Occult (film)
| Occult | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kôji Shiraishi |
| Screenplay by | Kôji Shiraishi |
| Based on | inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Kôji Shiraishi |
| Edited by | Kôji Shiraishi |
Production company |
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| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Occult (オカルト Okaruto) is a 2009 J-Horror, "found footage" film in the form of a documentary. The movie was written and directed by Kôji Shiraishi.[1]
Plot
The film chronicles a documentary filmed by Koji Shiraishi investigating a mysterious mass murder at a Japanese resort called Myogasaki three years ago by a man named Ken Matsuki, whose body is never found after he jumped off the cliff following the act. The murder claimed the lives of two women and injured an unemployed man, Shohei Eno, with a strange petroglyph-like mark on his back. Eno claims that supernatural occurrences, which he calls "miracles", have been happening to him since the incident, including a UFO-like object hovering in the sky. He also tells the crew that he never blames Matsuki for the stabbing; in fact, he is thankful when he heard Matsuki saying that "it is your turn", which he interprets as saying that it is Eno's turn to fulfill a "ceremony" commanded by God, as had been done by Matsuki. Seeing that Eno is financially troubled, the crew agree to pay him on the condition that they are allowed to film the occurrences personally.
Eno who, when given the financial opportunity drinks and smokes heavily and becomes rude, repulses the crew, especially since they think that he will follow Matsuki's path of murder. From Matsuki's father, the crew learns that Eno's mark resembles the one possessed by Matsuki since childhood, and their search brings them to Mount Ohiruyama, where the sacred Kutoro Rock is located. The crew find a stone with Matsuki and Eno's petrogylph marks inscribed on it. According to a horror film director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Kutoro Rock (九頭呂岩, literally "Nine-Headed Spine Rock") in Mount Ohiruyama (お蛭山, literally "Mount Leech") was dedicated to Hiruko, a Japanese god with the form of leech. This tale matches Shiraishi's experience of having nine leeches biting his left leg when he visited the rock five years previous. However, the film Eno takes reveals a number of leech-like apparitions that the film crew have to acknowledge.
Shiraishi takes Eno alone back to a Korean barbecue restaurant to get him to talk openly about what the voices he hears tell him. Drunk and relaxed, Eno reveals that he has been saving ¥700,000 to build a bomb so he can commit a suicide bombing in a busy street in Shinjuku, which he claims would send him and all people involved to God's realm. Shiraishi initially claims he will stop Eno, but on the way home, he sees Eno's head surrounded by the leach-like apparitions and find his leg bleeding as it did when the leaches bit it. He becomes utterly compliant and agrees to cooperate, intending to record the step-by-step for other people to identify. They spend the day of the bombing together. Eno refuses to eat beef for fear of mad cow disease. After spending a day with Eno prior to the bombing, Eno offers him a ¥100 coin to repay one he borrowed long before. Shiraishi tells him to later return it and the camera from the realm he expects to go to with the bombing. The bomb claims 108 lives, including Shiraishi's fellow journalist, Shinobu Kuribayashi. However, Eno's body, like Matsuki, is never found. Shiraishi, meanwhile, is sentenced to prison for complicity.
21 years later, Shiraishi has been released from prison and reunites with his producer. They return to the Korean barbecue. There, the producer explains that the restaurant will soon close as has many others since over 100,000 people have died from Mad Cow disease. Suddenly, something falls from the ceiling and Shiraishi screams in pain. He finds the camera and a ¥100 coin that Eno borrowed years ago. He also realizes that his leg is bleeding with leech marks.
The camera recording shows Eno being sent immediately after the bombing to a Lovecraftian-like universe which he screams is Hell. Leech and jellyfish-like creatures surround him in the almost cartoonish realm. He screams for help among other people's torments before a leech consumes him.
See also
- The Curse (2005), another "found footage" mockumentary by the same director
- Shirome (2010), another "found footage" mockumentary by the same director
- Chō Akunin (2011), another "found footage" film by the same director
External links
- Occult at the Internet Movie Database
References
- ↑ 3:AM Magazine, "If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It): An Interview with Koji Shiraishi," by David F. Hoenigman (November 29th, 2009 - retrieved on September 23rd, 2011).