Japanese horror
J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. Whereas American modern day horror films tend to rely heavily on special effects and a multitude of sub-genre (i.e. slashers, demons, extraterrestrials, etc.), J-horror tends to focus on the psychological fear factor and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeist. (see psychological horror) Certain popular J-Horror films are based on manga (e.g. Tomie, Uzumaki and Yogen). Many contain themes of folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai.
Japanese horror and ghost story classics
The origin of the J-Horror can be traced to horror and ghost story classics of the Edo period and the Meiji period. They include:
- Bancho Sarayashiki (The Story of Okiku) by Okamoto Kido
- Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (Ghost Story of Tokaido Yotsuya) by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755-1829)
- Botan Dorou (The Peony Lantern) by Asai Ryoi
Notable Japanese horror films
Examples of this genre are:
- Audition (aka Ôdishon)
- Cure
- Dark Water (aka Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara)
- Guinea Pig
- Infection (aka Kasen)
- Ju-on, Ju-on 2, Ju-on: The Grudge, Ju-on: The Grudge 2, Ju-on: The Grudge 3
- Kairo
- Kakashi
- Kwaidan
- Marebito
- One Missed Call (aka Chakushin Ari)
- One Missed Call 2
- Premonition (aka Yogen)
- Ringu, Rasen, Ringu 2, Ring 0: Birthday
- Shikoku
- Tetsuo - The Iron Man (aka Tetsuo)
- Three... Extremes (aka Saam gaang yi)
- Ugetsu Monogatari (aka Ugetsu)
- Voice
Notable Japanese horror directors
- Hideo Nakata
- Kaneto Shindo
- Masaki Kobayashi
- Nobuo Nakagawa
- Takashi Miike
- Takashi Shimizu
- Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Ataru Oikawa (Tomie, based on Ito Junji's manga of the same name)
- Akihiro Higuchi (Uzumaki, based on Ito Junji's manga of the same name)
- Norio Tsuruta (Yogen, Borei Gakkyu and Ring 0: Birthday)
Japanese horror influence
In the past few years, there has been a trend going on to localize some of the more popular Japanese Horror films, but rather than simply adding subtitles or dubbing the works, they have been entirely remade. Ringu was one of the first to be remade in America as The Ring, and later The Ring Two. Keeping in the recreating of Suzuki Koji's work, Dark Water was also recently remade. The Grudge, is another example of this.
Interestingly, many of the original directors who created these masterpieces of Asian horror have gone on to direct the American remakes, which are genreally considered inferior to the originals. For example, Hideo Nakata, director of Ringu, directed the remake The Ring Two and Takashi Shimizu, director of the original Ju-on, directed the remake The Grudge.
Several Asian countries have been remaking these Japanese horror films as well. For example, Korea created their own version of the J-horror classic Ringu, entitled The Ring Virus.
See also
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