scarecrows come to life. Just as they are about to reach outside, Tsuyoshi's spirit appears and calls Kaoru. Realizing that she has no place to go back and Tsuyoshi being the only one who cares for her, she goes after Tsuyoshi, despite Sally's protests.

Cast

• Maho Nonami as Kaoru Yoshikawa
• Kou Shibasaki
  as Izumi Miyamori
• Grace IP as Sally Chen
• Shunsuke Matsuoka as Tsuyoshi Yoshikawa
• Lily as Yukie Miyamori
• Kenzo Kawarasaki as Kozo Miyamori
• Yoshiki Arizono as Shusaku Noji
• Mizuho Igarashi as Ayumi Noji
• Yōji Tanaka as Policeman

Live-action film

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Kakashi
Directed by	Norio Tsuruta
Written by	Ryuta Mitaku Osamu Murakami Satoru Tamaki Norio Tsuruta
Based on	Kakashi by Junji Ito
Produced by	Youichiro Onishi
Starring	Maho Nonami Ko Shibasaki Grace Yip
Cinematography	Wataru Kikuchi
Edited by	Hiroshi Sunaga
Music by	Shin'ichirô Ogata
Production companies	Planet Mi-Pic Beam Entertainment
Distributed by	Emperor Multimedia Group
Release date	June 16, 2001 (2001-06-16)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

In 2001, Kakashi was adapted into a live-action Japanese horror film, directed by Norio Tsuruta, starring Maho Nonami, Ko Shibasaki and Grace Yip.

Reception

Derek Elley reviewed the film for Variety and concluded that "Tsuruta's deliberately restrained direction and a gentle ostinato score by Shinichiro Ogata are very effective in the opening reels at building a sense of foreboding from natural surroundings. Ultimately, however, film is let down by Nonami's rather bland performance as Kaoru and a lack of dramatic clout at the end."^[1]

Beyond Hollywood's review said that "whilst “Uzumaki” was a wacky affair, featuring wild special effects and odd transformations, “Kakashi” takes a very different route, focusing instead on atmosphere and melodrama, recalling more adult films such as “Inugami”" and concludes that "those who enjoy deliberately paced, mournful films that focus on mood and character are likely to be entertained and satisfied, as this is one of the better examples of the last few years."^[2]

Manga

The story appeared in

References

1. ^ Elley, Derek (July 6, 2001). "Variety Reviews - Kakashi - Film Reviews". Variety. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
2. ^ Mudge, James (September 21, 2004). "Kakashi (2001) Movie Review". Beyond Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
3. ^ Kyōfu Hakubutsukan, 4: Kakashi at WorldCat
4. ^ Museum of Terror at Dark Horse Comics

External links

• Kakashi at
  IMDb
• Kakashi at Rotten Tomatoes