Which Asian country do you think puts out the best horror films? I’m really torn between Japan and Korea because I’ve seen some really excellent and truly terrifying films from both countries. Lately I’m leaning towards Korean horror films, though.
I really love the Korean movie “Tale of Two Sisters” because it has all the elements (imho) of a good scary movie…it has the jumpy scary bits along with a little bit of blood (just enough to hint at something terrible, though. we’re not talking Texas Chainsaw Massacre here) and a twist ending that, unlike most “twist” endings, I actually didn’t see coming.
For the Japanese movies I really enjoy the ones that America is ripping off lately (I’m not saying I enjoy the American versions necessarily but the originals are great). “Ju-On,” “Ringu,” and “Kairo (Pulse)” are some great Japanese scary movies. “Kairo” is my favorite, though, because it is scary and confusing and thought-provoking all at the same time. I also consider “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition” horror films even though I’m sure that’s not their originally intended category. They scared me, though…
Chinese scary movies are decent and they do seem to be getting better over the years…they just don’t really rank up there with my Japanese and Korean favorites. I really enjoyed both of “The Eye” movies. I just ordered “Re-Cycle” (by the same guys who did “The Eye” movies actually…) from yesasia.com so I’ll be seeing that Wednesday. You might recognize “Re-Cycle” because it just recently came out in theaters in Taiwan:) It was out when I was visiting there last month and I really wanted to see it. Unfortunately, only one of my friends enjoys scary movies as much as I and he was too busy to go. I’ll update this after I’ve seen the movie to tell y’all if it’s worth seeing or not.
okay “Re-cycle” (I think the Chinese name actually translates to “Ghost Land”…which is the name of the book the author is writing in the movie) was a very strange movie. It was reasonably scary at first but it changed dramatically from horror to fantasy without any real breaking off point between one and the other. Actually it would be rather difficult for me to explain the movie…I was going to try but just after seeing it I’m a little confused and my brain is still sorting out all the images I just got sandblasted with throughout the movie:) Let’s just say this…aborted babies hanging from a womb/cave, dead bodies falling from the sky and then standing up and walking, discarded toys dotting the landscape…chew on that for awhile. I need to rest my brain (and my eyes).
I think Japanese horror films (the ones I’ve seen, which is like, less than ten) are scary scary with ghosts and stuff, usually in the form of a child or a woman with long, straight hair. Korean horror films (the ones I’ve seen, which is like, less than five) are psychological or just plain weird with lots of twists and mind fucking.
Tale of Two Sisters, now that film was just freaky. But I enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t say it was the best Korean horror film, but it was the first one I ever saw.
I saw Ringu a week after seeing the Hollywood version. Maybe because I saw The Ring first I didn’t find Ringu as scary. The Ring, however, freaked the living daylights out of me and that’s the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.
Audition was really a wtf movie. Like, how can you meet a young, gorgeous girl who loves wearing white no matter the weather and who’s perfect in every way and not wonder why the fuck she’s not taken? It freaked me out though, because it reminded me of psycho xiaojies, and how anyone can snap at any moment.
Another good Korean “horror” movie is called R-Point. It’s about a group of soldiers…
Also watched a Japanese “horror” movie (more like mind fuck movie) called The Box. Not so good cuz it was really just a bad fuck. A bad mind fuck. Like, enough twists and turns in these movies already, you know? This movie came in a 3 DVD set with the Chinese movie Dumplings, and another Korean horror flick which I can’t remember now. Dumplings was gross…
Anyone seen “Old Boy”? Hm it isn’t really a horror film per say but it’s quite disturbing and frightening at times. It’s a Korean movie, btw. I agree the Korean movies usually are more psycholgically-based horror films and often very strange. I just loved loved loved “Tale of Two Sisters” though…ah what a classy horror movie. Not too much of anything…just a nice blend of horror movie elements. Yeah “Audition” does make me think of how some of the ppl on the board here describe the psycho Taiwanese gfs/dates they’ve encountered. Watch out boys! You might wake up and have some Taiwanese cutesy girl wearing Hello Kitty sticking acupuncture needles in your eyes!
Edit: Ohhh I just watched that “Silk” movie trailer. That looks interesting! The boy does look like a ripoff of Toshi or whatever his name was from the Ju-On/Grudge movies though…but still…very interesting
I’d say Suicide Club was pretty damn shocking when I saw that a few years ago. The guy apparently wrote that film as therapy for his own mate committing suicide a few months earlier.
I’ve never understood why people rave on about Kitamura. I thought Versus was average at best. His part of the Duel project was shite compared to 2LDK… but you know each to their own.
I saw a Japanese film called “Freezer” or “Freeze me”… that was crazy as hell…
Awwww…come on…it is not exactly a movie to take too seriously, but it is amusing and clever at parts, and not what I was expecting when I walked into the “UPENN International Movie Festival”.
I saw it, I was disturbed by it, I don’t know how I feel about it yet. Thing is, I thought the antagonist was just a dumbass guy for setting up this whole big elaborate scheme for that one reason.
And the incest theme really really bothered me. Maybe I’m a prude, but it disgusted me. And to witness this theme the first time in a movie, an Asian movie, a Korean movie nonetheless, surprises me.
I saw it, I was disturbed by it, I don’t know how I feel about it yet. Thing is, I thought the antagonist was just a dumbass guy for setting up this whole big elaborate scheme for that one reason.
And the incest theme really really bothered me. Maybe I’m a prude, but it disgusted me. And to witness this theme the first time in a movie, an Asian movie, a Korean movie nonetheless, surprises me.[/quote]
Yeah that part of the movie really bothered me too. I thought it took away from the movie a bit just because it was so shocking I could barely focus on anything else. That being said, that part did show a little bit more of just how evil the villain was and how intent he was on completely destroying the protagonist. It seems to me that usually the Asian movies present villains who will go to such lengths to utterly annihilate the people they hate. Maybe the American villains are just too lazy to put forth all that effort:)
I also consider “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition” horror films even though I’m sure that’s not their originally intended category. They scared me, though…