Japanese horror is
horror fiction
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...
derived from popular culture in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends to focus on
psychological horror
Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...
, tension building (
suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
), and
supernatural horror
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A ...
, particularly involving ghosts (''
yūrei
are figures in Japanese folklore analogous to the Western model of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim" and (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include , meaning ruined or depart ...
'') and
poltergeists
In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional desc ...
.
Other Japanese horror fiction contains themes of
folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized re ...
such as possession,
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
,
shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
,
precognition
Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future.
There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...
, and ''
yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
''.
Forms of Japanese horror fiction include artwork, theater, literature, film, anime and video games.
Origins
The origins of Japanese horror can be traced back to the horror fiction and
ghost stories
A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
of the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
and the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, which were known as ''
kaidan
is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".
Overall meaning and usage
In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refers ...
'' (sometimes
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
''kwaidan''; literally meaning "strange story").
Elements of these popular folktales have routinely been used in various forms of Japanese horror, especially the traditional stories of ghosts and ''
yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
''.
The term ''yōkai'' was first used to refer to any supernatural phenomenon and was brought to common use by the Meiji period scholar
Inoue Enryo
Inoue (kanji: , historical kana orthography: ''Winouhe'') is the 16th most common Japanese surname. Historically, it was also romanized as Inouye, and many Japanese-descended people outside of Japan still retain this spelling. A less common varia ...
.
''Kaidan'' stories became popular in Japan during this period after the invention of printing technologies, allowing the spread of the written stories.
Early ''kaidan'' stories include ''Otogi Boko'' by
Asai Ryoi Asai or ASAI may refer to:
*Asai (surname), a Japanese surname
*Asai clan or Azai clan, a line of daimyō (feudal lords) during Japan's Sengoku period based in Ōmi Province
*Asai moonsault, a professional wrestling move
*Average Service Availabili ...
, ''Inga Monogatari'' by Suzuki Shojo, and ''Otogi Monogatari'' by
Ogita Ansei.
Later, the term ''yōkai'' evolved to refer to vengeful states that ''
kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
'' ("
gods
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
" or spirits in the
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
religion) would morph into when disrespected or neglected by people living around their shrines. Over time, Shinto Gods were not the only ones able to morph into ''yōkai'', but this ability to transform came to be applied to all beings who have an untamed energy surrounding them, referred to as
Mononoke
''Mononoke'' (物の怪) are vengeful spirits (onryō), dead spirits ( shiryō), live spirits ( ikiryō), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cau ...
.
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
and
Noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
, forms of traditional Japanese theater, often depict horror tales of revenge and ghastly appearances.
One difference between these two forms of theater is Noh is formal and targeted for upperclassmen while Kabuki is interactive and seen as "the theater of the people."
The subject matter often portrayed in original Noh theater include
vengeful spirits, demon plays, stories of death, and others.
Many of the storylines of these traditional plays have inspired modern horror depictions, and these stories have been used as source material for Japanese horror films.
In fact, Kabuki was a major subject of early Japanese films, and Kabuki gradually was woven into the framework of the modern horror films seen today.
For example, the physical description of the ghost character
Sadako Yamamura
, also known as Park Eun-suh () and Samara Morgan, is the main antagonist of Koji Suzuki's ''Ring'' novel series and the film franchise of the same name. Sadako's fictional history alternates between continuities, but all depict her as the ven ...
in
Koji Suzuki
is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring (novel series), ''Ring'' novels, which have been adapted into other formats, including films, manga, TV series and video games. He has written ...
's
''Ring'' series of novels is derived from what was seen in Noh and Kabuki theater performances.
Elements of Japanese horror in folk art are represented in the works of 18
th century artist,
Katsushika Hokusai
, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series '' Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the iconic print ''The Great W ...
. He was a painter during the Edo period famous for his
block prints of Mt Fuji. In the realm of horror fiction, Hokusai produced a series based on a traditional game of telling ghost stories called ''
A Hundred Horror Stories'' in which he depicted the apparitions and monsters that were so common in these stories. Only five of the prints are known to have survived, but they represent some of the better-known ghost stories from the folklore of this time period. They include the ghost of ''Okiku,'' a servant girl who is killed and thrown in a well and whose ghost appears limbless rising from a well to torment her killer. The traditional imagery around this particular folktale is thought to have influenced the novel ''Ringu.'' Other images from this collection are of the ''
Ghost of Oiwa'' and the Phantom of ''Kohada Koheiji''. The Oiwa story centers around betrayal and revenge, wherein the devoted wife is killed by her disreputable husband and her ghost appears and torments and tricks him. Her image is of a woman disfigured by the poison her husband used to kill her. The Kohada image is drawn from the story of a murdered actor, whose wife conspires to kill him. Her lover drowns Kohada on a fishing trip and Hokusai represents his decayed and skeletal spirit captured in a fishing net.
Japanese horror cinema
History and evolution
![Kaibyo Gojusan-tsugi poster 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Kaibyo_Gojusan-tsugi_poster_2.jpg)
After the
bombing of Hiroshima
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the on ...
and
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
in 1945, Japanese horror cinema would mainly consist of vengeful ghosts, radiation mutants, and ''
kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
'' (giant irradiated monsters) starting with
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
(1954).
The
post-war era
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
is also when the horror genre rose to prominence in Japan.
One of the first major Japanese horror films was ''
Onibaba'' (1964), directed by
Kaneto Shindo
was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...
.
The film is categorized as a historical horror drama where a woman and her mother-in-law attempt to survive during a civil war.
Like many early Japanese horror films, elements are drawn largely from traditional
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
and
Noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
theater.
''Onibaba'' also shows heavy influence from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Shindo himself revealed the make-up used in the unmasking scene was inspired by photos he had seen of mutilated victims of the atomic bombings.
In 1965, the film ''
Kwaidan
is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".
Overall meaning and usage
In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refers ...
'' was released. Directed by
Masaki Kobayashi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic (genre), epic trilogy ''The Human Condition (film series), The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri (1962 film), Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Reb ...
, ''Kwaidan'' is an
anthology film
An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...
comprising four stories, each based upon traditional ghost stories.
Similar to ''Onibaba'', ''Kwaidan'' weaves elements of ''Noh'' theater into the story.
The anthology uses elements of psychological horror rather than jump scare tactics common in Western horror films.
Additionally, ''Kwaidan'' showcases one commonality seen in various Japanese horror films, that being the recurring imagery of the woman with long, unkempt hair falling over her face.
Examples of other films created after ''Kwaidan'' weaving this motif into the story are ''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' (1998), ''
The Grudge
''The Grudge'' is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film '' Ju-On: The Grudge'', i ...
'' (2004), and ''
Exte
is a 2007 Japanese horror film written and directed by Sion Sono, and stars Chiaki Kuriyama, Ren Osugi, and Megumi Satō. The title is a Japanese slang shortening Romanization of the English term "extension" from "hair extension".
The plot inv ...
'' (2007).
This imagery was directly taken from a traditional
Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture.
In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study ...
tale similar to the
Medusa
In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
.
J-Horror
In the 1980s, there was a distinct shift away from gory, slasher-style films of violent spectacle, towards the psychologically thrilling and intensely atmospheric type, led by the director Norio Tsuruta. Tsuruta's 1991 and 1992 film series ''Scary True Stories'' began a categorical shift in these films, which are sometimes abbreviated to "J-horror".
In contemporary Japanese horror films, a dominant feature is
haunted houses and the break-up of
nuclear families
A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...
.
Additionally, monstrous mothers become a major theme, not just in films but in Japanese horror novels as well.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...
's film ''
Sweet Home Sweet Home or Sweethome may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Sweet Home, Arkansas
* Sweet Home Central School District in Amherst and Tonawanda, New York
** Sweet Home High School (Amherst, New York), a New York State public high school
* ...
'' (1989) provides the basis for the contemporary haunted house film and also served as an inspiration to the ''
Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'' games.
Japanese culture has seen increased focus on family life, where loyalty to superiors has been de-emphasized.
From this, any act of dissolving a family was seen as horrifying, making it a topic of particular interest in Japanese horror media.
Influence
''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' (1998) was influential in Western cinema and gained cult status in the West. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hollywood horror had largely been dominated by the
slasher
Slasher may refer to:
* Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball
* Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film
* Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement
* ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film
* ''Slasher'' (2007 film) ...
sub-genre, which relied on on-screen violence, shock tactics, and gore. ''Ring,'' whose release in Japan roughly coincided with ''
The Blair Witch Project
''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...
'' in the United States, helped to revitalise the genre by taking a more restrained approach to horror, leaving much of the terror to the audience's imagination.
[Martin, Daniel (2009), 'Japan’s Blair Witch: Restraint, Maturity, and Generic Canons in the British Critical Reception of Ring', ''Cinema Journal 48'', Number 3, Spring: 35-51.] The film initiated global interest in Japanese cinema in general and Japanese horror cinema in particular, a renaissance which led to the coining of the term ''J-Horror'' in the West. This "New Asian Horror"
[Balmain, Colette (2008), ''Introduction to Japanese Horror film'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).] resulted in further successful releases, such as ''
Ju-on: The Grudge'' and ''
Dark Water Dark Water may refer to:
Books
* '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois
* ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...
''.
[McRoy, Jay (2007), ''Nightmare Japan: Contemporary Japanese Cinema'' (Rodopi).] In addition to Japanese productions, this boom also managed to bring attention to similar films made in other East Asian nations at the same time, such as South Korea (''
A Tale of Two Sisters
''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (; lit. "Rose Flower, Red Lotus") is a 2003 South Korean psychological horror-drama film written and directed by Kim Jee-woon. The film is inspired by a Joseon Dynasty era folktale entitled Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, which ...
'') and Hong Kong (''
The Eye'').
Since the early 2000s, several of the more popular Japanese horror films have been remade. ''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' (1998) was one of the first to be remade in English as ''
The Ring'', and later ''
The Ring Two
''The Ring Two'' is a 2005 American supernatural psychological horror film and a sequel to the 2002 film '' The Ring'', which was a remake of the 1998 Japanese film ''Ring''. Hideo Nakata, director of the original Japanese film ''Ring'', on whi ...
'' (although this sequel bears almost no similarity to the original Japanese sequel). Other notable examples include ''
The Grudge
''The Grudge'' is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film '' Ju-On: The Grudge'', i ...
'' (2004), ''
Dark Water Dark Water may refer to:
Books
* '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois
* ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...
'' (2005), and ''
One Missed Call One Missed Call may refer to:
* ''One Missed Call'' (2003 film), a Japanese horror film, followed by two sequels
* ''One Missed Call'' (2008 film), an American remake of the Japanese film
* ''One Missed Call'' (TV series), a Japanese television ...
'' (2008).
With the exception of ''The Ring'', most English-language remakes of Japanese horror films have received negative reviews (although ''The Grudge'' received mixed reviews). ''One Missed Call'' has received the worst reception of all, having earned the Moldy Tomato Award at
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
for garnering a 0% critical approval rating. ''The Ring 3D'' was
green-lit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
by
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
in 2010, and later the film was renamed ''
Rings
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' and released in early 2017.
Many of the original directors who created these Asian horror films have gone on to direct the English-language remakes. For example,
Hideo Nakata
is a Japanese filmmaker.
Life and career
Nakata was born in Okayama, Japan. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Ring 2'' (1999) and ''Dark Water'' (2002). Several of these we ...
, director of ''Ring'', directed the remake ''The Ring Two''; and
Takashi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu (清水 崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Japan and the U.S. Accordi ...
, director of the original ''Ju-on'', directed the remake ''The Grudge'' as well as its sequel, ''
The Grudge 2
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
Several other Asian countries have also remade Japanese horror films. For example,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
created their own version of the Japanese horror classic ''Ring'', titled ''
The Ring Virus
''The Ring Virus'' () is a 1999 South Korean horror film adapted from the Japanese novel '' Ring'' by Koji Suzuki. A joint project between Japan and Korea, this version has Park Eun-Suh as the creator of the cursed videotape. Although the filmm ...
''.
In 2007,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
-based writer-director
Jason Cuadrado
Jason Cuadrado is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for directing the first j-horror feature film in the United States, ''Tales from the Dead''. After directing television news in New York City, he transitioned to film ...
released the film ''
Tales from the Dead
''Tales from the Dead'' is a 2007 horror film, written and directed by Jason Cuadrado. The film is an anthology of four ghost stories as told by Tamika, a strange young girl with the ability to communicate with the dead. Each tale deals with loss, ...
'', a horror film in four parts that Cuadrado filmed in the United States with a cast of Japanese actors speaking their native language.
Other sub-genres
''Kaiju'' monster films
The first influential Japanese horror films were ''
kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
'' monster films, most notably the ''
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
'' series, which debuted the original ''
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
'' in 1954. In 1973, ''
The Monster Times
''The Monster Times'' was a horror film fan magazine created in 1972. Published by The Monster Times Publishing Co., it was intended as a competitor to ''Famous Monsters of Filmland''. Although the main editorial focus of the magazine was horror me ...
'' magazine conducted a poll to determine the most popular
movie monster
A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall und ...
.
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
was voted the most popular movie monster, beating
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
,
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
,
Wolf Man
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropy, therianthropic mythological hybr ...
,
The Mummy
A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse.
Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to:
Places
*Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States
*Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...
,
Creature From the Black Lagoon
''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...
, and
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...
.
''
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
is a 1956 '' kaiju'' film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film ''Godzilla''. The film was a Japanese- American c ...
'' (1956), a re-edited Americanized version of the original ''Godzilla'' for the North American market, notably inspired
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
when he was a youth. He described ''Godzilla'' as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies" because "it made you believe it was really happening."
''Godzilla'' has also been cited as an inspiration by filmmakers
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
and
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...
.
Zombie fiction
There are numerous Japanese works of
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
fiction. One of the earliest Japanese
zombie film
A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror g ...
s with considerable gore and violence was ''
Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay'' (1991) directed by Kazuo Komizu.
However, ''Battle Girl'' failed to generate a significant national response at the Japanese box office.
It was not until the release of two 1996 Japanese zombie games,
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
's ''
Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'' and
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's ''
The House of the Dead
''The House of the Dead'' is a horror-themed light gun shooter video game franchise created by Sega in 1996. Originally released in arcades, it utilizes a light gun on the platform, but can be played with standard controllers on consoles and a ...
'', whose success sparked an international craze for zombie media, that many filmmakers began to capitalize on zombie films.
In addition to featuring
George Romero
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
's classic slow zombies, ''
The House of the Dead
''The House of the Dead'' is a horror-themed light gun shooter video game franchise created by Sega in 1996. Originally released in arcades, it utilizes a light gun on the platform, but can be played with standard controllers on consoles and a ...
'' also introduced a new type of zombie: the fast-running zombie.
According to
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...
in the book ''
Nightmare Movies'' (2011), the "zombie revival began in the Far East" during the late 1990s, largely inspired by two Japanese zombie games released in 1996: ''Resident Evil'', which started the
''Resident Evil'' video game series, and
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's arcade shooter ''House of the Dead''. The success of these two 1996 zombie games inspired a wave of Asian zombie films, such as the
zombie comedy
The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor.
History
The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough's ''King of the ...
''
Bio Zombie
''Bio Zombie'' () is a 1998 Hong Kong zombie comedy film, starring Jordan Chan. It spoofs George A. Romero's '' Dawn of the Dead'' and shows many similarities to Peter Jackson's ''Braindead''.
Plot
Woody Invincible and Crazy Bee are two youn ...
'' (1998) and action film ''
Versus'' (2000).
The zombie films released after ''Resident Evil'' were influenced by zombie video games, which inspired them to dwell more on the action compared to older George Romero films.
The zombie revival which began in the Far East eventually went global following the worldwide success of the Japanese zombie games ''Resident Evil'' and ''The House of the Dead''.
They sparked a revival of the zombie genre in popular culture, leading to a renewed global interest in zombie films during the early 2000s.
In addition to being adapted into the ''
Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'' and ''
House of the Dead'' films from 2002 onwards, the original video games themselves also inspired zombie films such as ''
28 Days Later
''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...
'' (2002)
and ''
Shaun of the Dead
''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...
'' (2004), leading to the revival of zombie films during the 2000s.
In 2013, George Romero said it was the video games ''Resident Evil'' and ''House of the Dead'' "more than anything else" that popularised his zombie concept in early 21st century popular culture. The fast-running zombies introduced in ''The House of the Dead'' games also began appearing in zombie films during the 2000s, including the ''Resident Evil'' and ''House of the Dead'' films, ''28 Days Later'', and the 2004 ''
Dawn of the Dead'' remake.
[
The low-budget Japanese zombie comedy '']One Cut of the Dead
is a 2017 Japanese zombie comedy film written and directed by Shin'ichirō Ueda. It follows a team of actors and filmmakers who are tasked with shooting a zombie film for live television, and who must do so in a One-shot film, single take.
Made ...
'' (2017) became a sleeper hit in Japan, receiving general acclaim worldwide and making Japanese box office history by earning over a thousand times its budget.
Other media
Anime and manga
Horror manga are a modern evolution of serialized stories produced as texts in wood block print form during the Edo period. These graphic novels usually deal in historical tropes of horror that are based on Buddhism
rokudo
' (six realms) and the frightening notion of fluidity, that one can move between these realms unintentionally, like moving between heaven, earth and hell, and non-duality, that the realms are intermingled. Some popular Japanese horror films are based on these manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
, including ''Tomie
is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. ''Tomie'' was Ito's first published work he originally submitted to ''Monthly Halloween'', a ''shōjo'' magazine in 1987, which led to him winning the Kazuo Umezu aw ...
'', ''Uzumaki
is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. Appearing as a serial in the weekly ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were compiled into three bound volumes by Shoga ...
'', and ''Yogen
is a 2004 Japanese horror film directed by Tsuruta Norio. ''Yogen'' is based on the manga ''Kyoufu Shinbun'' ("Newspaper of Terror") by Jirō Tsunoda, serialized in '' Shōnen Champion'' in 1973. The film is about a man who discovers a newspap ...
''. Examples of horror anime include ''Death Note'', '' Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories'' and ''Boogiepop Phantom
is an anime television series animated by Madhouse, based on the ''Boogiepop'' light novel series by Kouhei Kadono. The series is directed by Takashi Watanabe, from a screenplay by Sadayuki Murai, with original character designs by the light ...
''.
Video games
Examples of Japanese horror based video games include ''Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...
'', ''Ghost House'', ''Castlevania
''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...
'', ''Silent Hill
is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, ''Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...
'' and ''Fatal Frame
''Fatal Frame'', titled in Japan and ''Project Zero'' in Europe and Australia, is a Japanese survival horror video game series created, published and developed by Koei Tecmo (originally Tecmo). Debuting in 2001 with the first entry in the seri ...
''.
See also
* ''Arima Neko
, also known as ''Ghost Cat of Arima'' (''Kaiden arima neko'') or ''Ghost Cat of Arima Palace'', Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Films''. McFarland & Company. is a 1937 Japanese horror film directed by ...
''
* Horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
* J-Horror Theater
J-Horror Theater (:ja:Jホラーシアター, Jホラーシアター, ''J horā shiatā)'' 2004 – 2010 is an anthology of 6 Japanese horror films produced by producer Takashige Ichise (:ja:一瀬隆重, 一瀬 隆重, ''ichise takashige''). Spur ...
References
Further reading
*
* See more Japanese horror films her
Sleep With Your Lights On Because These Japanese Horror Movies Will Leave You Scared Shitless
External links
*
{{Film genres