J-Horror Watchlist for Halloween 2021

By Tom Wilkinson-Gamble

Any true horror fan will be at least partially familiar with J-horror and even those who spend Halloween night behind the couch crutching a torch and a crucifix may still be aware of the yuurei, the quintessential and internationally recognised image of a Japanese ghost; female, long black hair and dressed in a white burial kimono. To celebrate this, the spookiest time of the year, I've put together a suggested watch list to enjoy the very best of modern Japanese horror cinema. 

The Ring Franchise (1996-2019)

Based on Koji Suzuki's 1991 novel of the same name, the original Ring movie was was released in 1998 as a generally faithful adaption of the novel, although there were a few slight differences. The male lead, Kazuyuki Asakawa, was changed to a woman, Reiko Asakawa, and the lead's assistant was changed from a male lead to an ex-husband. Other than that, the main plot remained virtually identical; after watching a curse video tape containing the spirit of a vengeful ghost, Sadako Yamamura, a person receives a phone call telling them they will die in seven days. It is then up to Reiko to find Sadako's remains and give her a proper burial in order to appease her spirit. A sequel to Ring, Spiral (1998), was adapted from Suzuki's second book but was released to generally negative reviews. A sequel, Ring 2 (1999), was then created but it's plot was completely separate from the original novels. This split led to the creation of two separate timelines. One, independent from the books, that contains Ring 2 and Sadako (2019) and another, adapted faithful from the novels, containing Spiral, Sadako 3D (2012) and Sadako 3D 2 (2013). A prequal to the original film, and therefore applicable to both timelines, Ring:0 Birthday, was released in 2000. Three television series based on the first and second books were produced. The first, pre-dating the original film, in 1995 and the other two both in 1999. Outside of Japan, Ring has been remade for both Western and Korean audiences. The Ring Virus was released in Korea in 1999. The Western Hollywood series contains four films. The Ring (2002) is similar to the Japanese original as Hollywood kept the female lead, but the main difference is that Sadako, who was always a groan woman, was replaced by Samara, a ten year old girl. Young Samara remained constant through out all the Western remakes. The Ring was then followed by a short film, Rings, and a sequel, Ring 2, both released in 2005. The last and and most recently released entry is the vaguely related sequel Rings, released in 2017. 

The Ju-On Franchise (1998-2020)

If the Ring is not the most famous J-horror franchise, then this is the next strongest candidate. Unlike the Ring, however, Ju-On, or 'The Grudge' as its known in English, is not based on a book. However, novelisations of almost every film have been written retroactively. The plot revolves around a cursed house inhabited by the spirits of a young wife, Kayako Saeki, and her son, Toshio, who were killed by their abusive father/husband. The fact that Kayoko's death rattle has become one of the most famous noises in the whole of horror, is a testament to the fame and success of the series. Like the Ring, the series contains multiple timelines. The first timeline can be traced back to the two short films Katasumi (Corner) and 4444444444, both released in 1998. This was followed by Ju-On: The Curse and Ju-On: The Curse 2, both released in 2000 and then Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) and Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003). These six were followed by two ten-year-anniversary specials, Ju-On: Black Ghost and Ju-On: White Ghost, both released in 2009. The second timeline consists of two films, a 2014 reboot of the series, Ju-On: The Beginning of the End and it's 2015 sequel Ju-On: The Final Curse. The third timeline is currently only one film; the crossover movie with the Ring Sadako vs Kayako (2016). All three timelines were followed by an exceptional prequal series, Ju-On: Origins, that was produced by Netflix and released in 2020. It consists of six episodes set between 1988 and 1997 and functions as a prequal to the original timeline. Like the Ring, Ju-On was adapted by Hollywood for a Western audience. The Western series currently consists of four films: The Grudge (2004), The Grudge 2 (2006), The Grudge 3 (2009) and, most recently, The Grudge (2020). One difference between the Western Ring and the Western Grudge is that, in The Grudge, the antagonist ghost, remained Japanese. Unlike in the Ring, were Sadako was replaced by Samara. Given the prevalence of the stereotypical 'ghost girl' in Western horror since the early 2000s, both the Ju-On and Ring franchises can be credited with introducing the yuurei to the West.

Uzumaki (2000)

Adapted from the Junji Ito manga of the same name, Uzumaki, literally 'Spiral', takes place in a fictional town that is plagued by a curse causing people to become obsessed with spirals before eventually succumbing to madness and eventual suicide. The film is quite gory at parts and includes a scene where a woman commits suicide by jumping into a washing machine. An anime adaptation of the original manga will be released in October of next year. 

Suicide Club (2001)

One of two more philosophical novels on this list, Suicide Club, known as 'Suicide Circle' in Japan, tackles a serious sociological problem particular to Japan. Following the release of the fictional J-pop group's new song Mail Me, Japan is hit by wave after wave of mass suicide amongst the nations the youth. The most poignant and infamous scene being a moment where 54 schoolgirls commit suicide en masse by throwing themselves in front of a train. The police are left with almost no leads until they find rolls of skin made from the victims. This, as well as a call-in by an anonymous hacker leads them to a strange underground glam-rock group lead by a man known as 'Genesis' who is thought to be linked to the suicide craze. The main theme of the film is obvious, however, the prevalence of J-pop groups and music may be alluding to either a) how prevalent suicide in Japanese society, or b) how copycat suicides can spread easily in the modern world due to the increased power of the media. Unsurprisingly, this film is extremely disturbing as it contains numerous scenes of suicide as well as an extremely graphic rape scene. A novelisation was written in 2002 and a prequal, Noriko's Dinner Table, was released in 2006. 

Dark Water (2002)

Based on one of the short stories from Koji Suzuki's anthology of the same name, Dark Water follows a single mother and her daughter as they move into a run-down and dilapidated apartment building. Before long, a leak appears on the celling from which water from the roof's water tank begins to drip through. The daughter, Ikuko Matsubara, begins to see the ghost of girl, Mitsuko Kawai, who disappeared mysteriously the previous year, before she herself vanishes. It is up to her mother, Yoshimi, to find her daughter before its too late. A Western remake of the same name was released in 2005. 

Kairo (2001)

As the other of the two more philosophical films on this list, Kairo, literally 'Pulse', contains two parallel story lines where the characters must deal with a seemingly unstoppable number of ghosts that are bleeding over into the physical via the internet. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who served as both director and writer of the film, deserves enormous praise for predicting, more than 15 years before the true rise of the social media, that the internet, something that designed to bring people together, would have the opposite effect and up making the world a lonelier and emptier place. 

Battle Royale (2000)

Based on the 1999 novel of the same name, Battle Royale takes place in an alternate Japan controlled by the dystopian Republic of Greater East Asia regime where, every year, in order counter act increasing anti-social behaviour amongst the nation's youth, a high-school class is picked to fight to the death until only one student remains. When both the film, and the original novel, were originally first released, they were extremely controversial, as the Japanese diet was concerned about the impact that showing such graphic student-on-student violent could have on Japanese society. The diet was partially proved right in 2004 when a 12 year old girl, Satomi Mitarai, murdered her classmate with a box cutter after having both read the book and seen the film. It took 10 years for the original un-edited version to be shown in the West. A sequel, Battle Royale 2: Requiem, that further expanded the lore, was released in 2003. 

Noroi (2005)

Noroi, literally 'curse', is the only found-footage film on the list, a trope taken from the West that does not appear to be as popular in Japan then it is in its homeland. The film is presented as a documentary, fictional of course, and follows an director who wants to produce a documentary on the paranormal. His discoveries and investigations into the supernatural lead him to a cursed remote village being terrorised by a demon that had accidently been set loose in a Shinto ritual that went wrong.