welcome back to the screened film club
in today's video
we will be revisiting one of our
favorite themes the haunting and uncanny
allure of japanese horror movies
modern and not so modern supernatural
stories of curses
vengeful unreal technophobia and hard to
accept realities
we will be recommending 10 great
japanese horror films
mixed in with some of your own
selections if you want to see our past
video essay on the subject you can check
it out over here
now without further ado and with no
spoilers here is our unranked list of
movies
you should definitely watch but before
we get into all that
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now back to the list
our first two selections are pretty much
necessary choices
there's no way we could make a list of
japanese horror films without them
first off we have the one that started
the jae horror boom
ring some teenagers have been dying in a
mysterious manner
eyes wide and mouthy gape as if
horrified to death
what they all have in common is their
viewing of an eerie vhs tape with
disquieting imagery
a reporter follows up on the deaths and
puts her life on the line as she is left
with only 7 days to uncover the tape's
origins
when i first watched this movie i was
surprised by its slow pace
the unassuming color grading and the
lack of stylized action that i was used
to when watching american horror movies
back in the day
the slow build the performances and the
iconic scares
give us a classic 90s jay horror whose
formula is still continuously attempted
at being reproduced
as with our first pick our second was
also very instrumental in the j horror
boom
serving as rings rival franchise in the
2000s sparking many sequels and remakes
some of which feature their respective
supernatural big bads facing off against
each other
juwon the cruelty of the violent murder
of a wife and child at the hands of the
husband has imprinted itself onto the
house where the act occurred
the film is divided into different
vignettes where we follow the people
that have come into contact with the
cursed house
as well as those who've succumbed to its
persuasion
[Applause]
we never get a full explanation or
exposition dump other than the details
that bring the vignettes together
some of the scares might seem a bit
dated by now but most are still
effective
regardless of the film's tv quality
composition it's a great example of the
indiscriminate and gratuitousness of the
japanese viral curse
[Music]
for the following film in our list we'll
be going further into the past
masaki kobayashi's quaidon this 3r movie
from the mid-1960s is an anthology of
four separate ghost stories
mostly set in feudal japan the first is
about a samurai that divorces his wife
in order to marry into a richer family
the second is about a man whose life is
spared by an ice spirit that takes the
shape of a woman
the third is about a talented blind biwa
musician that is visited by ghosts that
want him to perform for them
the final story is about a samurai that
drinks from a cup that contains another
man's soul
each folktale's slow pace is livened by
the performances
the art direction and the surreal
atmosphere
whether split up in parts or all in one
shot this is a must watch for japanese
cinema enthusiasts
if kwiden is the type of movie you like
i suggest watching the supernatural
folktale kuroneko as well
it's featured in our samurai film
recommendations listen
[Music]
staying within the realm of ghost
stories our following pick is very much
a straightforward one
but is told in an over-the-top frenetic
and sometimes comedic manner
house gorges was supposed to go on
vacation with her father but decides not
to when she realizes that her father's
new girlfriend would be there as well
instead she and her friends decide to go
visit her aunt that lives in a remote
house
along with a suspicious cat once there
bizarre events start happening and some
of the girls disappear
and it becomes obvious that the house
seems to have a life of its own
as viewers we also take part in the
strangeness of the situation
as we observe the absurdist visuals odd
cuts
eclectic editing and take in the
outlandish moments of violence
this film is a distinct brand of
supernatural insanity
a real trip and a half
up next is a film that starts off as a
possible rom-com scenario
and evolves into a hellish serving of
the disturbing
audition aoyama is a widower and his son
keeps pestering him about remarrying
since he's not too comfortable
approaching women aoyama and a film
producer friend hold auditions for a
fake project
the whole process's purpose is to filter
through women so that aoyama might find
the one
and he does and he falls for her but the
ensuing relationship with assami
is far from perfect her mysterious past
is both dark and dangerous
the way the movie is shot the cuts and
changes of perspective
serve to place us on unstable footing
alternating between aoyama and asami's
viewpoints
leading us to question what is real and
what can be trusted
this film is not for the faint of heart
it's a grotesque love story
[Music]
the following film on our list is norway
a filmmaker is investigating certain
supernatural events
little by little we begin to notice a
few recurring patterns
and see how these weird occurrences are
connected as the filmmaker goes deeper
so does our understanding of the demonic
entity that's been driving the story
now i know that at the mere mention of
found footage some people immediately
stop listening and disregard the movie
but hear me out
noroy's usage of the doc format helps
create a real and believable world
this low-fi horror thrives because of
its simplicity and rough around the
edge's aesthetic
it is because of the use of this medium
that we get some pretty unique scares
[Applause]
scarce that we wouldn't be able to
emulate in a nice clean and flattering
hd image
the performances and the set design all
seem authentic and almost plausible
the underlying mythology doesn't
overwhelm us with details
and it all leads to a worthwhile and
chilling conclusion
the next movie is unfortunately hard to
find online but is worth the search
it also gives the korean revenge film
genre a run for its money
confessions a middle school teacher is
quitting her job after having lived
through a tragedy
as she does so she attempts to get back
at the students who are responsible
i'm not saying any more than that
because one of the main strengths of the
movie
is how we are slowly revealed secrets
and character motivations
until we see the big picture at the end
the opening scene alone could make for a
good short film
the subject matter is dark and
disturbing which is sometimes aided by
the fact that the actors actually look
like middle schoolers for the most part
the film's bleak color grading
complements a stylized heightened
reality
it's both infuriating and satisfying
for our following film suggestion we
were debating which kyoshi kurosawa
movie to choose
pulse has that fear of technology
element as well as some uncanny creative
scares
creepy has an interesting concept but
rehashes some ideas that were better
executed in his earlier movie
which is the one we're going with cure a
detective is investigating a string of
murders
the only thing that ties them together
is the fact that the victims have an x
carved into their throats
the people responsible for the killings
are all unrelated
and have no real memory of what they've
done or why they did it
an interesting mystery with a
complicated protagonist that is
attempting to stop the frustrating
amnesiac antagonist that can turn anyone
into a murderer
[Music]
our following pick is basically a family
drama that happens to contain
supernatural elements dark water a newly
single mother is doing everything in her
power to not lose custody of her
daughter while trying to balance the
different aspects of her life
at the same time her new apartment keeps
getting water damage
and she keeps seeing an apparition
which is starting to affect her chances
at keeping her daughter
this film's strength lies in the
coexistence of the supernatural with the
mundane
the building tension comes from how one
world can influence the other
before we continue to our last selection
on our list here are a few
recommendations from the film club
cairo it has this weird sense of dread
throughout the movie
infection it's a clever j horror take on
the body horror genre
the forest of love a movie expanded into
a great series
the series if you don't expect horror
right away gets insane later on
my favorite is onibaba it has such an
eerie feeling
i liked strange circus the intrigue was
really nice and there were plenty of
horrifying elements in there too
jigoku sinners of hell is super
underrated i've never seen a film show a
detailed and chilling depiction of hell
and what it means to be a sinner who
really deserves to go to hell
who is truly innocent is what the film
asks in my opinion
we will be ending today's list with
satoshi kon's perfect blue
mima is a pop singer that is
transitioning to being an actress
her old persona is abandoned in favor of
a more mature one
that some people have a hard time
accepting on top of having a stalker
mima is having a hard time telling the
difference between what's real and what
isn't
and if that's not enough certain people
with links to her are being murdered
if you ever thought anime is just for
children or not to be taken seriously
this film will convince you otherwise
satoshi kon is adept at making us feel
unsettled
as the mystery of the story progresses
this is a movie that will stay with you
and we've reached the end of our
japanese horror movie list do you have
any other selections
then let us know down in the comments
our next video will also be another
recommendation list from a past video
essay
this time it will be 10 great korean
horror movies you should watch
so stay on the lookout for that make
sure to stay notified for all of our
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see you next time at the screened film
club