Director: Masato Harada
Starring: Yuki Amami, Atsuro Watabe, Kenichi Yajama, Kanako Fukaura, Eugane Harada

- Reviewed by Linda

Miki (Yuki Amami) is an old maid in her tiny mountain village. A 40-something woman, she never married, and works in solitary, making calligraphy paper in her shop up on the hill. Akira, a young stud on a motorcycle, comes to town to be the new middle school teacher, and he and Miki fall into a passionate affair. OK, all is fine so far. 

But the reason Miki is single is not only because of skeletons in her closet (an illicit high school affair that left her pregnant), but, well, all the female members of her family are cursed, you see? The women have to appease and keep tabs on the "inugami" (wild dog spirits) in the forest, or else the spirits escape and wreak havoc and violence on the villagers. While Miki is distracted with her new affair (and she begins to look younger and younger), the inugami escape and all hell breaks loose. Though Akira is warned, he is also a bit clueless as to his new love's power... and soon many many dark secrets are revealed. 

This film looked great, with a woodsy Japan we're not used to seeing on film, but the plot got more and more outlandish as it went on, and became less cohesive... inevitably leading to an unsatisfying ending.

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