Noroi: The Curse (2005) - full transcript

A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the "kagutaba."

"The names of persons and
organizations in this movie"

"have been partially changed."

"Produced by Taka Ichise"

"Directed by Koji Shiraishi"

This video documentary is deemed
too disturbing for public viewing.

These are books written by
Masafumi Kobayashi, a journalist

who had been chronicling
supernatural phenomenon since 1995.

He gathered accounts
of strange occurrences...

in his pursuit of horrifying and
unsolvable mysteries.

Once he'd begun using video
in his research

he was able to compile his research
on to videotapes.



That bomb shelter?

Yes. It's in there.

I saw it over there.

It running in the woods very quickly

This is where you saw the ghost...

Was it suicide?

Yes. I saw him in the fender mirror.

This is where...

a family of five was massacred.

In April 2004...

Kobayashi finished his latest...

video documentary, "The Curse".

This has to have some connection.

But soon after that...



At night on April 12,
Kobayashi's house burned down.

Later his wife, Keiko was found dead
in the remains.

But Kobayashi wasn't found.
He was declared missing.

Masafumi Kobayashi
had mysteriously vanished.

His video, "The Curse"...

reveals a truth too astounding
for us to imagine.

"I want the truth."

"No matter how terrifying
I want the truth."

"Masafumi Kobayashi."

"November 12, 2002, Koganei, Tokyo"

"Masafumi Kobayashi,
reporter of the supernatural."

The spooky voices you mentioned...
What kind of voices were they?

It sounded like babies' voices.

Babies' voices...

"Ryoko Okui, housewife"

When did it start?

A couple of months ago.

The sound comes from over there.

Who lives next door?

A woman in her 40s and her boy,
aged between 6 and 9.

There are two of them.

They moved in about half a year ago.

That was the only time that
I saw the boy.

I haven't seen him since.

I see the mother every now and then
when she goes out.

But she doesn't greet me.

I'm a bit scared. I don't want
my girl involved, either.

Let's go to the neighbor's.

Let's go in.

What a mess!

Hello?

Anybody home?

I happened to be in the neighborhood
doing some research and...

What kind of way is that
to talk to me?

How can you talk to me like that?

May I have a few minutes
of your time...

How can you?

My name's Kobayashi and...

Impossible.

Give me a break.

"The strange sound was recorded
on video tape."

Let's begin.

Can you tell us what the sonic
analysis revealed?

Okay.

We have the spectrographic analysis
of the sound.

It has a band of noise
all the way through it.

But here, there's a unique signal.

I'll play it back for comparison.

"The unprocessed audio signal."

This one's noise-reduced.

"The processed audio signal."

As you can hear it's like
some kind of animal sound.

I have enhanced the signal.

Listen carefully.

A cat meows sequentially
but this sound isn't like that.

What's interesting about
this sound is...

that it doesn't repeat like a cat's
meow, it ends with an inhale.

That's the characteristic of
a human baby voice.

On closer examination

it sounds like the voices of
more than 5 babies.

Several days after your visit...

they moved out of that house.

What? They moved out?

How about the strange voices?

Do you still hear the baby voices?

Not since they moved out.

So her name is Junko Ishii.

Come here, Miyajima!

Excuse us now.

They died 5 days later.

Mrs. Okui lost control of her car
when she was driving.

The car went over the divider
into the incoming traffic...

"Footage from a TV variety program,
aired on August 3, 2003"

Good evening, everybody!

Good evening.

Very good, everybody.

Let me introduce you to

Mr. Koichi Hirotsu, the psychic.

Thank you very much.

Can you tell us
how the experiment proceeds?

The first experiment deals
with clairvoyance.

"Experiment 1, Clairvoyance"

In each of these containers

there's a piece of paper.

It has a drawing on it.

I want you to imagine what's drawn.

"First question"

10 children with ESP abilities
from all over Japan.

We're about to witness their powers!

They all look kind of nervous.

Everybody, concentrate right here.

Try to envision the paper
in the container.

You'll get a vision in your head.

None of us know...

what's drawn on the paper.

One of them is starting
to draw what she sees.

"One of them is starting
to draw what she sees"

Can she really see it?

Let's open the container

and take a look at the paper.

What's on the paper?

The answer is a double circle.

But not just a double circle.

Each circle has two points

where the line is broken.

It's a complicated shape.

Did anybody get it right?

"Results"

You there...

She got it right!

Kana Yano

can you show us what you drew?

Take a good look, everybody.

It's drawn with extreme accuracy.

Even the scale is accurate.

This is incredible!

Kana Yano...

She gave correct answers to

all the questions up to 4.

"Fifth question"

Will Kana give an correct answer
to the fifth question, too?

Kana's already drawing something.

"Results"

Show us what you've got, everybody.

The answer to the question
looks like this.

It's totally different.

"It means Star in Russian"

I guess this one was difficult.

Maybe she's tired.

Next we'll make water materialize
in sealed bottles.

It's called materialization.

It is done by telekinetically
envisioning water in the bottle.

Let's do it.

"Begin experiment"

This requires intense concentration.

And now...

you're about to witness a miracle
performed by Kana!

Look, Kana's getting some water!

Can you see it?

At the bottom of the bottle...
water's gathering out of nowhere!

Of course, there's no false bottom
on the bottle, nor the table.

It's the same girl again.

What were you thinking

when you did this?

I thought about water.

When the water materialized...

did you feel something different?

Were you hot or numb?

I had a headache.

My, God!

What is this thing?

Some kind of hair?

Yes. I guess she materialized it
together with the water.

What was it that mysteriously
appeared in the bottle?

Tests done on the water
that Kana produced, have come in.

"Professor Takaaki Yuhara, DSc"

The major component is water.

We found animal plankton
which suggests that

it's fresh water from either
a river or a lake.

The hair in the water is
indeed that of an animal.

It could be human hair, but because
there's no medulla development...

it could be from a newborn baby.

"August 27, Fuchu, Tokyo"

"Kobayashi interviewed
Kana's parents."

Hello.

Thanks for coming.

She's been sleeping all day?

Since after lunch.

"Kana Yano,
the psychic who appeared on TV."

She's had a slight fever
since those TV experiments.

She's spent lots of time
in bed, resting.

We took her to the doctor but
he couldn't find anything wrong.

We're very concerned about her.

I thought the program was pushing
the children too much...

Too many experiments.

I wonder if she's exhausted
her powers on that one occasion...

"Unused footage of a TV variety show
taped on October 23"

Hello, we're the Ungirls.

We're so popular that
ants crawl up our legs in the park.

When I'm a pall-bearer

I'm so tall that
I have to hold the coffin myself.

We're the Ungirls.

We're on our way to a shrine,
a popular ghost-sighting spot.

It was deemed boring if
it was just the two of us.

So we have the actress
Marika Matsumoto here too.

Good evening. I'm Marika Matsumoto.

I heard that you have a sixth sense.

That's right.

Have you ever had any
supernatural experiences?

Yes. Ever since I was a child...

For so long?

Yes. I've seen apparitions.

Are you okay, Marika?

I don't know...
The back of my neck's tingling.

You feel tingly?

I'm scared...

Maybe we shouldn't go in there?

But that's what we are here for,
so we're going in.

Here we are!

You want to go in?

It's spooky...

Guys! I feel something over
in that direction.

I feel something really strange...

This way.

We'd better stay here.

Let's all go in together.

It feels very strange...

But there's nothing here.

Maybe it's here... Yes, it is.

Can you bring the camera over here?

Only these trees are dead.

Everywhere else the trees are okay.

They're okay there, too.

Only here, they're dead.

Look at this tree. So lumpy.

Yuck...
It's dripping with something sticky.

What's this?
Is it oozing from the tree?

No! Don't touch it!

I mean it. Stay back...

Is it bad?

Shit!

What's wrong?

I heard something...

Did you hear that?

Did I? I heard nothing...

Something... lt was a low voice,
like a man's.

A man's voice?

Was that you?

I've had enough of this.

There's nothing over there.

Stop the camera! Stop it!

"November 26, a live talk show,
A Night of True Horror Stories."

Wasn't that something special?

It was incredible. I was blown away.

How do you feel now, Marika?

I feel embarrassed.

So this footage was edited out?

That's right. The director arranged
for me to have a copy.

In the footage, you said you could
hear a man's voice.

It was a very low voice.

It sounded like it was calling me.

Did you see me turn
when I heard the voice?

I remember nothing
from that point on.

Nothing at all?

No.

Tonight, we have a special guest
who'll examine Marika's condition.

A person with psychic ability.

Let's welcome our guest!

Let's hear it for him!

Calm down, he's our guest.

Our guest has arrived in
an outfit that's very different.

Can you see us up on the stage?
Come this way.

We want you to use your power and
give us your impression of Marika.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Mitsuo Hori.

A man with unique psychic powers.

He's engaged in activities

to protect humans against
ectoplasmic worms.

Look at the flier you were given
at the door.

It's difficult to
follow his thoughts...

Hey, let her go.

You are in big trouble!

Pigeons!

My, God! The pigeons!

The pigeons!

Show him the door.

Watch out for the pigeons!

"Midoriyama TV Studio"

"Kobayashi met the director
of the variety show."

Are you Mr. Kobayashi?

- I'm Kobayashi.
- I'm Shimbashi.

When I gave the footage to Marika,
I edited something out.

I didn't want to spook her.

This is right before
she screams and collapses.

There's something I want you to see.

"Sugishobou Publishing"

Hello.

This is Miyajima, our cameraman.

Nice to meet you.

I'm Marika Matsumoto.
It's my pleasure.

It's on the right side of you
on the video.

You can see it just briefly.
I'll pause the image for you.

Right after this.

It's here.

Oh, God...

I don't know if it's related...

What is it, Ms. Matsumoto?

Something's been bothering me lately

Take a look at this.

The drawing?

I don't know what it is.

But I find myself drawing
these images unconsciously.

When did you start drawing
these patterns?

I guess...

After the video shoot at the shrine.

The shrine...

Wait!

There are so many... I can feel it!

Wait, wait...

Can you see something?

No, I can't see anything but...

There are so many of them!

I don't know what they are...

I've had enough of this.

Do you see something?

"December 4"

The slight fever she had
stopped some time ago...

But instead, she's beginning to
act strangely recently...

It's strange.

She's often talking to somebody
when there's nobody in the room.

Who is it that you talk to...

that your mother isn't able to see?

I guess it's too late for all of us.

What do you mean?

We'd better take it, too.

No!

What's wrong?

Kana...

Kana, you'd better lie down.

Excuse me...

"Footage from a variety show
aired on December 9"

Now, Maria Takagi went to
interview a psychic!

Let's watch the interview.

This psychic man
was really something.

- You saw him?
- I did.

- It's on video?
- Yes!

Okay, let's not watch it.

No? It's like... duh!

What kind of reaction is that?

Here's the interview with
The Super Psychic!

This is Maria Takagi.

Today, I'm here to meet with the
super psychic who lives around here.

I can't wait to find his place.

Is it true that your next door
neighbor is a super psychic?

Super psychic?

I think he's a freaking psycho.

I saw him several times
putting out the garbage...

He's a freaking psycho.

He can't be cured.

So he's a freaking psycho.

Is this it?

"Strange messages on the garbage"

Hello! Is the super psychic home?

Are you the super psychic?

Mitsuo Hori...

I can do that.

I'm psychic.

Could I interview you?

Is it alright?

I'm coming inside.

Can you see this?
We've got to show this!

The room's covered entirely
with aluminum foil!

Hundreds of fliers are
stored in these boxes.

What's written on these fliers?
I mean...

What are they for?

For years, I've been receiving
dangerous information...

Dangerous messages...

Space...

What?

- Space!
- Space!

With space...

I can connect...

I can see the future...

Many bad, bad guys...

Ectoplasmic worms...

It says so here.
"Ectoplasmic worms."

The worms are all over,
crawling, squirming...

The super psychic's expressing
himself with body language.

Is that his expression for
the ectoplasmic worms?

"December 22"

Was anything out of the ordinary
around the time that Kana vanished?

For about a week
before she disappeared...

there was a man
who kept visiting her.

I had no idea
what he was talking about.

He was wearing a hat covered with
aluminum foil.

And also...

he had a long coat covered with
aluminum foil.

And for some reason, Kana told me...

that the man was
of no threat to her...

On the day that Kana disappeared...

We found this strange flier.
It was placed face down.

It says, "Help."
I think this is Kana's handwriting.

See what Kana drew on this?

Has she always drawn
this kind of pattern?

"Kana's parents said they'd never
seen anything like this before."

"Help."

"The worms are increasing.
If we don't deal with them..."

Hello, is Mr. Hori home?

Excuse me.

I'm a journalist
doing some research.

Can you help me with my research
into the missing girl, Kana?

Who are you?

My name is Kobayashi.

I believe we met on the talkshow
the other night.

What?

Come in!

Oh, excuse me.

What's with
the aluminum on the walls?

Why are you covered with it?

It protects me from the tingling.

Because the ectoplasmic worms
are near...

What are these ectoplasmic worms?

These horrible worms...

they are everywhere.

They eat people and they multiply.

Eat people?

Kana...

She was eaten, too.

Kana?

Mr. Hori.

You know something about her,
don't you?

Where is Kana now?

I lost track of where she is...

Mr. Hori! Let go of my bag!

Stop it at once!

Kana!

This flier...

I picked it up at her house.

What do you know about
her disappearance?

Quiet!

Blue...

A blue building...

A blue building...

Blue?

Galvanized iron sheets...

What is it?

Cars...

A parking lot?

Is he drawing a map?

The worms are coming out...

The worms?

The worms are coming out.

A young man...

A young man.

The worms took Kana away.

They took her away!

To that direction?

Wait a second, Mr. Hori.

I have a map for you.

This is where we are.

That way!

I can't read the map...

Did he say that way?

What's Kagutaba?

Kagu... What did you say?

Calm down, Mr. Hori!

Are you okay?

Calm down!

Go away!

Excuse us!

Something weird happened
to the video image...

What do you mean, "weird"?

"Kobayashi looked for Kana according
to the map of Mitsuo Hori."

Mr. Kobayashi, how about that
apartment over there?

There is a parking lot.

But they're in different positions.

That's a blue building.

But it has only two stories.

This isn't it.

This is difficult.

Hello, this is Marika Matsumoto.

I have something I want to show you.

What is it?

"December 26, Meguro, Tokyo"

I wanted to show you these loops.

When I woke up yesterday morning,
I found the yarn.

And the wool was tied into
these complicated knots.

With many loops.

I don't recall putting the yarn here
before I went to bed.

I don't remember tying the wool
in knots, either.

Something must have happened
while I was asleep.

I'm scared to fall asleep now...

I'll leave the camera plugged in.

Turn it on when you go to bed.

Okay.

"Later that night"

And you never woke up until morning?

No.

And you remember nothing after
you fell asleep initially?

No, I don't.

These loops look just like
the ones on the wool.

They do...

Very similar...
The way they are tied...

Maybe this is the same banging
noise recorded on the video.

It may be.

A girl who works for the same agency
lives upstairs.

Is that right?

How long has it been like this?

Lately...

Uh-huh.

Sorry to bother you.

What's up?

Is this for TV?

Have you been banging on the floor?

What? No, I haven't.

Did you hear a banging sound?

I've been here all day,
but I didn't hear anything.

- Didn't you?
- No.

I heard banging...

late last night, too.

Really? I didn't hear that either.

Are you sure?

Have you noticed anything
out of the ordinary recently?

Have you felt inexplicably sick?

Anything like that?

No, nothing strange has been
happening in my life.

Sorry. Did we scare you?

No, it's okay.

"January 6, 2004, Nakano, Tokyo"

I didn't know
what this was before...

But I think this is a telephone pole

3 stories. Even the number of
windows matches.

It's a bluish-colored building, too.

And the room indicated is...

2nd from the right on
the 3rd floor.

The one with garbage bags
on the veranda.

Let's go to the room.

A person named Osawa lives here.

Hello, is Mr. Osawa in?

I can hear something inside.

Excuse me.

Do you know anything about Mr. Osawa
who lives next door?

He's a man of about 25.

I barely see him.
He's often talking to himself.

He was also making the banging
sound a while ago.

Did you hear that noise?

Have you ever seen the man
with a girl of...

about 10 years of age?

No, I've never seen him
with a girl.

"January 7"

The pigeons are only on
Osawa's veranda.

It's strange.

Keep the camera on the room.

Definitely.

There he is.

"A few days later, Osawa vanished."

There's a strange sound on the
tape of Marika in her room.

I'll play it back.

Around here.

Did you hear that?

"We had the tape analyzed."

The original sound's here.
On the right it's processed.

You can compare them.

The noise is reduced
on this recording.

What's Kagutaba?

What do you think?

It actually sounds like...

the voice I heard at
the shrine that night.

You mean the shrine
you visited for the TV show?

Yes.

It sounds just like that voice.

The voice on the tape seems
to be saying, Kagutaba.

Kagutaba?

Does the word Kagutaba
mean anything to you?

No, I don't think so.

I've never heard of it.

"Kobayashi started to look into
the word Kagutaba."

It's this word, Kagutaba.

Yes, Kagutaba.

It's far fetched, but you could
speculate that it derives from

Kamitama, meaning god's spirit.

I see. God's spirit...

Have you ever heard a foreign word

that sounds like Kagutaba?

I can't think of any.

Is this Doctor Shioya?

I'm trying to find out about
a strange word.

The word is Kagutaba.

Kagutaba?

Yes, that's right.

Kagutaba...

I think I saw it in some book
or something.

It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.

Let's get down to business.

The book you mentioned on the phone.

Can I take a look at it?

This is an ethnological document
compiled by the Tokita county office

I found the word Kagutaba
mentioned in this book.

There's a town called Shikamimachi
in Tokita county.

Right next to the town

there used to be a village called
Shimokage village.

It's now at the bottom of a dam.

Before the village's demise
the villagers had a strange custom.

It was called the demon ritual.

Demon ritual?

It was performed
to pacify the demon.

And according to the book...

The demon was called Kagutaba.

Does that mean that Kagutaba
is the name of a demon?

Well, it's difficult to say.
I think that it was just...

convenient for them to call
the unknown entity a demon.

This is a document that is over
200 years old.

It says Kagutaba right here.

The kanji characters for
"disaster, tool and spirit."

The 3 characters make up
the word Kagutaba.

A tool that's capable of causing
disasters.

That's what it means.

A long time ago,
in Shimokage village...

there was a group of sorcerers
who migrated from the west.

They developed a type of sorcery
called "Shimokage's Way."

One of their spells was called
the "Kagutaba method."

The sorcerer performed the spell
to summon Kagutaba...

which was sent to an adversary
to put him under a deadly spell.

The document says that
that was the role of Kagutaba.

But in one incident,
when a sorcerer summoned Kagutaba...

it disobeyed the instructions of
the sorcerer.

It started to do evil things
on its own.

So the sorcerer...
performed another spell

and finally succeeded in
confining Kagutaba deep underground.

"Shimokage Village submerged with the
construction of Shikami Dam in 1978"

"The demon ritual was discontinued."

This is Shikami town hall.

I'm interested in the old rituals
performed

at Shimokage village before it went
underwater.

Okay... Hold on please.

So you want to know
about the Shimokage rituals?

Yes, I do.

We don't have it
very well documented so...

I'll introduce you to someone.

Mr. Tanimura
researches local history.

Hello, my name's Kobayashi.

Oh, hello there.

Please come in.

The ritual was never
performed publicly.

So there's no documentation.

But the last ritual
performed in 1978 was filmed

by a film production contracted by
Mr. Ishii, the priest.

These are the 16mm films.

I pleaded with the Ishii family to
give them to me.

This is the video.
I transferred the film to video.

Shimokage village was a community
of sorcerers.

The villagers
still believe in sorcery.

Now it's becoming a fading memory

but they still place a sickle at
the door to keep away evil spirits.

Those who left the village have
a sickle above their front doors.

Interesting.

"We don't need a dam!"

Shimokage sorcerers used dogs
in their rituals.

That's why the villagers
still have dogs.

This is the Demon Shrine where
the ritual was performed.

Mr. Ishii was a priest
at this shrine.

You'll see him in a minute.

Look. That's Kagutaba.

This ritual is to pacify the demon.

Now Kagutaba is rampaging.

That's Ishii, the priest.

He is going to pacify Kagutaba.

Now the priest will bow...

One bow, four claps... and one bow.

This is a distinctive way to bow,
only done at this shrine.

Usually it's two bows,
two claps and one bow.

But this is one bow,
four claps, one bow.

There is no other place in Japan
where people bow in this manner.

But after the priest bowed...

The woman who was playing the part
of Kagutaba became delirious.

They had to stop the ritual.

The religious villagers said that
she was possessed.

Some said that
owing to the dam plan...

the ritual wouldn't be performed
again, which angered Kagutaba.

They thought it was
some kind of curse.

In the legend, Kagutaba was confined
underneath Shimokage village.

And it's the demon in the ritual.

What was it really?

Nobody knows for sure.

I would like to meet
Mr. Ishii, the priest.

Is that possible?

7 years ago, immediately after
giving me the film...

Mr. Ishii died from an illness.

So did his wife but
their only daughter's still alive.

She was the possessed woman
in the film...

She recently moved back here
from Tokyo.

I heard that she lives with
her son in the Ishii house.

She's in the Mikaishi community,

where the Shimokage villagers
moved to.

Mikaishi?

I also heard that
she's a bit eccentric.

I don't know if she'll talk to you.

"Mikaishi Village"

I think we're almost there.

What's this?

This has to have some connection.

Hello?

Hello?

Anybody home?

How can you talk to me like that!?

I'm asking you!
How can you talk to me like that?

Did you see her?

I did.

A woman in her 40s and her boy,
aged between 6 and 9.

How can you just
talk to me like that?

So her name is Junko Ishii.

Kobayashi asked around.

Look, the sickle.

Hello, anybody home?

Is anybody home?

Nobody.

May I help you?

Excuse me but do you know
the Ishii house down the street?

There seems to be
something strange...

Yeah, ever since
the daughter came back.

You'd best stay away from her.

For you own sake.

Excuse me.

What?

Sorry to bother you.

TV?

You know Mrs. Ishii down the street.

Ishii?

I'm a journalist doing research.
You may be able to help me.

Could you help me?

Come in.

Oh, thank you so much.

I was a good friend of Junko's
before she moved out.

She left the village to go
to nursing school in Tokyo.

Do you remember
the name of the school?

Musashino Nurse School or something.
I don't remember clearly.

How can I put this...
Has Junko always been...

mentally disturbed like she is now?

Not at all.

She was just a friendly,
regular girl.

Was she?

She changed after the demon ritual.

The demon ritual?

She started to act strangely.

I think the ritual caused her
to become possessed.

She told me that she'd heard
god's voice.

She said she had to obey his words.

She became kind of strange
after that.

I heard that people thought
it was the Kagutaba's curse.

Do you think she was...

Excuse me?

Hello?

"January 21, Musashino, Tokyo"

May I ask a few questions about
Junko Ishii, one of your graduates?

After she graduated in 1982

she got a job at an obstetric clinic
in Hachioji.

I can disclose the name of
the clinic

but it closed in 2000.

May I ask you some questions

regarding somebody
you used to work with?

Sure.

Junko Ishii.
What kind of a person was she?

She was a very hardworking woman.

Quiet in a spooky sort of way.

She was the kind of woman
who only talks about work.

The clinic we used to work for...

performed abortions even into
the 22nd week of pregnancies.

It's clearly illegal.

And she was the one in charge of
disposing of the aborted embryos.

There was a rumor that
she took the embryos home.

"Did she really take the embryos?"

"If she did, for what purpose?"

"February 6"

Midori? Is she your colleague...

the one who lives directly upstairs?

Yes. Midori has...

She's dead.

The police came and told me that...

Midori... committed suicide.

She did it in the park.

She killed herself with...

a bunch of strangers.

They hanged themselves...

Do you think it was my fault?

I got so scared that
I left the apartment.

I'm sorry...

I'm sorry...

Kobayashi asked his wife to
take care of Marika.

I'm home.

Hi.

Keiko, my wife.

Nice to meet you.

It's nice of you to let me stay.

"News footage aired the same night"

6 am today in Hironuma Park
in Nerima, Tokyo...

7 men and women were found dead.

They were hanging
from the iron bar of the swing.

It's suspected that the strangers
got together to commit suicide.

"7 bodies hanging from the swing."

Here are the names of those
who hanged themselves.

"February 10"

Look.

This is the girl who lived
upstairs from Marika.

And look at him.

When he first moved in
he was just a pleasant, normal guy.

But about half a year ago...
It was around last summer...

He started to complain a lot to
the woman who was living next door.

They argued a lot.

Is that right?

His neighbor was a tough
middle-aged woman.

But eventually she moved out.
I guess she felt scared.

The neighbor moved out?

Do you remember what kind of
arguments they used to have?

He complained about the baby
being too noisy.

A baby?

She didn't have a baby, though.

It was just her and her boy
who was 5 or 6.

Just a moment, please...

Is the woman
who used to live there...

Is this the woman?

Yes, that's her.

No mistake. It's her.

"News footage, February 12"

Next news.

Earlier today at an apartment
in Fuchu

a businessman stabbed his wife
to death and got arrested.

Our reporter is at the murder site.

Today at 7:10 am

a man called the police
and said that he'd stabbed his wife.

The police rushed
to the apartment

and found Kimiko Yano
stabbed to death.

Also at the site was the suspect,
Teruyuki Yano, her husband.

He confessed and was arrested
on the spot.

So far he has not told the police
why he killed his wife.

Their daughter has been missing
for a few months.

Do the police know anything
about her disappearance?

They have no information on her.

Kana, the daughter disappeared
on December 19 last year.

No clues have been found.

Today, Marika's cooking for me.

It's something yummy.

It's Spaghetti al Bongole
with tomato sauce.

Here, my special pasta
and potato salad.

They look great.

And this is... my special tea.

Isn't it out of a can?

No. It's my special oolong tea.

Would you like some Tabasco?

Yes? Here it comes.

A gourmet lunch.

Marika?

Marika!

Marika, what's wrong?

Did I groan?

Yes.

You seemed to be suffering,
you groaned and...

And some things crashed into
the window at the same time.

What is it?

Are you okay?

I'm...

I'm the next one to die.

I'm going to Nagano again.

I'll talk to Junko Ishii...

and get her to talk to us.

That will help us
solve this mystery.

Hori, the psychic said
to watch out for pigeons.

Did he mean that pigeons were
a sign of imminent death?

Let's visit him tomorrow
and ask him about it.

"We visited Mr. Hori"

"to show him the Junko Ishii tape."

"February 13"

Mr. Hori.

Are you ready, Mr. Hori?

This is what we want you to watch.

It's on this tape.

I'm sorry.

I've turned it off.

Mr. Hori.

When you watched the video,
did you feel something

or did you see anything?

Mr. Hori.

Mr. Kobayashi.

Take me to the dam...

where the village was,
the one with the demon rituals.

Why do you want to go there?

I want to try to perform
the ritual myself...

and see what it does to me.

Absolutely not!

The ritual might have caused
Junko Ishii's possession.

It's too dangerous.

If the ritual is necessary,
I'll go and do it by myself.

I don't want to die...

I have to do it myself.

Please.

Okay then. Let's go to the dam.

I'll visit Mr. Hori again

and ask him to come along with us.

Mr. Hori! We need your help!

What can we do to contain
the Kagutaba curse?

Mr. Hori.

We can't do this without your help.

Kana...

The worms have eaten her...

Maybe these worms are
actually Kagutaba.

It's too quiet around here...

Where are the dogs now?

"We drove to the dam
where Shimokage village used to be."

"Shikami Dam"

Are you okay?

This is where we are on the map.

So the shrine must have been...

right between that point
and the shore.

Off we go.

Let me know when you get back.

Thank you so much.

We'll be back soon.

Are you okay, Marika?

You don't look good.
We should go back.

- I'm okay.
- Are you sure?

We're almost there.

It's about here.

Let's get ready.

Good.

Now, you bow in that special way.

One bow, four claps, one bow...

How do you feel?

Talk to me.

I'm better.

Are you?

I feel lighter.

Good! It worked for you.

It was good we came to do this!

It's gone...

What's wrong, Mr. Hori?

It's not good...

What's not good?

It's not good at all...

I feel so much clearer now.

Thank you so much.

Hurry back!

Oh, no, no, no!

Hurry!

Get out of there!

They'll eat you up!

Now!

Hurry!

We have to leave the mountain!

Drive away!

Let's get out of here, then.

Back to the car.

Mr. Hori.

Kana!

Wait a minute, Mr. Hori!

Take care of Marika.

No problem.

Mr. Kobayashi, wait!

Don't worry, I'll be right back.

He's okay. Let's go.

Are you sure?

To the car.

Wait a minute!

Are they going to be okay?

I'll go look for them later.

How do you feel now?

Me? I'm feeling just fine.

Let's go then.

Mr. Hori!

Kana!

Mr. Hori, you have to stop!

Kana!

Wait a minute!

Marika?

Wait for me, Mr. Hori!

What is it?

What's wrong?

Dogs?

They've just been killed...

Are they the village dogs?

What's happening now?

What's this?

It's a magic field...

What's going on here?

More dead dogs...

Don't go in there!

Stay away!

Marika!

Are you okay, Marika?

Marika, what's wrong?

Should I pull over? Are you okay?

What's wrong? Are you okay?

Marika!

Marika!

What's going on, Mr. Hori?

What did you find there?

Marika!

Marika!

Marika, can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Marika!

It's a shrine!

Kana... Kana...

Mr. Hori!

Mr. Hori, is Kana in there?

Marika.

Marika!

Marika!

Marika!

Kana.

Is she in there?

This is ancient.

My God!

This pattern is the same as
what Kana drew...

What's wrong, Mr. Hori?

Mr. Hori, are you okay?

Mr. Hori!

Get a grip of yourself!

Marika!

Come back!

Can you hear me?

Yes...

Are you okay?

Yes...

What is this?

"We took Marika and Mr. Hori
to a local hospital."

"And we went back to Junko Ishii's
house in search of truth."

Excuse me!

Let's go in.

Let's go and see.

Film here.

Let's go upstairs.

It's Junko Ishii.

It's her. She's hung herself.

Look at that!

Kagutaba masks.

She's hung pigeons up here...

There is a boy behind there!

A boy?

Behind there!

Kana!

It's Kana! It's her!

Kana!

She's cold...

Are you okay?

Are you hurt?

Miyajima.

We have to call the police now.

"Missing girl found dead
in Nagano."

"The boy presumed to be Ishii's son"

"isn't actually her child."

Kobayashi decided to adopt the boy.

"March 6"

Is it good?

Yummy?

It's a good omelet, isn't it?

Do you remember anything about
living with that woman?

Marika, you look very good now.

Yes. I've been recovering nicely.

All those supernatural things...

have stopped happening.

Everything's normal now.

Have you gone back to work?

Yes. I'm going back to work soon.

You have to eat it.

Okay, let's eat everybody.

Let's eat.

Yummy.

Are you sure?

Don't hit me! Ouch...

"March 13"

"Hori has been committed
to an institution."

"No visitors are allowed."

"March 17"

I looked around for other things
connected to Kagutaba

after you left.

And I found this in
my grandfather's collection.

Here.

It says, "Shimokage's Way,
The Kagutaba method."

Oh, that's right.

I guess this scroll depicts

the ritual performed
to summon Kagutaba.

These are the monkeys.

And the dogs.

They sacrificed the baby monkeys

and offered them
to the medium to eat.

Just like the ancient spell of
the Shimokage sorcery...

which used baby monkeys
as sacrifices.

Junko Ishii used
Kana Yano as a medium.

She fed Kana the aborted babies...

in an attempt to resurrect Kagutaba.

It's only my speculation.

Now that Junko Ishii's dead

we'll never know the truth.

I only hope that the Kagutaba curse
has been contained.

I guess it's too late
for all of us.

"Camera operator, Hisashi Miyajima"

"Produced by Masafumi Kobayashi"

2 days after "NOROI, The Curse"
was completed...

The Kobayashi house burned down.

Later his wife, Keiko was found dead
in the remains.

But Kobayashi wasn't found.
He was declared missing.

3 days after the fire...

Mitsuo Hori, who had escaped from
the institution

was found dead.

"Picture of the Dead Man."

"Mystery of the man
who died in the duct!"

May 19, 2004, a month later

a package was delivered to
Sugishobou Publishing.

There was no return address.

The sender's name was
Masafumi Kobayashi.

There was a video camera inside.

And inside the camera...

a video cassette was intact.

What's going on, Mr. Hori?

Are you okay?

Mr. Hori?

You...

You've been eaten...

by the worms!

Are you?

Excuse me?

Why don't you put that rock down?

I can hear Kana...
Her voice comes in my head...

- In my head... lt says...
- What is it?

Kagutaba's alive...

It lives!

What did you say?

Kagutaba lives!

But Junko Ishii's dead now.

Kagutaba has gone now.

You'd better go back
to the institution.

You should go back.

Should I call the police?

No... Stop!

What are you doing?

Stop! What you're doing!

Stop it!

There he is!

What do you want?

It's him!

He killed Kana...

Wait, just a minute.

The boy's a victim, too.

Kana!

Hold on a second!

Calm down.

You have to listen to me.

Just wait a minute.

I'll help you with
whatever you need.

Let go off the boy, okay?

No!

Stop it!

Are you okay?

Kana!

Keiko!

Mr. Hori!

Hori?

Mr. Hori...

Keiko?

Keiko!

Keiko!

Keiko!

Keiko!

Keiko!

"Masafumi Kobayashi is
still missing today."