tecHouse

I have a few in the Asian (or other foreign) horror genre, but would like to get suggestions for ones worth importing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Rypro 525

the big ones for me are the original "Pulse" (or known as Kairo) and A Tale of Two Sisters being the best of the asian horror movies

sleepyhead55

On a "Tale of Two Sisters", is that a horror film or just psychological drama/thriller that the Asians seem to do so well? I've read that one recommended more than once. Also, didn't they do an American remake of that film?

CritterYawn

Shutter.

Rypro 525

its a horror movie. And yes it was remade as "the Uninvited"

Cheato

I'm going to go with a broad definition of horror...


Kwaidan (1964) (actually, Kaidan in Japanese): the R2 UK edition from Eureka is NTSC, not PAL, and is the only release with English subs that is the 183-minute original version of the movie (the Criterion is unfortunately missing 20 minutes, and the other R1 release is missing about an hour)

Note: there is a Kaidan movie from 2008 that has also been released on DVD. I recently ordered the R3 (Hong Kong) from CN Entertainment. This movie takes some ideas from the original and weaves them into a single story, and apparently contains some amount of homage to the original in terms of cinematography. I read a couple of good reviews, so just ordered it.

Kairo (Pulse) was mentioned before. The US release is at 1.78:1, but is slightly cropped, according to what I've read. I have the R3 (Hong Kong) release from Universe at 1.85:1, which matches the specs on the R2 (Japan) release. Probably wouldn't notice a difference, but I order a bunch of non-R1 DVDs anyway, so I got this one. Also, the R2 (Japan) release is sometimes listed with a running time 4 minutes longer, but I can't confirm it as the Japanese version is very expensive. However, when I see a 4-minute difference on an approximately 100-minute film, it is often because of a PAL/NTSC issue. It is possible that the R2 (Japan) release is the only true-speed release, and we got a PAL-sped-up version from a bad conversion from a PAL master, maybe used originally for the UK release.

The Ghost (terrible title, but a.k.a. Ryeong or Ryung, its Korean title, or Dead Friend): the R3 (Hong Kong) release from Asia video is reportedly 112 minutes long. I recently ordered it, so I don't have it in hand yet, but that would make it significantly longer than the 95-minute version available from other sources.

Haunted Office (not hugely popular, but I like it, and some pretty famous Hong Kong actors are in it): There are only 2 releases of this, both non-anamorphic, and both R3 (Hong Kong). I have the one from Tai Seng Video, and the quality is decent. My PS3 does a decent job displaying it and my TV zooms in on the image fine.

Tales of the Unusual (more of a Twilight Zone Movie deal): This was a movie based on the popular Japanese TV show. There might be a Japanese release of this, but if there is, it's rare and probably very expensive. There's an R3 (Hong Kong) release from Universe that's supposedly decent. I recently ordered it. I love the chess story in this movie.

Into the Mirror (the one remade as Mirrors in the U.S. recently): There's an R3 (Korea) release with some deleted scenes on it that I'd like to get, but it's OOP and expensive, so I can't vouch for the quality. Some people really hate the ending, but I can accept it.

Legend of the Evil Lake (not a horror movie exactly--more of a period piece--to put it simply, think "Korean samurai"--with some supernatural elements involving a curse): The R3 (Korea) from Cinema Service seems to be just about the only release, and it is OOP and expensive.

And here are some good-version R1 releases of Asian horror movies that I like:
Dark Water (original Japanese movie) (from ADV)
The Eye (original Chinese movie) (from Lion's Gate)
Phone (Korea) (from Tartan)
Sky High (Japanese movie, not the compeltely unrelated Disney movie) (SE from Media Shock/Tokyo Blasters)
A Tale of Two Sisters (mentioned in posts above) (Unrated SE from Tartan)

Cheato

As a follow-up to my own post:

The R1 release of Kairo is actually cropped quite heavily on top and bottom, and opened up very slightly on the sides. I checked out some screencaps in some reviews, and compared to the same scenes on my R3 Universe release. The one I have has a lot more picture. I still don't know anything about the R2 (Japan) release and the possible 4-minute time difference.

The R3 release of The Ghost is (a) actually 95 minutes long, just like the R1 from Tartan, and (b) non-anamorphic. Since the R1 is anamorphic, it is a much better deal. The package on the R3 lists it as 112 minutes, but that's not true.

newginafets

See prang/4bia (Thailand|2008) as well as the part 2

Khon len khong/Art of the Devil (Thailand|2004)

Sukob/The Wedding Curse (Philippines|2006)

Rumah Dara/Macabre (Indonesia|2009)