Description
Title: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest (2014)
Alternate Title: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森 (Desu Foresuto Kyōfu no Mori)
Genre: Horror
Plot Synopsis:
On their way home from a camping trip, a group of friends become stranded in an eerie forest when their car breaks down. They encounter a mysterious stranger who warns them of lurking monsters. Based on the popular computer game of the same name, the film follows their struggle for survival against supernatural entities.
Cast and Crew:
- Director: Masataka Ichimi
- Writers: Masataka Ichimi (screenplay), Kazz (original story)
- Cast:
- Momoko Midorikawa as Saki
- Ayuka Ohno as Ayaka
- Yoshinori Tanaka as Masaya
- Shogo Tajima as Takashi
- Hiroshi Kida as Hasegawa Detective
IMDb Link:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest (2014)
YouTube Trailer:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest Trailer
Reviews from Letterboxd:
-
HUTCH TRAPPER – ★★★★
“Wait, why are all the reviews bad? This actually kinda worked.” -
Bob McQueen – ★★
“Death Forest: The Forest that Deaths. At least in my head, that’s the title I really wanted for this movie. It’s not good. But it has its creepy moments later in a short runtime movie.” -
Kaijuman – ★½
“Huh. This was not good. The subs I found were quite bad, but the plot is paper-thin, so it wasn’t hard to understand the story.”
Meta Description:
“Death Forest: Forbidden Forest” (2014) is a Japanese horror film directed by Masataka Ichimi. It follows a group of friends stranded in a forest inhabited by supernatural entities, based on the popular computer game of the same name.
Title: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 2 (2015)
Alternate Title: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森2 (Desu Foresuto Kyōfu no Mori 2)
Genre: Horror
Plot Synopsis:
A high school drama club organizes a training camp at an abandoned school building near a dark forest. On the day of the camp, troubled student Kizuki (Yuka Kuramochi) unexpectedly joins the club but refrains from participating in their practice sessions. As the group settles in, they encounter mysterious and terrifying events linked to the forest’s dark secrets.
Cast and Crew:
- Director: Masataka Ichimi
- Writers: Kazz, Tsutomu Ogawa
- Cast:
- Yuka Kuramochi as Kizuki
- Yukino Hashimoto
- Daijirô Kawaoka
- Takeshi Matsunaga
- Madoka Shimogaki
IMDb Link:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 2 (2015)
YouTube Trailer:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 2 | Trailer
Reviews from Letterboxd:
-
Bob McQueen – ★★☆☆☆
“Another atrociously subtitled joint, so I’m just along for the ride at this point. Whoever did the subtitles gave up at a few points as no subtitles were present. I don’t mean to make this a review about the bootleg I bought, just putting it in context.” -
Kaijuman – ★★½☆☆
“Much bigger improvement from the first! Things actually happen by the halfway point, which isn’t necessarily impressive but it’s an improvement. There’s more time spent being stalked by the hungry, hungry head and its legion of naked men with jawlines. There’s more gore and even some tense scenes! It’s still too slow and ends more or less the same as the previous movie, but I had fun this time. The idea to place it inside a school building works in its favor. Though that makes the title, Death Forest, kinda incorrect.” -
mae m. – ★★★☆☆
“Pretty much the same as the first one but I liked the setting more.”
Meta Description:
“Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 2” (2015), directed by Masataka Ichimi, follows a high school drama club’s eerie training camp at an abandoned school near a dark forest, where they encounter terrifying supernatural events.
Title: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 3 (2015)
Alternate Title: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森3
Genre: Horror
Plot Synopsis:
Uchida Mayu, a high school student from a tranquil town near Tokyo, suffers abuse from her stepfather and decides to flee to her uncle’s home in Tokyo. As she attempts to board the last bus, a frightening old person causes her to miss it, prompting her to traverse a ridge on foot. Meanwhile, her uncle, Uchida Kazuki, a freelance writer investigating the monstrous Yoshie, learns of Mayu’s disappearance. His search leads him to a mountain path where he discovers Mayu’s cellphone containing an image of Yoshie.
Cast and Crew:
Director: Yasutake Torii
Writers: Yasutake Torii, Satoru Okonogi
Cast:
- Daijiro Kawaoka as Kazuki Uchida
- Mitsuki Kimijima as Rika Akimura
- Ryutaro Maeda as Seiji Shimizu
- Daiki Mihara as Yuki Hayase
- Kokoro Morita as Nazuki Takahashi
YouTube Trailer: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 3 | Trailer
IMDb Link: Death Forest 3 (2015)
Reviews from Letterboxd:
-
Bob McQueen – ★★☆☆☆
“Death Forest: The Forest that Deathers. I’m impressed. They didn’t wait 43 minutes to introduce my lord and saviour Giant Floating Head this time. Head showed up at the 26 min mark munching on some people. There’s a storyline with abusive daddy, who’s kinda attractive, but also an abusive jerk and our journalist hero (?) from the first one shows up again to look confused.” -
Kaijuman – ★½☆☆☆
“What the hell? Why was so much of this film meager runtime dedicated to a abuser/kidnapping plot instead of… oh I don’t know, the fucking bobble head demon? This was a slog! The monsters are barely in it, I don’t care about these characters, the effects on the head are worse than the previous two entries, this was not fun.” -
IC Movies – ★★☆☆☆
“It’s the same length as the others but it feels twice as long. I regret starting these lol. On to the next one!”
Meta Description:
“Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 3” (2015) is a Japanese horror film directed by Yasutake Torii. The story follows high school student Uchida Mayu as she escapes her abusive stepfather, only to encounter supernatural horrors. Her uncle, Uchida Kazuki, a freelance writer, searches for her amidst the lurking terror of the monstrous Yoshie.
Title: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 4 (2016)
Alternate Title: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森4
Genre: Horror
Plot Synopsis:
Freelance reporter Kazuki Uchida survives an encounter with the eerie entity Yoshie, during which his colleague Hatakeyama is killed. Determined to uncover the truth behind Yoshie, Kazuki investigates further, visiting a hospital based on clues left by Hatakeyama. Simultaneously, Hatakeyama’s daughter, Saori, receives a letter from her late father, prompting her to delve into the mysteries surrounding his death. The film explores their intertwined journeys as they confront the horrors lurking within the death forest.
Cast and Crew:
- Director: Yasutake Torii
- Writers: Kazz, Satoshi Okonogi
- Cast:
- Daijiro Kawaoka as Kazuki Uchida
- Mitsuki Kimijima as Rika Akimura
- Cyborg Kaori
- Kota Kosugi
- Chappy Ohiwa
- Julia Tomita
- Kaoru Yoshinaga
- Akari Fujita
IMDb Link:
Death Forest 4 (2016)
YouTube Trailer:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 4 | Trailer
Reviews from Letterboxd:
-
Bob McQueen – ★★☆☆☆
“Death Forest: Forest that Deaths in a Factory. I have no clue what the Hell is going on. Journalist Hero from the 1st is still here doing… It takes 35 min for Lord Head to show up to start munching on some people, Lord Head munches on several…” -
Kaijuman – ★★☆☆☆
“If you cut out the recap and credits this 4 film comes in at under a hour. That’s about what this series deserves honestly. It’s better than the abysmal last one simply by actually having a different plot than the previous entries…” -
mae m. – ★☆☆☆☆
“The machine translation picks up every creak of the wind as a ‘YES YES YES THATS RIGHT YES’ so 90% of the dialogue goes untranslated.”
Meta Description:
“Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 4” (2016), directed by Yasutake Torii, is a Japanese horror film following freelance reporter Kazuki Uchida as he investigates the mysterious entity Yoshie, leading him into the ominous death forest. The movie delves into themes of obsession, the supernatural, and the quest for truth amidst lurking dangers.
Title: Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 5 (2016)
Alternate Title: デスフォレスト 恐怖の森5 (Desu foresuto kyōfu no mori 5)
Genre: Horror
Plot Synopsis:
In the bustling district of Shibuya, residents begin to encounter the eerie white-faced entity known as Yoshie. As sightings increase, a young woman named Yui becomes entangled in the mystery after her friend falls victim to Yoshie. With the assistance of a determined writer, Kazuki Uchida, Yui delves deeper into the enigma surrounding Yoshie, uncovering a series of disappearances and confronting the malevolent force head-on.
Cast and Crew:
- Directors: Yôhei Fukuda, Yuuka Tanaka
- Writers: Yôhei Fukuda, Yuuka Tanaka
- Cast:
- Yui Fujimoto as Yui
- Honoka Nagai as Yui’s Friend
- Manaka Kinoshita as Additional Cast
- Hiroe Igeta as Additional Cast
- Akifumi Uchida as Kazuki Uchida
IMDb Link:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 5 (2016)
YouTube Trailer:
Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 5 | Official Trailer
Reviews from Letterboxd:
-
Bob McQueen – ★★★☆☆
“Death Forest: Shibuya Sprawl. Just what was the thought process to this series. ‘We’re gonna make people sit through 4 mediocre/trash movies before getting a decent one’? I’ve never felt so punished and deserving of a fan of horror as I have with this series.” -
Kaijuman – ★★★☆☆
“After 4 mediocre to trash films with 60 min runtimes, I was dreading the 90 min conclusion. Who thought that was a good idea? But it looks like someone up there likes me because lo and behold, the final film in this series is actually a solid film!” -
Joseph – ★★½☆☆
“The final Death Forest film is… meh. The first two were great, and parts 3 + 4 despite having some great moments weren’t really good. This film is divisive cuz on one hand, it’s the most dramatic entry, but on the other hand…. the special effects haven’t exactly gotten any better.”
Meta Description:
“Death Forest: Forbidden Forest 5” (2016) is a Japanese horror film directed by Yôhei Fukuda and Yuuka Tanaka. The story follows Yui, who, after her friend’s encounter with the sinister entity Yoshie in Shibuya, teams up with writer Kazuki Uchida to unravel the mystery behind the escalating disappearances linked to the malevolent spirit.
