Slitterhead seems to be inspired by a real Japanese urban legend

As the latest project of the father of the famous horror game series Silent Hill, it is not too difficult to understand if Slitterhead was inspired by it. But it seems Silent Hill is not the only inspiration

Slitterhead seems to be inspired by a real Japanese urban legend

Horror is one of those genres that is difficult to fit in with the vast majority of gamers, but a seasoned game designer like Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill franchise, can create an experience enough to make anyone no one should be shocked. His latest game called Slitterhead seems to be building on what he learned from previous Silent Hill projects and developing further. But Slitterhead is probably not only inspired by Silent Hill or Siren, but also represents a Japanese urban legend that has existed for many centuries.

At the beginning of the Slitterhead trailer presented at The Game Awards 2021, there is a segment of a man walking alone on the street at night when he hears a young woman calling him. She emerges from an alley with a provocative look, but as the camera focuses, things take a turn for the worse when a large and intimidating mouth appears above her head. The “her” body then transforms into a spider-shaped monster depicted by the shadow on the wall, but the video really focuses on the moment the mouth is split, and makes many people immediately think of Kuchisake-onna , also known as Khau Lieu Nu.

Kuchisake-onna, commonly translated into English as “Slit-Mouthed Woman”, is a Japanese urban legend that has existed for quite some time. Although her origins are still unclear, with some researchers suggesting that she dates back to around the 1800s, the popularity of her legend dates back to the 1970s. She is a ghost. of a woman with a mutilated face, possibly by a violent man, or according to some more recent stories, a mistake in plastic surgery.

The modern version of Oral Lie Nu is depicted as a lovely woman, wearing a mask, who often approaches people walking alone on the street and asks if she is beautiful. She would kill those who said no, but when everyone said yes, she took off her mask and revealed her mouth cut from ear to ear, and continued to ask if she was beautiful. The segment where the woman in the pink dress approaches a man standing alone in the street and attacks him while transforming into a monster is considered to be an original reproduction of the classic cases of facing a Lady of Fire. .

Although little is known about Slitterhead , the image of a mouth wide open from a beautiful woman approaching a lone man on the street is almost unmistakable with any version of the legend. any other city in Japan. The only difference is probably that gamers will be able to fight this monster. The Slitterhead game trailer offers some action sequences that resemble the Devil May Cry style , although it still feels scary and uncomfortable. The story of the Lady of the Mouth feels similar to Western urban legends like the Bloody Mary, with the only exception here being that no one summons the Lady of the Mouth, she just appears at random.

In 1979, the legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman terrified both students and adults, prompting many to devise different methods of exorcism. Some versions of the story claim she could be sent away if she shouted the phrase “pomade” three times, or that she would spare the victim if bribed with sugar candies. One might wonder how she managed to eat hard candy with her mouth wide open, but no one knew if her mouth would stay that way, or would it heal back into human form. normal. Other versions of the story even “suggest” whether she should be said to be beautiful, or refuse to answer the question. Anyway, the legend of the Lady of Speech Truly a quality source of inspiration, for a horror game somewhat similar to Silent Hill .