Shirome

 J-horror meets J-pop in this one-of-a-kind faux-documentary shocker that reveals that Kôji Shiraishi, a filmmaker best-known in the UK for the BBFC-baiting pseudo-snuff movie Grotesque, possesses a wicked sense of humour. Conceived of as a vehicle for the saccharine sweet pre-pubescent idol band Momoiro Clover, Shirome, meaning 'white eyes', takes its title from an urban legend about a malevolent spirit said to haunt an abandoned school. Shirome has the power to grant wishes yet also inflict insanity and death on those that beseech its powers should their intentions be less than a hundred percent sincere. Shiraishi, appearing as himself, is the director of a Most Haunted-style TV show specialising in real-life paranormal phenomena, allegedly hired by the girls' management agency to boost their profile. He approaches them with a Faustian pact offering the kawaii young songbirds a chance to fulfil their ambition of appearing on NHK TV's annual Kôhaku New Year's Eve music show. There's just a few crucial details he neglects to tell them as he leads them into the heart of Shirome's lair, where they are to perform their latest single in front of the mysterious butterfly symbol representing the evil spirit, in this cruel but funny hybrid of The Blair Witch Project and The X Factor.