What Viewers Call the Scariest Found Footage Series Ever is Now Streaming Free
I’m always looking for uncomfortable movies. Movies of the real chilling, haunting variety. I’d take a series, too, such as the Hideo Kojima-recommended Fake Documentary Q. They don’t have to be found footage, but it is, like, a preference of mine. I’m talking Noroi: The Curse, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, and The Outwaters. Movies that just chill me to the absolute bone. Ice cold terror and all that. The kind of cursed movies that linger long, long after they’re over.
So, color me surprised when this weekend, I stumbled upon something I’d never heard of before. Better still, it comes from Koji Shiraishi, the director of the aforementioned Noroi: The Curse, a personal pick for one of the scariest movies ever made. Shiraishi is more niche than the likes of Hideo Nakata or Kiyoshi Kurosawa, though his influence on Japanese cinema, especially Japanese horror, is no less profound. In 2023, he helmed a seven-part epic that’s been remarkably difficult to track down stateside. Well, now you can catch it streaming online, and whoa boy, I hope you do.
Learn more about Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi below:
Per IMDB: Kudo and a production company explore abandoned villages in the Japanese mountains, where legend has it that anyone who steps in will go crazy and disappear.
I haven’t had a chance to catch the entirety yet, largely because I’ve been swimming through the mountains of lore (and Reddit threads) about what this movie/series actually is. To help you out, allow me to link both the first and second parts here. Take a few hours and come back.
OK, you’re back? What did you think? Is it, as the tweet that led me here, “Japanese found footage horror excellence,” or maybe something even more? The replies certainly aren’t surprised to hear the series is helmed by Koji Shiraishi, and as recommended reading, this Certified Forgotten editorial written by Christian Valentin is an excellent place to start for the unfamiliar.
I’ve been pretty much obsessed from the get, so I’m eager to hear what you think of Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, both in terms of scale and digital technique. It’s an honest, earnest triumph, further proof that Koji Shiraishi is one of the greatest of all time. If you check it out, I’d be eager to hear your thoughts over on Twitter @Chadiscollins. Stay cursed, my friends!
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