zhangmeijie 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 Asian horror films, is there any horror films more creepy, or are they just copycat films full of long haired girl ghosts. Well let us have a quick look through some of the more famous, some only in Asia some in the West also, Asian horror films that are not just copycat films. Even if some of them do feature long haired girl ghosts. Warning contains plot spoilers in some cases. Warning contains no mention of films like The grudge, Ringu, the phone, shutter and the like. Well let's start with a J- horror film which did not follow the usual J-horror pattern. NOROI THE CURSE. The movie opens with a narrator describing a famous paranormal expert Masafumi Kobayashi (Hiroshi Aramata). It mentions he has vanished without a trace while making a film based on his experiences. The movie really begins with Kobayashi's investigation of a woman named Junko Ishii and her unnamed son, brought about when Kobayashi was contacted by her next-door neighbor. The first hour then describes, or more accurately depicts many, many unrelated events. Another vanishing person, a child who is psychic, then another a TV personality. A mass suicide and many more. These events have no connection to each other... ...Then the second hour, an actual hour as this film is two hours, all the events become linked by a creature called Kagutaba. All the threads slowly become interwoven. The movie has the tagline "Everybody dies". They do, well almost. What is so different about all this you may well be asking by now? Well the fact that it is filmed only with a DV, cloverfield, camera for one. (Before cloverfield I may add, 2 years before.) Also the fact there is no girl ghosts, long haired or otherwise. Moving on to a film that does feature a long haired girl ghost, albeit not the type you would usually see. Well ok it is exactly the type but never the less done with a new slant. Let's examine Ekusute (Hair Extentions). Yes a film about killer hair extentions. Let us assume for a second that hair extensions could carry the memories of its previous owner. Now let us further assume said owner died with a 'grudge', as in Ju-On. Well that is this film. A dead body of a girl is found head shaved, with the missing hair nearby. The story deals with two strange characters a creepy morgue worker Yamazaki (Ren Osugi), who steals the body and Yuko (Chiaki Kuriyama) a trainee hair stylist. Sounds like JU-ON but with added killer hair right? Well no as this is as much a comedy film as it is horror. Very dark comedy mind, played mostly straight but obviously humorous. Speaking of laughs, this brings us to HAPPINESS OF THE KUTAKURIS, quite possibly the only Zombie musical love story ever. Not so fast though first let us discuss the quiet family. Choyonghan kajok (The quiet family) A Korean family decides to buy a lodge in a remote area, remote but popular with hikers and day trippers. However the customers keep dying in unusual ways. Nothing to do with the family, but they decide to hide the bodies not report the deaths. Black comedy ensues as they try to keep the death secret, and keep the customers coming. HAPPINESS OF THE KUTAKURIS meanwhile is a fairly bonkers Japanese remake with added zombies and music. The original was dark comedy, but still at least plausible. HOTK meanwhile has musical numbers, random animated stop motion scenes, dancing zombies and much more. Next is JU - REI which is really just a story about a long haired girl ghost. Ju -Rei is a Japanese Horror. Over the years, whispered rumors of a black-hooded killer have filled the hallways of a quiet high school and had the students in a constant state of nervous fear. When the young girls of the school begin to die at an alarming rate after seeing a mysterious cloaked figure, it appears as if the rumors have finally come to life. Predictable yes? Well yes, but for the fact the entire story is told backwards. The irreversible of horror films. Japan can also do Dracula. EVIL OF DRACULA to be exact. At an all girls boarding school (naturally) the principal is Dracula. Only the new professor can stop him. A pretty good Japanese take on the whole vampire myth I thought. Also worth a look are: Whispering corridors series. WHISPERING CORRIDORS WHISPERING CORRIDORS II: Memento Mori WHISPERING CORRIDORS III: Wishing Stairs WHISPERING CORRIDORS IV: Voice Letter That deal with dead students haunting Korean schools. Some have long hair. Who’s that knocking at my door? K-Horror.2007. a young loner, Je-hwi was tormented by a classmate named Pyo in high school. Now a young adult, Je-hwi begins to open up after meeting Jang-hee, his girlfriend. However, a revenge plot he had hatched against Pyo with a stranger he met over the internet begins to grow way out of control, with cruel and unpredictable results. The Host Korean monster movie, with dark comedy undertones. The Shutter Thai film the horror begins when Thun, a young photographer and his girlfriend, Jane, accidentally hit a woman while driving. They decide to leave the dead woman and drive away. Later, Thun discovers an unexplained event when he finds a mysterious shadow appears on his photo. Does feature a Girl ghost yes, but also features other ghosts. I could go on but risk boring you. Suffice to say if you are bored of good but photocopy Asian horror films like Pon (Phone), JU-ON, (The Grudge) Dark Water and Ringu (The ring) there is still a lot of choice out there for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 I thought Ju-Rei was horrible. It felt like something some student had made for their flim studies project in high school or something.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravenbomb 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 "Kaïro" is one of my favorite movies ever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devo 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 My experience with the genre is limited but I did enjoy "Audition" very, very much. One of only a few movies that have legitimately creeped me out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoCalMike 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 Hair Extensions is in my netflix que, and I think it was just sent to me. My experience with J-horror, Grudge, Ringu, Shutter, The Eye, The Eye 2, Ringu 2, One Missed Call.....basically most every american horror remake I have seen the original japanese flick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zhangmeijie 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 My experience with the genre is limited but I did enjoy "Audition" very, very much. One of only a few movies that have legitimately creeped me out. I second that. This film is one of the few horror's that really does unnerve you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 I saw Ju-on and Ringu and wasn't terribly impressed with either one; I didn't think Ju-on was at all scary, and personally I thought the stuff they changed for the American remake of The Ring made it better. Also recently caught some J-horror movie I'd never heard of called The Black House which was okay but forgettable. But I did really like Audition, that was one incredibly creepy movie. If you count Oldboy as a horror movie, that's a great one too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gary Floyd 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 But I did really like Audition, that was one incredibly creepy movie. . "Audition" is my favorite horror movie of this millenium so far. Such an excellent movie. Part of what I love about it is that is essentially fools you into thinking "Ok, this is pretty straightforward" but then proceeds to grow more and more fucked up and creepy. It's not that often you see a movie these days build up that kind of tension. Cronenberg and Lynch would be/hopefully are proud. Anyways, it's more Horror/Comedy/Action, but I love "Versus." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dubq 0 Report post Posted March 25, 2009 Versus is an awesome movie. That will forever be in regular rotation on my DVD player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
