R: Japanese Horror research

Japanese horror movies lean to a discrete style, a cautious pace, with quiet terror, often featuring morality tales and tales of vengeance either based on traditional Japanese stories or rooted in general Japanese cultural mythology (largely where it comes to ghosts). There is a significant undertone of graphic exploitation in Japanese genre films as well, showcasing shocking violence and sexual depravity. They also typically have twisty plotlines and confuse audiences by not letting them know exactly what is going on. Resulting in horror films which left the audience guessing right until the end.

Japanese horror films count on more on psychological horror which is a staple of early American horror films such as ‘The Haunting’, ‘The Shining’, and ‘Poltergeist’. These films are often mentioned by Japanese horror directors as their inspiration. Japanese horror films use folklore, ghost stories, and tales of honour and allegiance. Many of these movies deal with the breakdown of reality, family, and the mind dealing mainly with the unexplained.

 The Japanese thriller ‘Ringu’ stimulated the hit American remake ‘The Ring’. ‘The Ring’ became very successful in the US. After ‘The Ring’ hit big at the box office, studios looked to Japan more for other horror movies they could remake. ‘Ju-On’ was the next Japanese horror film to be remade. It was titled ‘The Grudge’ and soon went on to become just as successful at the box office as ‘The Ring’.

The telling of the story in Japanese horror is usually told at a slower pace than American horror. Japanese horror focuses on using more silence and empty spaces to create a sensation of impending death and doom. Terror is created by allowing the audience to not know what exactly is going on in these films as people are always scared the most by what they don’t know or understand. Which is what my group and I are trying to create.

As Japanese horror films work on a more dreamlike level than what is currently on the American horror market. They give the sense of not being in control creating tension and fear which are both vital for a good horror movie.