Every year the Japanese V-cinema market - the dumping ground for cheap direct to video releases - produces at least a small handful of surprise hits, little films nobody thought much of that nevertheless herald the arrival of some new talent and catch on with the public at large. Takashi Shimizu is living proof of that, his now sprawling Ju-On / Grudge franchise beginning as a pair of V-cinema releases that built the director a fan base hungry for more. Last year the biggest surprise hit was low budget horror flick The Slit Mouthed Woman, a trashy shocker about a disfigured killer who mangles her victims' faces with a pair of scissors to match her own deformity. Despite the obvious budget limitations the film attracted a good deal of attention, even hitting the international fest circuit, and racked up a tidy little profit, more than enough for producers to green light a quicky sequel.

But here's where things get interesting ... the sequel actually looks good. The premise is the same but the budget has obviously been bumped up a good notch, as is reflected in the quality of the camera work and improvements to both performances and splatter. A horror sequel that improves on the original? Now that's shocking ...

You'll find the trailer for The Slit Mouthed Woman 2 embedded int he Twitch Player below the break,