Scarecrow (2001)

Absolutely amazing

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

I love a good horror or thriller, no matter how long and dragging the dialogues, but this is not one of those. It's more of a drama with one of the most irritating protagonist I've had the misfortune to come across. Seriously, I wanted to slap the beejeezus out of her. But if you like squeaky, fickle-minded women who consistently makes bad decisions and runs like a lame chicken, you have a winner here.I was initially excited by the movie concept. Scarecrows are one of my top choices when it comes to horror "monsters", for lack of a better word. Early on, I caught the plot of the entire movie and the probable spin they'll make in the end. I thought it was nice, nostalgic even, since it reminded me a bit of Pet Sematary. Sadly, the movie did not rise to its full potential, but fell flat on its face with a loud thud.It was like they couldn't decide which direction to go, long-haired ghost woman or scarecrow zombies...in the end, it fell short on both.If you really want to believe the positive reviews, go ahead, but it would be wise that you don't spend hard-earned money on this. You just might bang your head on the wall right after.

Kakashi, like quite a few other Japanese horror films, had an unresolved ending and an eskewed sense of logic. Considering a horror film about "kakashi"/scarecrows of all things makes one wonder what the film is like. How do they make scarecrows scary? That is what I thought when I got this film.However, the answer, in this case at least, is they can't. The scarecrows were easy to push away and tear apart even for the heroine, Kaoru, and they never once did anything that really showed any power to fear. In short, the monsters of the show were very weak. Excessively so.The main villain, a psychotically obsessive woman who killed herself, is mostly an evil spirit who can make Kaoru have nightmares, taunts her inside the house, and who later becomes re-born as a scarecrow and dies in a blaze of laughing mania. A possible high point of the story, and the scene that reveals that Izumi was dead and why she died, ends up less than scary and more or less creepy. The woman was pathetically obsessed and completely manic in her childish flaunts of over-dramatic and emo-tistic emotion. This woman has problems, obviously.In fact, it's safe to say that all of the characters involved in this story had some sort of problem. Kaoru had her incessant and obvious brother complex, Sally and Izumi's parents were obsessed with using scarecrows, and Izumi was... insane. Tsuyoshi was probably the least "humanized" of all the characters. Between Izumi and Kaoru, he seemed more of an object to be taken. Poor guy. All in all, this movie wasn't frightening even in the nightmare, diary, and scarecrow/escape sequences like it possibly could have been. It was unbelievable in both story and in how poorly it was done. If you're looking for a good horror to give you a scare or even challenge your mind, this is not it.

Kakashi is considered as a Horror Movie, but it isn't at all. The story takes place in Kozukata village where the heroine brother was last seen. In this village loads of unexplained things happens..(eg. Why Kakashi is kinda worshiped by the village citizens?). Our heroine Kaoru has to face mysterious things, strange people that think about one special day .. The Kakashi Festival ..The director tried to produce a Horror climate , but it wasn't enough and can't be noticed as well. The music was one of highlights of the film, really scary sometimes and dramatic on other points ( Thumps Up). By the way, Shinichro Ogata is the one who composed the music.Another highlight of the movie is the stars act.. all of them acted very good and nicely. Maho Nonami who played Kaoru, the one who is searching for her missing brother.. is a good actress, but she needs more efforts to express her feelings .. The scary part is the role of Izume done by the well known actress Kou Sibasaki, she acted really good that you would feel that she is a Devil ( Thumps Up ), Grace Ip the well known HK star was good in the movie , although she was over reacting in some scenes. Shunsuke Matsuoka who played the missing brother was OK , the role was not that hard, he tried to put some efforts but the problem is that the his role is so limited and even the script writer didn't include any information as why did he went to the village and stayed for a week ?? Maybe , more explanation , would help Shunsuke to understand his role..Overall, the movie is an average Dramatic Movie not a Horror , I advice you to rent it as in the end, loads of unexplained things would make a disappointment conclusion as 1 Hour and half should be enough to explain the concept of the story , but the movie failed to do that..Rating: **/*****" In Kazukata village .. Humans co-exist with Death "

Effectively creepy Japanese horror, about a young girl searching for her lost brother. She follows his trail to a mysterious village, where the occupants are readying scarecrows – or kakashi – for a rural festival. Naturally the villagers and the kakashi are not as they seem. Disappointingly, the ending of the film is a bit of a damp squib. Performances are also uninspiring; Nonami Maho is very pretty but seems unable to bring her character to life. Shibasaki Kou is terrific, but she doesn't get much in the way of screen time. Chinese cutie Grace Ip guests for some reason, which is very welcome, but her inclusion seems tacked on and unnecessary. That said, there are some genuinely eerie moments during the film's opening hour or so, which put me in mind of the Wicker Man a few times. It's not a waste of time, by any means, but Kakashi could have been a whole lot better.