J-Horror is a term[citation needed] used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. J-Horror is noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments. J-horror tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists, while many contain themes of folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai.
Contents |
Origins
The origin of the Japanese horror can be traced to horror and ghost story classics of the Edo period and the Meiji period, which were known as kwaidan. Elements of several of these popular folktales have been worked into the stories of modern films, especially in the traditional nature of the Japanese ghost.
Popular culture
Yūrei
The success of the 1998 film Ring brought the image of the yūrei to Western popular culture for the first time, although the image has existed in Japan for centuries.
Yūrei are Japanese ghosts, ones who have been bound to the physical world through strong emotions which do not allow them to pass on. Depending on the emotion that binds them, they manifest as a particular type of ghost. Most common to J-Horror is the onryō, a yūrei bound by a desire for vengeance.
Like many creatures of folklore, like vampires or werewolves, yūrei have a traditional appearance and follow a certain set of rules.
They are generally female, although male yūrei do exist. They wear white clothing, which is the color of funeral garb in Japan. They have long, often unkempt black hair, which comes from Kabuki theater where each character has a particular type of wig that identifies them to the audience.
Film
Notable films
Examples of this type are:
- Audition (aka Ōdishon)
- Cure
- Cursed (Yoshihiro Hoshino, 2004)
- The Curse
- Dark Tales of Japan series (various directors)
- Dark Water (aka Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara)
- Guinea Pig (film series) Flower of Flesh and Blood
- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Life Action (aka When The Cicadas Cry)
- Infection (aka Kansen)
- Jigoku (1960)
- Jisatsu saakuru (aka Suicide Club or Suicide Circle)
- Ju-on, Ju-on 2, Ju-on: The Grudge, Ju-on: The Grudge 2
- Kairo (aka Pulse)
- Kakashi
- Pyrokinesis (2000)
- Kwaidan (1964)
- Marebito (2004)
- Naked Blood
- Onibaba (1964)
- One Missed Call (aka Chakushin Ari)
- One Missed Call 2 (aka Chakushin Ari 2)
- One Missed Call: Final (aka Chakushin Ari: Final)
- Parasite Eve
- Premonition (aka Yogen)
- Reincarnation (aka Rinne)
- Ring, Rasen, Ring 2, Ring 0: Birthday
- Shikoku
- Sweet Home
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (aka Tetsuo)
- Tokyo Gore Police TGP
- Versus
- Tomie (film series)
- Voice
- Unholy Women
- Uzumaki
Notable directors
- Hideo Nakata
- Kaneto Shindo
- Masaki Kobayashi
- Nobuo Nakagawa
- Takashi Miike
- Takashi Shimizu
- Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Sion Sono (Suicide Club and Strange Circus)
- 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)
Anime and manga
Certain popular J-Horror films are based on manga, including Tomie, Uzumaki and Yogen.
Video games
- Clock Tower (series)
- Resident Evil
- Siren
- Fatal Frame
- Silent Hill
- Kuon
- F.E.A.R
- Ju-on: The Grudge (video game)
Influence
In the past few years several of the more popular Japanese Horror films have been entirely remade. Ring was one of the first to be remade in America as The Ring, and later The Ring Two (although this remake bears almost no similarity to the original Japanese sequel). The Eye is a remake of a Hong Kong-Singaporean-Thai film, not Japanese.
Here is a list of some Japanese horror films that have been remade for the US market.
- The Ring - 2002
- The Grudge - 2004
- Dark Water - 2005
- The Ring Two - 2005
- The Grudge 2 - 2006
- Pulse - 2006
- One Missed Call - 2008
- Shutter - 2008
- The Eye - 2008 (The original The Eye is a Chinese film, not Japanese)
- The Grudge 3 - 2009
- The Ring Three - 2011
Interestingly, many of the original directors who created these Asian horror films have gone on to direct the American remakes. For example, Hideo Nakata, director of Ring, directed the remake The Ring Two and Takashi Shimizu, director of the original Ju-on, directed the remake The Grudge and its sequel, The Grudge 2.
Several other Asian countries have been remaking these Japanese horror films as well. For example, South Korea created their own version of the Japanese horror classic Ring, titled The Ring Virus.
Inspired by current trends in J-horror, the first film by Los Angeles-based writer-director Jason Cuadrado, Tales From The Dead, is a horror film in four parts which Cuadrado filmed with a cast of Japanese actors speaking their native tongue.
See also
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: J-Horrors |
- J-Horror: An Alternate Guide Japanzine by Zack Davisson
- Remaking Asian Horror - A Brief History
|
||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
