Horror Around The World - Japan

Its a big bad world out there, and alot of countries have some excellent horror movies, so i have decided to start a new article series about countries who have produced some amazing horror. The first country i wanna cover is Japan. Japaneses horror is without a doubt my favorite country for their contribution to the horror genre.

Japaneses horror has seen a huge rise in popularity here in the west, mostly due to the American remakes of such films as Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call and Dark Water. Naturally i would have seen some of these first due to there mainstream cinema and DVD release here, but over the past while i have been checking out the Japaneses counterparts, and what can i say, they are far superior. Why? I will explain in my own words why i think this is the case.

Although the American versions are good and kudos to the directors for bringing them to the attention of the mainstream eyes, weather people check out the originals or not, entirely up to you, but i would recommend you check out Japaneses horrors (and any foreign horror for that matter) because the first thing that makes them better is the fact that its a culture and language which is alien to you, which i honestly believe adds to the suspense and feeling of unease that you want to feel when watching a horror movie.

Japaneses horror are also just so well written, full of suspense and plot twists that are so well put together. Once you watch one, you want more. Ones i would highly recommend are as follows;

• Ring (Ringu)
• One Missed Call
• Parasite Eve
• The Grudge

Their just the usual suspects, loads more flying about. However, Japan is not just the home of some of the scariest horror, it is also the home of some of the most sick, depraved and goriest movies i have ever seen (people who fainted watching Saw or Hostel, you'll die when you see whats in store here).

Perhaps the most notorious of all these movies is the second movie in the Guinea Pig film series 'The Flower Of Flesh and Blood", for a short film it is so graphic and real looking that when it was released in the USA, and Hollywood Actor Charlie Sheen saw it, he thought it was a genuine snuff film and reported it to the FBI. The Director Hideshi Hino even marketed it as a submission from a crazed fan as a joke (a making of documentary was made to clear up any claims of it being a snuff film).

This and the other films in the Guinea Pig series i would recommend to any of the gore hungry out there, as well as the following;

• Tokyo Gore Police
• The Machine Girl
• Naked Blood
• Grotesque (refused certification in the UK)
• Evil Dead Trap
• Ichi The Killer
• Battle Royal

To finish it off, i will talk about Japan most popular export, Anime. There is lots of good horror themed anime out there, including Hellsing and Blood: The Last Vampire, both very good watches. Can't think of any more as i'm not much of an expert on anime (friend of mine is educating me though). On the more sick and depraved side of things i would recommend Devil Man and the always delightful Urotsukidōji (found that entertaining due to my sick sense of humor, others may be offended by it). But yea, that is all i have to say about Japan's horror market, do check out what i recommended and i hope you find this to be a good resource, because i had alot of fun writing this article. Sayonara