Over the past couple of months , I've been eyeing those Asian horror DVD's that I see in the store, but I haven't pulled the trigger on getting any of them yet. Does anyone have any good suggestions on which ones to try out? I'd like to try a few of them but they all would be a blind buy and I really don't want to waste alot of money on titles I wouldn't like. So if you have a few suggestions please post which ones you like and why? Thanks

Oh, where to begin...

Here's my list of essentials: (edit to say that these aren't all straight horror, but that could be an arguement in semantics)

Battle Royale
Ichi the Killer
The Eye
The Ring Ringu, that's what I meant
Audition
Hiruko the Goblin
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Versus
Biozombie
Jigoku
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (anime, but f'in sa-weet!)

Not technically horror, but pretty damn close (and awesomely bloody):

The Pinky Violence Collection
Sex & Fury
Female Yakuza Tale
Lone Wolf & Cub series
Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki
Oldboy

I'd throw "Battle Royale" into that second group. Horror it ain't.

^ Added comments within quotes.

I'll also add the following:

Tale of Two Sisters - atmospheric, semblances of the "hold the gaze of the viewer and jump out from the other side" moments ..and altogether adn very good chilling horror story.

Pulse (Kairo) .. the original Japanese version not the stupid remake. - thought provoking (social satire) psychological/chilling mind fuck. Excellent story ....

R-Point - Though not as good as the other two, it's a worthy (rental at least) interesting take. Very ominous with an excellent setting!

*Edit* to add some more Miike madness Gozu. Again, this film isn't for everyone, but a subtle horror it is ... especially to the Yakuza. Strange, strange film it is, but a good one.

Here are some of the highly recommended Asian Horrors out there on DVD...



From Top Left

1st Row

Ringu Anthology
OldBoy
Battle Royale 1 & 2
The Host
Death Note 1 & 2

2nd Row

Battle Royale
The Eye
Kairo (Pulse)
Naked Poison
Wild Zero
R-Point

3rd Row

The Untold Story
Daughter of Darkness
Red To Kill
Eternal Evil Of Asia
The Audition
Visitor Q



**** While the offer still last this week.. you can check Suncoast or FYE for their Tartan buy 1 get 1 free Asian horror titles...

Love the climactic battle of that one.

Thought that Eye 2 was much better than the first one.

Eternal Evil .. looks like I'll be seeking out that one this weekend.

Though I'll throw a word of caution out for Battle Royale II. To the OP, if you don't like the first, don't even bother with the second .. seriously. It is an altogether mess of a film.


BTW .. to the OP, it might help someone recommend some films to you if you listed something that you were into ......

I do have Vampire Hunter D- Bloodlust, which I like, I bought that with Ninja Scroll a few years ago ( the only two animation movies I have ) I am interested in Ringu and The Eye so I may try them out first. Thank you for all of your suggestions, I can work on a few of them in the upcomming months.

Also, you know what ... I forgot to mention another couple of Kurosawa (Kiyoshi) greats:

[He directed Pulse (Kairo)] Cure and Seance. Seance isn't as great, but Cure is in another land of its own. Very surreal and psychological chiller. It's a very good film ... but strange.

You'll be loving it!

Highly recommended Asian Horor DVDs...The Eye 1 and 2 (Thailand), Tale of Two Sisters, Ringu, the Maid (Singapore), Ju-on, Audition, Kwaidan Criterion Collection, Infection

Some titles I haven't seen mentioned that I found worth a spin.

Dr Lamb (this and the next 2 think Untold Story over the top-ness)
Human Pork Chop
Ebola Syndrome
Re-Cycle
Dark Water (by the author of Ring)
Kakashi
St John's Wort
Quiet Family
Three
Three Extremes

Here’re some films not mentioned above:

Acacia – great Korean film. As most of the Korean horrors - not straight horror, rather a thriller, but utterly dark, sad and thoughtful.
Aragami – nice Japanese 70-minute movie, a part of a “Duel dilogy” (the second one is 2LDK). Also not a straightforward horror, but mystical drama with martial arts elements.
Evil Dead Trap – Japanese film very reminiscent of Italian films of the genre. Pretty unusual for J-horror.
Diary – a film by Oxide Pang. Paranoid and ingenious, not a straight horror though.
Face – good and solid Korean horror/thriller.
Ryeong – another inventive and cunning ghost story from Korea. Seems ordinary at first glance, but is not quite what it seems.
Koma – atmospheric sinister thriller from Hong Kong.
Whispering Corridors – classic Korean horror.
Memento Mori – may be considered a sequel of Whispering Corridors. Maybe even better than the first film.
Wishing Stairs – Conclusion of Yeogo Goedam (Whispering Corridors) trilogy. Has more horror than previous two, but a little less sense.
Into the Mirror – nice Korean horror now being remade by Alexandre Aja.
Uninvited – great Korean thriller. Utterly disturbing not in the sense if explicit content, but emotionally.

Not exactly horror but no one has mentioned:

Suicide Club
2LDK

Both awesome movies that everyone should see at least once, plus you cant beat that they both come in the Danger After Dark box set along with Moonchild for 17.XX.

while there was plenty mentioned only one i didnt see that i really enjoyed that got me into more jhorror was Bloody Reunion. I enjoyed this one alot and got me into buying more releases.

1. Ring (1998) - Hideo Nakata (Japan)
Teenagers are mysteriously murdered in one week after viewing a horrific videotape, unless they can solve the mystery. The Japanese horror film that started the Asian remake trend. Remade in USA in 2000 with Naomi Watts.

2. Audition (1999) - Takeshi Miike (Japan)
A widower becomes infatuated with a sweet girl from a movie audition. Ok so he finds out the girl's really not so sweet. Remake is in the talks.

3. The Eye (2002) - The Pang Bros. (Hong Kong)
A blind girl gets a cornea transplant to see again. But what she sees, is not what she expected. Remake stars Jessica Alba coming soon in 2008.

4. Dark Water (2002) - Hideo Nakata (Japan)
Mother and daughter move into a haunted apartment with a leaky ceiling. What is that leaking? Remake with Jennifer Connelly in 2005.

5. Oldboy (2003) - Park Chan-Wook (Korea)
After being kidnapped and locked away for 15 days, Oldboy is released and seeks revenge against the person who locked him away. Remake with Justin Lin is in the talks.

6. Untold Story (1993) - Herman Yau (Hong Kong)
A man covers up the murders of his debt collectors by and serving them as "roast human buns". Probably one of the more vile films I've seen. Hollywood would probably be too afraid to remake this vile classic.

7. Dumplings (2004) - Fruit Chan (Hong Kong)
A woman eats special dumplings to maintain her youth. The short version can also be seen in the Three Extremes Trilogy released earlier in 2004.

8. Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
People move into an apartment haunted by a ghost with a grudge. Meowing boy? Creepy. Remade in 2004 with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

9. Ab-Normal Beauty - The Pang Bros. (Hong Kong)
A photographer becomes obsessed with taking pictures of the dead after witnessing a car accident. She seeks help from her friend cure her death obsession and then receives a snuff film on her door step. Remake with Tom Cruise is in the talks.

10. One Missed Call (2003) - Takeshi Miike (Japan)
People start to receive strange voicemails of themeselves dying. Violently. Remake hits the theaters in 2008.

Enjoy the originals!

A quick question if you don't mind: how do you recommend watching oldboy? dubbed or with subtitles? I tried the dubbed verision and couldn't get into it. This could apply to any of the movies on the list. Sorry for the dumb question but I'm a newbie with watching foerign movies.

watch everything that you can with original language and subtitles.

Subtitles are generally the way to go with foreign films, though there are some exceptions in regards to certain Italian films (especially the ones with English-speaking leads) where the English dub is acceptable, if not preferable.

I've been generally disappointed with a lot of the asian horror flicks, that is after watching the first handful that really broke the mold and got people noticing them. At first the Ju-on (Grudge) movies seemed kind of cool, but they're all just alike and have increasingly less discernable plots....same thing with the original Ring movies. Only the first one makes much sense at all. The other 2 are out there in the logic department, and personally, I actually prefered the Gore Verbinski remake of the Ring in almost every way, though it's just about one of the only remakes I can say that about.

Hands down for me the best and most atmospheric and chilling Asian Horror film I've ever seen is The Eye. It's one of the few that holds up to repeat viewings and maintains its freakiness I think. Unfortunately we're only a couple months away from a horrible US remake with Jessica Alba as the miscast heroine.

I think the Asian cinema is much more impressive for their original action thrillers like Oldboy, all vintage John Woo, and the Martial Arts epics. I'd say the Korean market is the thing to watch as of the last few years, particularly with things like Oldboy and then with romantic classics like My Sassy Girl.

If that isn't a loaded question and a half. But my first and only response would be (99% of the time) ...

Another J-Horror series not mentioned yet:

The Tomie series - the girl who WILL NOT DIE!

They all have basically the same plot - someone kills Tomie and she keeps on coming back from the dead.

Five movies from the series were reissued in a box set (called "The Tomie Collection") which can be purchased from Amazon Marketplace sellers for as little as $3.69 brand new, factory sealed: Tomie / Tomie: Another Face / Tomie: Replay / Tomie: Rebirth / Tomie: Forbidden Fruit.

A Tale of Two Sisters
This re-telling of a traditional Korean folk tale is not for the impatient or those with short attention spans. Only near the end, when (and if) you catch on to the central twist of the movie will any of the scenes prior make sense, but for those who stick it out to the end, it is worth the trip.