Top 10 Japanese Horror Films - Part 2
7. Ugetsu Monogatari
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Year: 1953
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi at the end (and peak) of his career, Ugetsu is a retelling of a traditional Japanese tale about a potter who is led away from his impoverished village and wife in hopes of selling his wares in the big cities. His hunger for wealth and a better life blind his judgement and he falls under the spell of a ghost.
It's a beautiful constructed film whose narrative is obscure and the surreal quality of the imagery often leaves the viewer poised between the world of the living and the dead.
As much as it is a ghost story, Ugetsu also deals heavily with the theme's of lose, greed and the monstrosities of war. Although Ugetsu takes place during the 16th-century, the social stigmas it dealt with reflected very strongly within the post-war 1950's Japanese public.
Ugetsu still stands today as one the most eminent ghost story's ever recorded on film. It's inspiration and impact on the genre is still clearly visible.
6. All About Lily Chou-Chou
Director: Shunji Iwai
Year: 2001
Not a horror film in the conventional sense yet the horrors it depicts create some of the most startling and disturbing scenes that even the most hardened horror fans will find hard to watch.
Set in modern day Japan, All About Lily Chou-Chou revolves around the lives of several 14 year-old students. The title is a reference to the fictional singer some of the characters are obsessed with.
The film delves into the lives of it's characters in an almost documentary style. The use of digital cameras and hand-held shooting helps reinforce the idea of reality. The film begins almost like a coming-off age/buddy picture before slipping into the dark realm of ijime. Ijime is Japanese for bullying, though ijime has declined in recent years it is still rampant in schools through-out the country. Ijime is one of Shunji Iwai's main themes in All About Lily Chou-Chou. Yet, it seems far more than just a theme. As you watch the film you get a strong feeling that Iwai is literally concerned and horrified about ijime and the devastating effects it can have on victims. All About Lily Chou-Chou contains some of the most heart wrenching depictions of cruelty ever recorded. The film leaves you with very little hope or resolve.
It's a bleak, emotional and profoundly disturbing journey through the dark side of Japanese adolescence.
5. Uzumaki
Director: Higuchinsky
Year: 2000
Adapted from the beautifully twisted manga by Juniji Ito comes Uzumaki, one of the most bizarre and unique horror films ever made. Based on the manga of the same name, Uzumaki is set in the small rural town of Kurouzu. It's generally a sleepy town that has little to offer in terms of excitement, yet the inhabitant's enjoy life.
Uzumaki is told from the view point of high-school student Kirie. Kirie starts to notice strange behaviour among the towns inhabitants. Whilst walking home she encounters a man recording the spiral on a snail shell, he appears almost hypnotised. It's not long until the whole town is becoming fatally and lethally obsessed with spirals. The spirals then begin to take on a malevolent life of their own. They enter and possess the townspeople, slowly and horrifically twisting and distorting their victims bodies and minds.
The other thing you'll notice about Uzumaki is the highly inventive visual style. The films heavily tinged green colour adds to the feeling of sickness that has enveloped the town. Higuchinsky employs a lot of experimental camera and editing techniques: POV shots; tracking shots; jump cuts and flash cuts; fades to black, white to red; fast motion and reverse motion. This compiled with the outstanding cinematography and eclectic soundtrack makes the audience dizzy but this visual hyperactivity only strengthens the horror and confusion Kirie is facing. We are being sucked into the spiral whether we like it or not.
Also, lets not forget that Uzumaki features some of the most horrific death scenes in contemporary Japanese cinema. You wouldn't have seen anything quite like Uzumaki.
Right, that concludes this weeks post. Next week I will reveal the top 5.
Thanks for reading.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Year: 1953
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi at the end (and peak) of his career, Ugetsu is a retelling of a traditional Japanese tale about a potter who is led away from his impoverished village and wife in hopes of selling his wares in the big cities. His hunger for wealth and a better life blind his judgement and he falls under the spell of a ghost.
As much as it is a ghost story, Ugetsu also deals heavily with the theme's of lose, greed and the monstrosities of war. Although Ugetsu takes place during the 16th-century, the social stigmas it dealt with reflected very strongly within the post-war 1950's Japanese public.
Ugetsu still stands today as one the most eminent ghost story's ever recorded on film. It's inspiration and impact on the genre is still clearly visible.
6. All About Lily Chou-Chou
Director: Shunji Iwai
Year: 2001
Not a horror film in the conventional sense yet the horrors it depicts create some of the most startling and disturbing scenes that even the most hardened horror fans will find hard to watch.
The film delves into the lives of it's characters in an almost documentary style. The use of digital cameras and hand-held shooting helps reinforce the idea of reality. The film begins almost like a coming-off age/buddy picture before slipping into the dark realm of ijime. Ijime is Japanese for bullying, though ijime has declined in recent years it is still rampant in schools through-out the country. Ijime is one of Shunji Iwai's main themes in All About Lily Chou-Chou. Yet, it seems far more than just a theme. As you watch the film you get a strong feeling that Iwai is literally concerned and horrified about ijime and the devastating effects it can have on victims. All About Lily Chou-Chou contains some of the most heart wrenching depictions of cruelty ever recorded. The film leaves you with very little hope or resolve.
It's a bleak, emotional and profoundly disturbing journey through the dark side of Japanese adolescence.
5. Uzumaki
Director: Higuchinsky
Year: 2000
Adapted from the beautifully twisted manga by Juniji Ito comes Uzumaki, one of the most bizarre and unique horror films ever made. Based on the manga of the same name, Uzumaki is set in the small rural town of Kurouzu. It's generally a sleepy town that has little to offer in terms of excitement, yet the inhabitant's enjoy life.
Uzumaki is told from the view point of high-school student Kirie. Kirie starts to notice strange behaviour among the towns inhabitants. Whilst walking home she encounters a man recording the spiral on a snail shell, he appears almost hypnotised. It's not long until the whole town is becoming fatally and lethally obsessed with spirals. The spirals then begin to take on a malevolent life of their own. They enter and possess the townspeople, slowly and horrifically twisting and distorting their victims bodies and minds.
The other thing you'll notice about Uzumaki is the highly inventive visual style. The films heavily tinged green colour adds to the feeling of sickness that has enveloped the town. Higuchinsky employs a lot of experimental camera and editing techniques: POV shots; tracking shots; jump cuts and flash cuts; fades to black, white to red; fast motion and reverse motion. This compiled with the outstanding cinematography and eclectic soundtrack makes the audience dizzy but this visual hyperactivity only strengthens the horror and confusion Kirie is facing. We are being sucked into the spiral whether we like it or not.
Also, lets not forget that Uzumaki features some of the most horrific death scenes in contemporary Japanese cinema. You wouldn't have seen anything quite like Uzumaki.
Right, that concludes this weeks post. Next week I will reveal the top 5.
Thanks for reading.
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