Introduction
"Do not toy with the supernatural."
Two stories of the consequences that descend upon humans who venture beyond the safe confines of their ordinary worlds.
When a gorgeous girl named Rima transfers into Masami's class, she's not only jealous, but also deathly frightened of her. While the boys in class are tripping all over themselves to get to Rima, Masami's having nightmares of a ghastly visitor and finding scars on her body come morning. She asks a friend to help her get evidence to confirm her suspicions about the new girl. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth far more. The truth can set you free, but it can also be more terrifying than anything you can imagine.
Shy Miko and her more outgoing friend Nanako are enjoying their summer vacation, trying to make the most of their youth. But when horror-movie marathons just aren't thrilling enough, Nanako sets her eyes on a new target: an abandoned mansion at the edge of town, said to be haunted. With two other friends in tow, a reluctant Miko and a gung-ho Nanako enter the mansion. Soon, everything that can go wrong starts going wrong. Only luck or a miracle will allow them manage to escape the mansion with their lives, their sanity, and even their sense of reality.
(Source: Hanako)
Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
LuxuriousHeart
This is an OVA that's spliced into two stories. The first is about a beautiful transfer student and weird things happening because of it. The second is about a group of girls exploring a mansion.
Pretty standard stories. If you're into horror, then you've seen similar plots. What makes this good is the creepy vibes and expressions. Some of the expressions are unsettling, as are the designs. It makes for an enjoyable experience, and there's even a few plot twists.
Some people would complain that some of the stories are cliche, but do remember. The manga that these stories are likely based on, were written in the 60s. Kazuo Umezu basically published the very first horror manga, which was in the 60s, so do keep that in mind.
I think it was a nice and quick watch. For the spooky season,…
Read at the sourceHaGriDoS
Tbh,im completely surprised.I thought this will be a pile of trash but it was actually fine,well besides the first story which was bad,very bad,but the second creeped me out which not happens often.
The second story reminded me of old Scooby Doo movies,it basically was one but for adults.
The sound is very good,it makes half of work in setting up the mood which modern horror animes unfortunately lack.
I dont have much to say about the first story besides it was weird and not good kind of weird.
The only bad thing i have to say about the whole anime is its look, i couldnt find version that isnt a blurry mess.
Read at the sourceKamuiX1999
Wow, this was something completely different! Why isn't there more horror anime like this? It's basically a great '80s/'90s type horror anthology, just in an animated form, that tells two genuinely creepy tales. It doesn't have any of the usual anime tropes of the time whatsoever, it just wants to tell some great horror stories in the most authentic way possible. The animation literally looks like Umezu's artwork come to life, which is a beautiful thing to see. The soundtrack is incredibly effective as well. The more I see (and read) of Kazuo Umezu's work, the more it saddens me that his stuff isn't as well known or held in as high regard outside of Japan as Junji Ito's work. The dude knows how to tell some twisted, freaky stuff, and this is one of the finest examples outside of his origin…
Read at the sourceThisSilenceIs
Any horror fan knows that sometimes, you just want to wrap yourself in a blanket and watch a 6/10, low-budget, cliche horror. This is the epitome of the "6/10 cliche horror movie"
This is not terrifying, but definitely unnerving enough, especially the second story, and is no doubt help by the VHS compression. As for the visuals, the artstyle does a good job at copying Umezu's style and, while the animation is stilted, its jankiness suits well Umezu's work
Also, kinda sad that this is the only horror anime by Umezu and this is FAR from his best work, but I still highly recommend watching this one as a cheap thrill if you're bored one evening
Read at the sourceKamezuki
“Umezu Kazuo no Noroi” is a 1-episode horror OVA that tells two creepy stories from author Kazuo Umezu in a “Tales from the Crypt”-like style. Both stories offer distinctly horrific visuals paired with dainty shoujo character designs and eerie music. However, they’re clumsily put together (especially the second one), important events and elements of the plots are left unexplained, and more time is spent showing characters with horrified expressions than the horror content itself.
The first story is about a girl who is plagued by nightmares and a mysterious wound on her neck after a new student transfers in to her school. This one has some impressively disturbing imagery, and the story progresses naturally for the most part, although the timeline and point of view get confusing towards the…
Read at the sourceGatesOfOblivion
Sound Sound Sound Sound Sound.
50% why this OVA works so well was because of effective usage of sound. They did something rare. They gave room to build an atmosphere with it at the helm. Environmental ambience and the soundtrack brought these stories to life.
It wasn't anything groundbreaking storywise, but for what it is, it was great.
I didn't think i would ever say this.. You should watch this for Halloween. It's just about the perfect anime for that time of year.
And how timely of me, i got to write this review just in time for this year's Samhain..
Edit: Okay. So i noticed an unfair criticism towards The Curse of Kazuo Umezu. And i feel the need to elaborate. We.. have to rate this in accordance with it's time. This is not a recent work to which you can apply the same modern lo…
Read at the sourcetomateunmate
Si leés castellano este ova está en youtube.
The only Umezu manga I've read is Fourteen, but for what I've seen this OVA adapts his style really well. You can see how it bleeds into other horror artists influenced by him like Junji Ito. The strongest point of this OVA has to be the character art, mainly face expressions.
The animation is a bit lacking but still great for a small 1990 OVA. Very few static shots or cheap slides but nothing impressive either. The key moments of gore have a lot of work put on them making them great gifs if you want to section them.
The stories are original enough, I think most people will laugh a bit. Which realistically is the best outcome for a horror anime.If anyone can explain to me why the singer of The Cure had to present and exit the OVA I'd love to…
Read at the sourceWILDskf
Two fun little ghost stories to watch on a rainy night ....
The first story tells about Masami and the pretty new girl Rima that transfers to her school. After her arrival, Masami has terrible dreams and feelings regarding her... believing Rima to be a vampire.... but what will the video camera reveal?
The second story is about two high-school aged friends Miko and Nanako who decide to investigate an old mansion on the edge of town for ghosts .... what will they find?
The stories themselves are pretty stereotypical, and honestly, the animation and music are not that great. (The music is 80s synthesizer-tastic) I still found this fun to watch; although we knew something terrible was going to happen, it kept me guessing exactly what it was going to be. Also, try to see how many times you…
Read at the sourceAlpharon
Esta review también está en español.
Forgotten Horror, Chapter 2: Umezu Kazuo no Noroi
Greetings, and welcome to a new edition of what I hope will be a long cycle in which we could rediscover old movies, series and OVA that nobody saw. Today, I'll bring you a little gem lost in time, called The Curse of Kazuo Umezu. This OVA is composed of two short stories with all that generic horror (but clean, and full of personality) that we, the fans, love so much :D.
The first story focuses on Masami, a normal high school girl. One day, a new student comes to her class: it's called Rima, and is popular and beautiful beyond reason. But beauty is not the only thing she brings: with her arrival, Masami begins to experience a series of nightmares that leave her on the edge of madness, which lead her t…
Read at the source