My only previous experience with reviewing Japanese live-action cinema is two films released by Arrow Video in 2021: The Invisible Man Appears and The Human Fly. I remember my main issue with them was their attempt to capitalise on a lot of American successes with sci-fi and horror, without stamping […]
J-Horror
Elevator Game (2023) American J-Horror minus the aesthetics and Deep Sadness (Review)
Haunted by the disappearance of his sister due to an urban legend, Ryan infiltrates a group of vloggers who specialise in completing online challenges in haunted spaces, hoping to persuade them to play the Elevator Game. The latest film from director Rebekah McKendry (Glorious), who is also the host of […]
My Mother’s Eyes (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
For an entire generation of horror fans, the movies that came out of Japan around the turn of the millennium were crucial stopovers in our journey of cinematic discovery. They fell under the collective-yet-reductive umbrella of “J-Horror”, which had slowly burned out by the mid-’00s, but in 2023 the smouldering […]
New Religion (Slamdance 2023) (Review)
Kwaidan: The King of the J-Horror (Review)
Ring (1998) The Most Important J-Horror For Good Reason (Review)
Hideo Nakata’s Ring is famously the film that triggered the western world’s awareness that yes, Asian countries do make horror films. It also famously triggered a slew of sequels and remakes, from the Korean The Ring Virus to the recent American Rings. It’s undeniably important in horror cinema, but being […]
Cure (1997) a terrifying modern horror masterpiece about Evil’s absolute power to indoctrinate (Review)
Dark Water (2002) The Dramatic Face of J-Horror and Creeping Dread (Review)
In a newly recorded interview, director Hideo Nakata not only talks about his rise through the studio system and his big break directing the original Ring, but he also talks about Dramatic Horror. Such a notion is only given credibility by the art-house, independent and marginalized, even in the parts […]