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Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007) movie poster

Timeline

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2007 · 90 mins · Japanese
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Directed by
Koji Shiraishi
Starring
Tarô Suwa, Kazuyuki Matsuzawa, Eriko Sato, Yûrei Yanagi, Ryoko Takizawa, Haruhiko Kato

Legend says that three decades ago a suburban town was haunted by a disfigured woman’s spirit. Clad in a long coat and bearing large scissors, she stalks the streets, removing a mask from her young victims and asking, “Am I pretty?” Their answer almost always seals their violent death, leaving the community in terror.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
  6. 6 Every angle
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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Whispered question announces the evil

    Noboru Matsuzaki experiences a chilling, whispered question in the air: 'Am I pretty?' The unsettling voice marks the first supernatural touch in the town's growing fear. As rumors swirl, Noboru senses a malevolent presence nearby.

    When
    Evening
    Where
    Noboru's town, near his school
  2. Earthquake uncovers the Slit-Mouthed Woman

    An earthquake cracks open an abandoned house, and a corpse matching Kuchisake-onna's description crawls out of a closet. The shocking emergence confirms the legend's reality and triggers a wave of dread across the town. Fear spreads as the community contends with a new, terrifying omen.

    When
    Immediate aftermath
    Where
    Abandoned house
  3. Panic spreads; school steps in

    Panic grips the town and the school orders students to head home in groups, escorted by staff. Corridors fill with whispered rumors as parents and teachers try to maintain order against the spreading fear. Noboru and others watch the situation escalate from a distance, trapped between routine and horror.

    When
    Daytime
    Where
    Local school
  4. Mika’s home life exposed

    Mika Sasaki opens up about her troubling home life, revealing that her mother hits her. Kyōko Yamashita's fraught relationship with her own daughter deepens the sense of vulnerability in the town. These personal tensions heighten the horror, linking the legend to ordinary family strife.

    When
    Evening
    Where
    School / Mika's home
  5. The haunting voice foreshadows Mika’s danger

    Noboru continues to hear the eerie voice, a chain of echoes that foreshadow the appearance of Kuchisake-onna and the danger looming over the children. The haunting audio ties Noboru’s personal history to the town’s spreading torment. The mystery deepens as the spirit’s influence grows.

    When
    Following days
    Where
    Around town
  6. Playground terror confirms the threat

    A boy who had gone searching for the spirit with friends is suddenly grabbed by Kuchisake-onna on the playground. The incident confirms that the entity actively targets children and raises the stakes for adults trying to protect them. Fear spreads as parents hurry kids home under cover of dusk.

    When
    Afternoon
    Where
    Playground
  7. Mika faces the mask and fights back

    Mika confronts Kuchisake-onna and manages to knock the mask off, exposing the disfigured face that haunts the town. The act shifts the momentum, offering a temporary glimmer of hope while drawing the spirit’s wrath. The moment cements Kuchisake-onna as a tangible, deadly threat.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Playground vicinity
  8. Taeko Matsuzaki’s photo reveals a painful lineage

    Back at school, Noboru presents Kyōko with a thirty-year-old photograph of a woman who strongly resembles Kuchisake-onna—the late Taeko Matsuzaki. The revelation ties the legend to Noboru's abusive upbringing and suggests that the horror is personal as well as communal. The photograph becomes a crucial clue to understanding the haunting.

    When
    Later that day
    Where
    School / home
  9. The voice leads to a house and a rescue

    The voice guides them to a house where a rescue is possible: another boy is held by the spirit, and the group fights to pull him free. The house becomes a battleground where the boundary between life and death blurs, and the spirit shifts forms to test their resolve. They press on despite fear and danger.

    When
    Evening
    Where
    A house
  10. The spirit’s true nature surfaces

    Kuchisake-onna can possess women, occasionally taking the form of a seemingly ordinary housewife and is often accompanied by a telltale cough. This revelation deepens the sense that danger lurks behind familiar faces and ordinary routines. The entity manipulates the vulnerable, crossing the line between the everyday and the supernatural.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Within the lair / vicinity
  11. Taeko’s past comes back to haunt Noboru

    Taeko Matsuzaki's backstory is laid bare: Noboru's mother was abusive and unstable, a memory that fuels his fear and drives his determination to confront the spirit. The revelation links the past to the present threat and shows how trauma can spawn recurring hauntings. The family history becomes a core motive for the characters' actions.

    When
    Flashback / 30 years ago
    Where
    Taeko’s memory / past
  12. Climax in the basement and a haunting persists

    In the basement, Mika and Kyōko face a brutal assault from Kuchisake-onna. Kyōko stabs the spirit in the neck, ending the immediate danger and leaving behind the body of Natsuki Tamura's mother as a grim sign of the evil still lurking. Noboru fights with everything he has, but his injuries prove fatal as he decapitates Kuchisake-onna to purge the threat. However, the only way to end the terror is to destroy Taeko's corpse hidden in the closet, and even then the spirit endures, possessing Kyōko and implying the nightmare will continue beyond this moment.

    When
    Night
    Where
    Basement / lair

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:43

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Timeline questions answered

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Kuchisake-onna specifically target children?

Kuchisake-onna targets children as part of her vengeful spirit nature, preying on the most vulnerable in the community. The legend originates from a mother who was traumatized and abusive, and her spectral manifestation continues to seek victims through fear and manipulation. Children are easier to lure and capture, which aligns with the horror film's theme of innocents being endangered.

Foreshadowing: The boy's death at the playground confirms the spirit actively hunts children throughout the town.

  • kuchisake-onna
  • children
  • victims
  • spirit
  • target
Q2

How does Kuchisake-onna possess people?

Kuchisake-onna possesses women by temporarily taking their form, often accompanied by a telltale cough. The spirit can shift between her spectral form and that of an ordinary housewife, using familiar faces as cover to get close to potential victims. This possession allows her to infiltrate the community and reach children through their parents and guardians.

Foreshadowing: The spirit's first possession is hinted at when she takes the form of Natsuki's mother.

  • possession
  • transform
  • cough
  • host
  • women
Q3

What happened to Taeko Matsuzaki 30 years ago?

Taeko Matsuzaki was Noboru's mother who was abusive and unstable, physically and emotionally tormenting her children. She disappeared after her brutal acts, and her corpse was hidden in a closet within an abandoned house. Her traumatic legacy spawned the Kuchisake-onna legend when her spirit returned as a vengeful entity seeking new victims.

Foreshadowing: Noboru's traumatic memories of his childhood foreshadow the connection between his mother and the spirit.

  • taeko
  • matsuzaki
  • abuse
  • disappeared
  • corpse
Q4

What is the correct answer to Kuchisake-onna's question?

In Japanese folklore, the correct answer to "Am I pretty?" is to respond "Yes" (or in some versions, "So-so"). However, the film shows that answering incorrectly typically results in death. Mika's encounter shows that simply answering the question doesn't guarantee survival, the spirit uses the question as a trap regardless of the response.

Foreshadowing: The boy grabbed at the playground had likely encountered the spirit and given an answer.

  • am i pretty
  • answer
  • folklore
  • question
Q5

Why is Noboru connected to Kuchisake-onna?

Noboru is connected because Kuchisake-onna is the spirit of his own mother, Taeko Matsuzaki. His childhood trauma from her abuse is the source of the haunting. As an adult, he becomes the one who must confront the very evil that haunted his youth, making the story deeply personal rather than just a community-wide terror.

Foreshadowing: The photograph Noboru shows Kyōko reveals the resemblance between Taeko and the spirit.

  • noboru
  • taeko
  • mother
  • connection
  • trauma
Q6

Why does Kuchisake-onna survive being decapitated?

Kuchisake-onna survives decapitation because the physical body is merely a temporary host. The spirit's true source is Taeko's corpse hidden in the closet of the abandoned house. Only by destroying that corpse can the spirit be truly vanquished. Even after Noboru's desperate act of decapitation, the spirit persists and possesses Kyōko, proving that cutting the host body does not destroy the evil.

Foreshadowing: The revelation that Taeko's corpse must be destroyed is the only way to end the haunting.

  • decapitation
  • corpse
  • destroy
  • host
  • taeko
Q7

What happens to Kyōko at the ending?

At the ending, after Noboru decapitates Kuchisake-onna and succumbs to his injuries, the spirit possesses Kyōko while she visits her daughter. This possession marks the third host change, from Natsuki's mother to Mika's mother to Kyōko, demonstrating that the cycle of possession continues indefinitely. The final shot implies the nightmare persists and the horror will repeat.

Foreshadowing: The spirit's ability to jump between hosts was established when she possessed multiple women throughout the film.

  • kyōko
  • possession
  • ending
  • daughter
  • host
Q8

How does the earthquake trigger the chain of events?

The earthquake cracks open an abandoned house where Taeko's corpse has been hidden for 30 years, exposing the remains that match Kuchisake-onna's description. This physical disturbance releases the spirit, allowing her to begin haunting the town anew. The earthquake essentially awakens the dormant evil and sets the horror in motion.

Foreshadowing: The emergence of the corpse from the closet confirms the legend is based on real remains.

  • earthquake
  • corpse
  • abandoned house
  • closet
  • awaken
Q9

Why does Mika survive her encounter with Kuchisake-onna?

Mika survives because she actively fights back rather than simply responding to the question. When she knocks the mask off Kuchisake-onna's face, she disrupts the spirit's hold on her temporarily. Her courage and refusal to be a passive victim, combined with Noboru and Kyōko's intervention, allow her to escape where others might not have.

Foreshadowing: The haunting voice that foreshadows Mika's danger also hints at her survival through resistance.

  • mika
  • survive
  • fight
  • mask
  • resistance
Q10

What is the origin of Kuchisake-onna in this film?

Kuchisake-onna originates from Taeko Matsuzaki, an abusive mother who tormented her children before disappearing 30 years prior to the film's events. Her violent death and hidden corpse gave rise to the legend, and her spirit returned as a vengeful entity that kills children. The film connects folklore to a very real trauma that continues to haunt the community.

Foreshadowing: The town's legend predates the film but is revealed to have a basis in Noboru's family history.

  • origin
  • legend
  • taeko
  • folklore
  • spirit

Movie threads

More Movies Like Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Supernatural Spirits Born from Trauma like in Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman

Vengeful ghosts and malevolent entities whose power stems from a tragic past. Explore movies like Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman where the central horror is a ghost or entity born from a specific, tragic event. These films connect supernatural terror to deep-seated trauma, creating stories where defeating the monster often means uncovering a bleak history of suffering.

  • tragic
  • vengeful
  • historical
  • brutal
  • dread-filled
  • unresolved
  • Tone: dark, tragic
  • Pacing: fast, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically involves characters uncovering the origin story of a tormenting spirit, revealing a past trauma that fuels its present-day rage. The conflict is often cyclical, as the evil persists because the root cause—the original trauma—remains potent, leading to bleak resolutions where the horror is contained but rarely ever truly destroyed.

Why they belong together: These movies are grouped by their shared premise that evil has a concrete, tragic origin. They blend supernatural scares with heavy, human drama, creating a uniquely harrowing experience where the fear is both otherworldly and deeply psychological, rooted in real-world suffering.

Relentless Community Terror like in Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman

A pervasive threat traps an entire community in a cycle of fear and violence. If you liked the unending siege on a town in Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, discover more movies about communities trapped by a relentless threat. These stories focus on collective fear, the failure of safety nets, and the psychological toll of living under constant, inescapable danger.

  • oppressive
  • anxious
  • brutal
  • siege
  • panic
  • collective dread
  • Tone: dark, oppressive
  • Pacing: fast, chaotic
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The plot follows the escalating terror within a defined community as a predator—human or supernatural—strikes repeatedly. The structure is often straightforward, moving from initial disbelief to widespread panic, futile attempts to fight back, and a high body count. The journey is one of collective despair as the community's normal life is彻底 shattered.

Why they belong together: These films share a core focus on the experience of a group under siege. The similarity comes from the fast-paced, high-intensity pacing, the dark tone of inevitability, and the emotional weight of watching a community unravel under relentless pressure.

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Every angle

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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