How did a single ‘Big in Japan’ videotape change the course of global horror history? Find out in this insightful documentary charting the origins, evolution and diffusion across the world of a distinctive brand of Japanese supernatural chillers featuring vengeful ghosts manifesting themselves through contemporary technology against a backdrop of urban alienation and social decay. From PSYCHIC VISION: JAGANREI (1988) and straight-to-video SCARY TRUE STORIES to such key titles as RING (1998), PULSE (2001) and THE GRUDGE (2002), critics and filmmakers reflect on how the bleak Dystopian visions and unsettling atmospheres infiltrated their way into the world’s shocker consciousness.
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Director
Writer
Na-young, a reporter, hears from her friend U-won, a station attendant, about a ghost of a child in the abandoned station house under OKSU Station. Curious, Na-young decides to investigate further. She finds out that there was a train accident at the station and there was a fatality. When Na-young meets the sister of the fatality TAEHO, she hears from TAEHEE that her brother was looking around for a well. Na-young and U-won set out to search for the well, buried somewhere around the abandoned station house. After they find the well; they promise the children's ghosts they meet there that they will tell the public the truth that children at OKSU Nursery were buried "alive" in the well. Though the truth was revealed, the deepened resentment could not be ended.
Director
The film follows Saki (Momotsuki), Mei (Kudo), and Kaho (Teramoto), the members of the budding idol group called Wish as they are set to appear in the sequel of Toei's hit movie, Yugami. Toei Movie Studios is a place where a lot of popular movies and dramas are filmed, but this studio also has an untold secret.
In the time after Naomi’s parents suddenly die, she happens to meet and bond with the popular actor Morinori Tokito who lives in the same apartment building.
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Saki, Anju, Chiaki, Ami, and Kaya reunite for the first time in years. The five of them excitedly decide to go Toshimaen Amusement Park, a place that was very important to them when they were younger. None of them know that they're about to enter a nightmare…
Director
Saki, Anju, Chiaki, Ami, and Kaya reunite for the first time in years. The five of them excitedly decide to go Toshimaen Amusement Park, a place that was very important to them when they were younger. None of them know that they're about to enter a nightmare…
Construction worker Kumada (Kiryu) used to be a member of the popular band Uma no Hone 30 years ago. In a sudden turn of events, he moves into a low rent shared apartment. His roommate Yuka is an idol, but begins being friendly with when he says his job is related to music.
Screenplay
A film that takes the theme of psycho-phobia. The film visualizes a forbidden psychic experiment that is a "departing" process to a world of madness, aimed at "spiritual revolution".
Director
A film that takes the theme of psycho-phobia. The film visualizes a forbidden psychic experiment that is a "departing" process to a world of madness, aimed at "spiritual revolution".
Teleplay
Miyuki Asakawa tells her colleague Etsuko Yamagiwa that she has a ghost in her home. When Etsuko goes to Miyuki's home, there is only Miyuki's father there. Etsuko becomes worried about Miyuki's state of mind, and she takes Miyuki to the psychiatric hospital where her husband, Tatsuo, works. There, Miyuki receives a diagnosis that she lacks the concept of "family." Later, Etsuko tells Tatsuo that she is not comfortable with Dr. Jirō Makabe. Tatsuo introduced her to Dr. Makabe earlier at the hospital. Etsuko has a feeling of unease about her husband working with Dr. Makabe. One day, Etsuko hears Dr. Makabe state "I came to Earth to invade."
Sugawara
Those who want to die seek refuge in a mysterious café in this feverishly strange Japanese debut.
Screenplay
The stage of this piece is a film school. In this setting, there is a heroine aspiring to be a director who has invited a major actress to perform in a film that will become her art project graduation piece. This actress is a lecturer and the heroine feels reverence for her. However, before one knows, the setting falls into complete disorder and the performers are forced to tackle a formidable force that is beyond the control of individuals.
Director
The stage of this piece is a film school. In this setting, there is a heroine aspiring to be a director who has invited a major actress to perform in a film that will become her art project graduation piece. This actress is a lecturer and the heroine feels reverence for her. However, before one knows, the setting falls into complete disorder and the performers are forced to tackle a formidable force that is beyond the control of individuals.
Screenplay
Dr. Hattori and her husband watch footage of brain surgery experiments with Manchurian, Russian and Japanese guinea pigs that had been found in the basement of a wrecked hospital. Out of the blue, there is a white light and when they look back, they see they children Ota Miyuki and Kaori staring at the light. Years later, Miyuki vanishes from the Tama Medical University Hospital and her sister Kaori, Miyuki's boyfriend Motojima and detective Hirasawa are seeking her. However, Miyuki and the teenagers Kazochi, Takumi, Hattori and Rieko have been submitted to a nightmarish experiment by Dr. Hattori and her team with tragic results.
Director
Dr. Hattori and her husband watch footage of brain surgery experiments with Manchurian, Russian and Japanese guinea pigs that had been found in the basement of a wrecked hospital. Out of the blue, there is a white light and when they look back, they see they children Ota Miyuki and Kaori staring at the light. Years later, Miyuki vanishes from the Tama Medical University Hospital and her sister Kaori, Miyuki's boyfriend Motojima and detective Hirasawa are seeking her. However, Miyuki and the teenagers Kazochi, Takumi, Hattori and Rieko have been submitted to a nightmarish experiment by Dr. Hattori and her team with tragic results.
Screenplay
En un estudio de cine abandonado, el director y su equipo verán como unos espíritus invaden la producción de la película y descubrirán una terrible maldición del pasado. Remake de la película japonesa Joyû-rei, dirigida por Hideo Nakata en 1996. (FILMAFFINITY)
Writer
The story of Orochi revolves around the life of the Monzen family. Aoi Monzen, a famous, but aging, movie star and Kazusa and Lisa Monzen her two daughters. Aoi hopes for them both to take over her legacy as a star, but Kazusa does not live up to her expectations. The mother is always pitting the girls against one another competitively. As a result, as the years pass, the love the sisters shared grows to a hidden hatred. When another girl named Orochi saves the girl's mother from a terrible accident a bizarre chain of events is set in motion spanning many years. The atmosphere in their estate builds up until Orochi reveals a terrible truth that the family must keep hidden from the world. Orochi serves as the narrator of the story. The movie is based on a Kazuo Umezu manga series which ran from 1969 to 1970.
Adaptation
The story of Orochi revolves around the life of the Monzen family. Aoi Monzen, a famous, but aging, movie star and Kazusa and Lisa Monzen her two daughters. Aoi hopes for them both to take over her legacy as a star, but Kazusa does not live up to her expectations. The mother is always pitting the girls against one another competitively. As a result, as the years pass, the love the sisters shared grows to a hidden hatred. When another girl named Orochi saves the girl's mother from a terrible accident a bizarre chain of events is set in motion spanning many years. The atmosphere in their estate builds up until Orochi reveals a terrible truth that the family must keep hidden from the world. Orochi serves as the narrator of the story. The movie is based on a Kazuo Umezu manga series which ran from 1969 to 1970.
Screenplay
A horror film directed by Hiroshi Takahashi. After winning an overwhelming number of seats in the National Diet, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shintarō Makabe, is about to undertake a constitutional revision to remove Japan's Article 9 (forbidding the building of a military). However, this leads to conflict with his wife. Meanwhile, the President of the United States has been cursed. (Description translated from Amazon.co.jp)
Director
A horror film directed by Hiroshi Takahashi. After winning an overwhelming number of seats in the National Diet, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shintarō Makabe, is about to undertake a constitutional revision to remove Japan's Article 9 (forbidding the building of a military). However, this leads to conflict with his wife. Meanwhile, the President of the United States has been cursed. (Description translated from Amazon.co.jp)
Screenplay
When an overweight girl gets dumped by her lover, she resolves to impress him by going on an extreme diet. All goes well at first, but when she is reunited with her former lover, she begins to feel the hunger pains once again...
Gregory
A young man is unable to have relations with the girls he likes. A pimp meets him after having a strange experience and they are althogether on a bizarre ride through a gloomy and disconnected Tokyo.
Screenplay
Bad things happen when innocent blood is shed. In the early 1700s, Lord Sodom Ichibei is happily celebrating his wedding day when his wife-to-be suddenly dies. In his search for an explanation, he kills any and every suspect he comes across. When Lord Ichibei tortures and kills two innocent girls, their death brings about a curse on the Sodom family. Three hundred years later, one of Sodom's descendents, Ichiro, is also set to be married. But one of the innocent victims has been reincarnated as Ichiro's sister and she kills everyone at the wedding. This transforms Ichiro into the evil and vengeful "Sodom The Killer", a cursed man hell-bent on slaughter and the world's destruction...
Director
Bad things happen when innocent blood is shed. In the early 1700s, Lord Sodom Ichibei is happily celebrating his wedding day when his wife-to-be suddenly dies. In his search for an explanation, he kills any and every suspect he comes across. When Lord Ichibei tortures and kills two innocent girls, their death brings about a curse on the Sodom family. Three hundred years later, one of Sodom's descendents, Ichiro, is also set to be married. But one of the innocent victims has been reincarnated as Ichiro's sister and she kills everyone at the wedding. This transforms Ichiro into the evil and vengeful "Sodom The Killer", a cursed man hell-bent on slaughter and the world's destruction...
Hideki Satomi, inmerso en la pantalla de su portátil, viaja por la carretera con su mujer Ayaka y su hija Nana. Después de horas conduciendo, necesita hacer una llamada urgente y deciden retroceder a la única cabina telefónica que hay en kilómetros. Se le hace tarde a la familia y al llegar al lugar ya es de noche. Hideki se apresura, pero se llevará una desagradable sorpresa cuando entre en la cabina. En ella, encuentra una vieja hoja de periódico en la que inexplicablemente una noticia anuncia la muerte de su hija Nana atropellada por un camión, en ese mismo sitio y en ese mismo instante...
At some time in the 21st century, Japan's economy is in shambles. Riots and terrorism are the norm. The government buys up television stations in a last-ditch effort to promote nationalism and order to the nation. But this is the dawn of a new dark state. A new form of 3 on 3 basketball is developed in which anything goes, and the winner of the game is the team with the last man left standing.
Creative Consultant
Rika es una joven que cuida a una anciana en cuya casa suceden cosas muy extrañas. Un día, Rika encuentra en el piso de arriba a un niño de seis años que lleva un gato negro en los brazos. Re-edición de "Ju On", realizada en el año 2000 por el propio Shimizu para vídeo.
Screenplay
Rachel Keller es una periodista de investigación que no da mucho crédito a lo que considera una especie de leyenda urbana: al parecer, circula por ahí una cinta de vídeo con imágenes aterradoras, que va acompañada de una llamada telefónica en la que se predice, con una semana de antelación, la muerte de quien las ha visto. Sin embargo, cuando cuatro adolescentes encuentran la muerte exactamente una semana después de ver el vídeo, la curiosidad se apodera de ella y no parará hasta encontrar la cinta y verla.
Writer
After her brother is accused of murdering four people, his sister, desperate to prove his innocence, goes to a psychic for help. The price they ask, however, is far more than she expected, and the answers they give her are nothing she could ever have imagined. And what is the FBI doing investgating a murder in Japan?
Author
Sadako Yamamura, una joven adolescente con un pasado tenebroso, es miembro de una compañia de teatro. Es una joven a la que nadie presta atención, y todos la ven como una chica extraña. Todo por un suceso que ocurrió en su niñez: su madre, Shizuko, ayudada por su marido, hizo creer a todos que era una especie de vidente. Durante una exposición de su poder, uno de los asistentes murió. Pero Sadako, aun niña, estaba allí, y aunque tiene olvidado parte de su pasado, recuerda, de vez en cuando esos sucesos... y los demás del pueblo lo descubrirán pronto.
Screenplay
Una mujer está investigando la misteriosa muerte de su novio, cuando le llegan los rumores de una cinta de video maldita según la cual toda aquella persona que la ve muere una semana después. La pista la lleva hacia la ex esposa del fallecido y a su hijo, pero hay un problema: están desaparecido
Writer
Después de que su hija de 8 años sea raptada y asesinada, el yakuza Miyashita (Teruyaki Kagawa) busca venganza. A él se le une un misterioso personaje (Sho Aikawa) con el fin de ayudarle.
Screenplay
En una pequeña y apacible localidad japonesa, entre los estudiantes circula una leyenda en torno a unos videos malditos cuya visión provoca la muerte. Tras la muerte de su sobrina, una periodista investigará el origen de dichos videos.
Screenplay
Screenplay
Sho Aikawa plays a police detective whose dark personal history makes it impossible for him to stay within the limits of the legal system. But he is not just a detective; he is also a husband who has to explain to his wife how he got blood on his sleeve. And the criminals he pursues turn out to be as imperfect and oddly human as he is-and just as determined to protect their own families. This is the first of Kurosawa's films to pay homage to 1970s American gunslingers like Dirty Harry and reinvent them for modern Tokyo.
Writer
A direct-to-video film by Akihiko Shiota.
Writer
Satomi breaks her lover Takao out of jail, who was falsely accused of killing her parents.
Screenplay
On the set of a dark war time drama at an old movie studio, a young director, Toshio Murai, is trying to complete his debut film. The two starring actresses, Hitomi Kurokawa and Saori Murakami, play sisters in his film. Murai has a crush on Hitomi, the seasoned leading actress, and keeps a photo of her by his bed. The younger and less experienced actress, Saori, is annoying and likes to have recess on the set. The production of the movie is consistently interrupted by strange occurrences and the cast and crew begin to get spooked.
Screenplay
Shion, ruthless assassin for the Magnificat crime syndicate, is as beautiful as she is deadly. But when her latest target turns out to be the man she loves, Shion is torn between duty and her heart. Her reluctance marks her for death by Magnificat, and her decision forces her into a life on the run, with her fellow assassins always a step behind.
Screenplay
Bouya Harumichi is a new transfer student to Suzuran all-boys high school, a place where only the worst delinquents assemble. Due to its large amount of delinquents who are hated by the general people for their inauspiciousness, similarly to crows, it is also known as "Crows High School." Harumichi is an insanely strong fighter but has an irresponsible personality. How will he act in this new environment where everyone is a delinquent?
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Screenplay
Keiko’s life is turned upside down when she discovers that she has been infected with HIV. As she struggles to cope with the situation and resist the infection, she finds new friendship and companionship with a journalist named Miyuki and a man named Akira.
Screenplay
Película de terror directa a vídeo que supuso el debut en la dirección de Hideo Nakata, más conocido por ser el director de The Ring. La película se divide en tres historias: - Historia 1: The Cursed Doll (La muñeca maldita). Alguien llama a Satomi en sus sueños. Cuando sigue a la voz, encuentra una muñeca que parece ser la fuente de una muñeca en el que se encuentra el espíritu de su difunta hermana. - Historia 2: The Spirit of the Dead (El espíritu de la muerte). Tras la muerte de su marido, una mujer realiza un viaje a un camping con su hijo, la escapa familiar será interrumpida por la aparición de un espectro femenino que cree que el chico es su hijo y le pertenece. - Historia 3: The Haunted Inn (La pensión encantada). Tres chicas deciden tomar unas vacaciones en una pensión tradicional japonesa. Desconociendo la tragedia que allí tuvo lugar, encontrándose con la presencia de fuerzas espectrales que les forzarán a repetir los sucesos de aquel fatídico día. (FILMAFFINITY)
