Overview Reminds me of "The Final Stare" from *Tales of the Bizarre* (*Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari*). It's a story where TV station staff members who watch a video containing a ghost die under mysterious circumstances one after another. Inside the drama itself, ghosts appear subliminally in places only the viewers can notice. The dual structure—cursing both the characters and the actual viewers—was so terrifying that I couldn't sleep with the lights off back then. The way ghosts are shown—peeking into the frame for just a split second—is masterclass in presentation.
"The Final Stare" Synopsis Sugiyama (Toshio Kakei), a television director, visits an old house deep in the mountains to cover a traditional "crying doll" passed down since the Muromachi period. It's a doll handed down through generations in the family, and up until his grandmother's time, people were told, "Never, under any circumstances, show it to anyone." When they opened the heavily sealed wooden box, a rather cute traditional Japanese doll rested inside, albeit looking aged. Relieved that it was a letdown, the protagonists finished filming and returned to the station. That night, while playing back the film of that doll, the ghost of an old-fashioned, blank-eyed girl of around 12 years old wearing a kimono appeared in the footage. "It's a scoop!" his boss rejoiced. However, the phone rings just then, and they hear from another staff member that the young proprietess who was present when the doll was unboxed has died suddenly. The next day, the cameraman who filmed it is crushed under a crane and dies. The day after that, other production staff die one after another. Terrified, the protagonist Sugiyama rushes to his two bosses. He tries to warn them of the danger, shouting, "The people who watched the VTR are dying!" but is brushed off with a laugh: "Isn't that great, then?" In fact, this crying doll had a legend attached to it: anyone who sees it will surely die. Immediately after, another staff member foams at the mouth and dies, leaving behind the last words: "From behind...!" When the protagonist turns around, the face of the blank-eyed girl appears on every single screen in the monitor room, fading away into static... The protagonist is gripped by fear. At the time of filming, he, too, had definitely looked at the doll. He negotiates with the inn where the doll is kept, and half-forcibly throws the doll, box and all, into an incinerator. After watching it burn away amidst what sounds like human screams, he firmly shuts the lid of the incinerator and warns the inn staff not to let anyone look at it under any circumstances until it is reduced to complete ash.
Finally catching his breath, the protagonist returns to the station only to hear that yet another staff member has died suddenly. That staff member hadn't accompanied them on the shoot, but feeling this couldn't be a coincidence, the protagonist remembers the video of the doll that staff member had been editing. That one needed to be disposed of as well. Because the editor died, the video was left untouched after editing. Finding the video, the protagonist tries to dispose of it, though he doubts whether this will break the doll's curse. He hurriedly calls the inn to track down the person who originally sealed the box housing the doll in the old days. It was the head priest of a temple near the inn. When contacted, the priest told him to bring the video over immediately, so he got in his car and hurried to the temple. "A VTR like this must not be allowed to exist." The very moment he mutters this inside the car, the female staff member driving asks, "Someone is in the back seat! Who came along with us?" "The back seat?" The protagonist checks fearfully, and there is that blank-eyed girl, staring right at them.
Instantly, the car loses control and plunges right into the middle of an intersection. Then, a ghost looking as if it's about to cry appears on the screen, opening its eyes. Revealing its blank, white eyes...
(Prologue) "Are we safe now that everyone who watched that video is dead?" Tamori asks the producer. "No, we have no idea how many people are watching it," comes the reply. It clearly refers to the viewers watching *Tales of the Bizarre*. Tamori nods in understanding. He turns a strange, indescribable smile toward the camera as it ends.
Image *Warning: A scary image will be posted below, so please be cautious if you are not good with horror images.*
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