Carved

Reviewed by Alicia Glass
September 21, 2007

The ghost of a horribly disfigured woman wielding deadly scissors returns to haunt the town she was created in after 30 years.

As I understand it, the original legend of the “Slit-Mouthed Woman” involved a woman who sinned in pride and adultery, and was carved up by her righteous husband, turning her into a vengeful mutilated ghost who wanders wearing a hospital mask, taking it off to ask “Am I pretty?” before killing. This movie Carved is a new take on that legend with a twist: the ghost now corrupts women who abuse their children, leading them to kill outright. I must admit, I don’t quite see how the two are related, but it doesn’t matter. If you simply take the movie for what it is, without the previous-movie-legend-backstory, it is a fine horror romp indeed. The evil spirit that hops from body to body, the white eyes and grotesque mouth, the trench coat and hospital mask, all make for a fine iconic villain. There’s little in the way of explanation, as far as why this evil spirit does what it does, but that manages to boost the terror level a bit in a surprising way, as in it’s terrifying because there is NO explanation. I would hasten to add though, that regardless of how much of a horror fan you might be, that if watching small children be abused bothers you (even knowing full well it’s faked), you should probably skip it.

Carved slices its way into your reality!