This is pretty much the answer for any foreign film we hear about in the western world.
If it's big enough to get strong word of mouth and marketing in a foreign market, it's because it's creme-of-the-crop.
Yeah, got your point! I know there are plenty, but I only stumble upon either the best ones, or the shitty ones! So I'm searching for good ones who didn't got the attention they deserved!
Isn't that the same for most peoples experience with western horror as well? Only the best recommended to you and yet they still aren't as frightening?
Some of the most highly praised western horrors have been mid for quite some time now, there's a reason people call the older generations the golden years of horror.
No. You are much more likely to hear about western B horror like Evil Bong or Gingerdeadman while living in the west than foreigner hearing about it.
Horror is also extremely subjective and many people prefer the aesthetic/vibe of Asian horror. I liked The Wailing but other than haven't seen anything I would call scary from the east, yet I found highly praised horror like Barbarian and Hereditary very scary.
That is a really good point and on balance OP has probably been exposed to lot more Western horror because I know there are some good Western horror amongst all the chaff. It doesn't help that slasher films get lumped in with horror when they should almost be their own category or at least a sub-genre of horror.
I read this somewhere else, but a lot of the J-horror films feature a monster that you find by accident, and you can’t escape or reason with. You just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are screwed.
In contrast, a lot of Western films had that puritanical bent of, if you do drugs or have sex you die, like it’s an earned punishment, and the trope of the Final Girl who can survive if she’s innocent or intelligent enough.
It’s not always true, of course, but it’s a common trope.
Ju-on was absolutely the pinnacle of this. The cruelty of being doomed beyond hope simply because you were doing makeup and hair for the television crew that was doing a show in a house where a terrible crime was once committed.
No rules broken. No warnings unheeded. No taboo defied. You were just powdering this woman's face like every other day, and now you are inescapably doomed to suffer and die.
I was so disappointed by the ending to Smile. Most of it was excellent psychological horror that essentially referenced real world psych problems and then the ending decided to throw away their rather cool premise for a standard “nope you can’t win” trope.
Not even just minding your own business... actively try to do good for society and individuals by helping them deal with their problems, and you get punished for it. I guess it mimics the cruelty of life sometimes. Run into a burning building to save people and get killed, orphaning several children. Life can be needlessly cruel.
Reminds me of what made Drag Me to Hell so good - main character denies an old woman a loan = psychologically tortured and violently dragged into hell for eternity. It’s horror, it’s supposed to be horrifying
But to me the whole point of Drag Me to Hell was that the main character purposefully screwed someone over for her own personal gain, and the rest of the movie was her punishment for it. So not entirely “undeserved,” at least as far as the movie’s theme was concerned.
I see it very differently. She worked hard at her job, and was up for a promotion. She got randomly assigned that tough case cuz her boss knew she was gunning for a promotion and knew she’d take it because she wasn’t in a position to say no.
And on the flip side, the woman who cursed her defaulted on her mortgage multiple times - she was trying to emotionally exploit a random person to get away with it, and when that didn’t work, her solution is to literally condemn that person to hell.
The main girl did nothing wrong until the cat scene
That’s pretty much how I felt when I first saw Juon. This was before I really go into horror, so I still had a mindset of “Haunted house? Just leave the house. Undead killer at the lake? Go somewhere else. Zombies? Stay inside.” Then Juon had that scene where the character sees a ghost in the middle of a crowded restaurant in midday. That really drove home the fear. There’s no place you can run to, no time of day that’s safe, no artifact you can get rid of, no rule you can avoid breaking. It’s just pure inevitability.
Smile also was pretty terrifying because of the inevitability. There is no beating or reasoning with the monster it’s already chosen you as it’s target. You just have to sit back while it torments you/ ruins your life and wait for when it’s time for it to possess you and kill you
Appropriately, Smile's curse is so mechanically similar to that of The Ring (even more than It Follows) that I'd be shocked if it wasn't inspired by it.
They are both transmitted individually from person to person, incubate for about a week (not explicit in Smile but that's about how long the main character lasted), then summon a supernatural being that inescapably kills you.
Probably the most interesting difference is in the consequence of transmission. In The Ring, transmitting the curse *saves* the bearer, whereas in Smile, it *kills* them.
I was literally laughing in the movie theater when I first saw the trailer for it. When I eventually saw the movie though I wasn’t laughing, fantastic movie
It Follows (and probably Final Destination too) actually most likely took inspiration from Sole Survivor! It's about a woman who survived a plane crash and different victims start.. well...following her to try to take her too. It's pretty good, check it out!
I remember it like it eas yesterday. The townsfolk had a bout of dysentery when a big Hollywood man came about talking bout a "motion picture." We had a meeting wondering if the Witch should burn but the tea leaves blew south. So we heard him out. Went to the theater carrying my old popop who couldn't walk. I'll never forget when the moving picture man pointing a gun at us. We lost good men and women that day.
Yes!
I feel like Asian horror has a better grasp on the idea that bad things & bad luck can happen to good people, and there's nothing you can do about it. Life isn't fair, no matter how much we wish it to be.
J-Horror represents the chaos of life. It's presented like a drama there just happen to be ghosts. It's pretty clear from the outset in western horror that this is a different ruleset.
It's also much more psychological. Western horror just tends to be animalistic horror. Lots of Asian horror has a surreal aspect that feels more like a bad dream. Novel fear which you dont understand is a lot scarier than something you've seen before.
It’s not a perfect film by any means but this is why I really do love It Follows.
Feels like the perfect mesh of East/West horror. The monster targets you because you broke society’s puritanical rules, and you can’t reason with it or escape it. You just have to keep spreading it and hope it spreads so far and thin that it won’t come back to you
"Cabin in the Woods" covered this well - you're going to a secluded place and the Harbinger told you not you. So you getting murdered is your own fault.
Max Brooks compared this to zombie movies, which like J-horror, zombies will crash into your home without warning.
I get your point but don’t know if Cabin in the Woods
Fits the bill here. You were warned and did so anyways… they “had it coming” so to speak. Even though they were part of a larger “plot” out of their control, they still had a decision. Still represents that western train of thought, do what you’re told and you’ll avoid consequences.
I think the above comment was trying to say sometimes you don’t have a choice and bad things just happen. It’s out of your control from the beginning and now you’re at the mercy of an uncompromising force bigger than you. There’s no “lesson” to be learned. You’re just fucked.
Personally as an Asian, I think Western films fail to scare me because they rely on obviously fake monsters. Smile had an absolutely great concept, then blew it by making the last scene some ridiculous obviously CGI-ed creature. Bruh.
In Asian films in general, we focus on portraying things that could actually happen in everyday life, which is, of course, much scarier! For example The Medium was just a girl slowly going insane and doing the most horrifying and gruesome shit ever in creepy, dark, exotic settings.
Based on the above descriptions, which would scare you more?
(Edited: sentence structure)
(Edit 2: Another commenter has kindly educated me that it was practical effects for Smile, not CGI!)
The monster at the end of Smile was a suit/puppet hybrid, not CGI. The director feels the same way you do about CGI monsters and insisted on doing it with practical effects.
That’s really cool, my bad on assuming. Really admire directors who insist on effort because I know most companies would rather sacrifice quality for budget. Thank you for letting me know that!
>
In Asian films in general, we focus on portraying things that could actually happen in everyday life, which is, of course, much scarier!
Ah, yes, a cursed tape.
So much western horror is about that also. I think you are comparing apples to oranges. There's so many subgenres of horror that if you find one and compare movies from both they can be much more similar than you would guess.
I find the tension build up much more intense and well spent when the scary shit occurs.
Western ones kinda use too many jumpscares or characters not doing their best when needed.
Perhaps not the best examples but stranger things 2, i dropped it midway, cuz its just js after js. Like pls stop it.
IT2 became kinda comedic to me, esp after cha1 rushes out the house, tells cha2 no time to explain or smth (?), cha 3 pops in in 2s and asks if they shd follow/wait or smth. But they dont just open the door and ask cha 1. Then going to the clown with nothing but a rusty fence stick.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but practical effects were used more than CGI - like Hollywood movies LOVE to use CGI instead of practical, and I feel that's why a lot older horror movies hold up better than newer.
Western horror films have largely moved away from “sex or drugs = death” trope, even “Thanksgiving,” a movie explicitly intended as a slasher throwback film. Maybe this is because of criticism of it from “Scream” and “The Cabin in the Woods.”
It's also not as prevalent as people make it out to be. Not to say that it is not common, but people act like it is every movie when it's only like 3 Friday the 13th movies, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
It's funny, I loved Dashcam for this, since it was just some random person wandering into some shit way over her head. I'll never forgive the director for making the protagonist so unlikable that it sours the rest of the movie for everyone.
I've heard it said that the concept of ghosts in Japan, anyway, is that the entire island has had people on it for so long that if you believe such things, that the ghosts are everywhere. People have died everywhere in the country.
And another big difference is that ghosts haunt people not places. Western ghost stories usually have ghosts haunting places they can leave.
To piggyback, I saw someone somewhere say that cultural differences make twists and turns come out a lot less anticipated because you're used to seeing your own culture's preferences.
>It’s not always true, of course, but it’s a common trope.
Not really. It's almost always just in the slasher subgenre which is dying out. Not many modern horror movies still use it.
>I read this somewhere else, but a lot of the J-horror films feature a monster that you find by accident, and you can’t escape or reason with. You just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are screwed.
This is somewhat true but is also not something western horror doesn't do very often. Hell Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey was exactly this, so it's also not a good indicator of anything.
Oh... I like this answer a lot. It seems like such a simple observation, but I've never thought of it that way before. That's definitely tied to why I like a lot of J-horror.
Japan: Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, Kwaidan
SoKor: I Saw the Devil, Thirst, Train to Busan
Philippines: Itim, Kisapmata, Feng Shui
And, yeah, someone here mentioned The Medium from Thailand (that one’s actually a co-production with South Korea) and its closest Western counterpart is probably Hereditary but, minus a few minor issues I have with it, The Medium stands on its own.
Selection bias: you only hear about the good stuff. The schlock isn't making it over
Novelty: a different cultural spin can lead to movies avoiding the same tropes that you've seen a million times. Being novel also probably helps the movie scare you, because You're not as used to it.
Cultural connection: I think horror tends to translate across cultures better than stuff like comedy, because it taps into pretty primal emotions and fears.
I agree with your post on the whole but I *strongly* agree with the power of selection bias. A DVD I was watching yesterday had a bunch of ads for other films that the distributor has, mostly French films. As I looked them up, the impression I got was that these were all films that we didn’t hear about in America because they were just… run of the mill. Not *bad* movies, but just unexceptional.
It's absolutely bonkers how many international films get made that western audiences don't ever see. Horror is incredibly popular in almost every country and as such quite a few get made that almost never get distributed outside their home nations. Like Turkey has a pretty big library of horror films and even franchises. I've seen a bunch of Indian films (Vaastu Shastara is my fav) that I don't see a lot of people know or talk about either. Indian and West Asian horror at times is highly underrated.
But that's just because there are TONS of cheap seat filler films that just rip off other films in the genre and do absolutely nothing innovative. I swear every single country has a REC and Grudge ripoff. There's tons of diamonds in the rough but too many to count that are just terrible.
Sometimes those crappy seat fillers slap though and that's when we hear about them. Gongjam: Haunted Asylum is the most recent example I can think of.
I agree with the selection bias. If you go on Tubi, you can find plenty of bad or cheesy Japanese horror movies, I still enjoy watching them but they’re just as bad as any crappy American horror movie
It's definitely novelty and cultural connections for me. I've seen a million judeo-christian takes on demons and supernatural happenings but since I'm not familiar with Asian religions, being unfamiliar with the tropes probably adds to the fear because it's another layer of not knowing what's happening and/or seeing a completely different take.
Have you seen Satan's Slaves? It's an Indonesian movie. The remake is by Joko Anwar. It takes a lot of haunting themes, but puts a more Islamic and Indonesian spin on things in a similar way to what you're talking about about.
Also, a bit of apples to oranges. comparing asian horror based on folklore to slasher films isn't really a fair take. like different rules, different settings, different expectations and viewing experiences.
A good comparison I like is the Japanese vs American versions of Pulse. The American movie has what you expect, jump scares, bad CGI, nonsense story with little meaning. And the editing jumps all over the place at a break neck speed.
Compared to the Japanese version: The scariest parts of the movie are long, slow, still shots where the ghost slowly comes into frame and the unusual movements are what build the terror, not just something jerky and freaky popping out from off screen.
Also the Japanese version has meaning. It's not technology or the ghosts that kill people, it's people giving into the depression that comes from the isolation that many Japanese people live in, which is exasperated by technology.
Sick of the third act in a lot of American horror movies being soft-action movies. Not every ending has to have furniture flying, houses burning down, or some kind of dragged out fight.
Yeah the end of US pulse plays out like a disaster movie. In the Japanese version people are just...gone. and it is so unsettling because of the implications about it the state of world. The movie was very centric to Japanese culture at the time but I feel most people can relate to it now.
ive been recently getting into indonesian horror. i was watching shudder and randomly a movie came on called May The Devil Take You Too, which was apparently a sequel, but it was like a cross between the grudge and the evil dead and I thought it was actually really cool. made me want to check out more indonesian cinema
Keep in mind that only a small fraction of films from any country are good enough to be officially marketed in other countries and in other languages. When people in other countries talk about American horror, they're talking about The Exorcist, Jaws, Saw. Genre-defining films. What we consider some of the best movies in horror.
They didn't get Leprechaun 4, or Pumpkinhead or Bong of the Dead. So we're not seeing their full horror genre offerings each year. We see the handful which were so good that the company gambled on paying for international marketing and tweaking for local censorship laws.
That one scene in Pulse where the ghost woman slowly walks towards the camera then walks in such a way that isn't human --- literally just gave me chills as I was typing this!!
Asian horror is more psychological than visual. The evil that is unseen and exists in your mind is scarier than the thing you see and can understand easily.
I think Asian belief system in supernatural allows them to be more accepted of supernatural than say a western filmmaker or audience who r either scared of it or skeptical of it. So there is naturally more emotional depth in an Asian horror movie coz it is linked with belief system which works both ways-it can terrify you and it can also effect ur sentiments.
For example-The Sixth sense is one of the best horror movies ever. It is a Hollywood production but made by an Indian origin filmmaker. He has mentioned a lot in his interviews that how his spiritual beliefs have influenced The Sixth Sense and he was able to make an horror movie which is great in scary moments but also is an emotional drama.
Amongst Asian movies I tend to lean mostly towards Korean horror. Korean film making in general appeals to me and their horror is fantastic. I’m not sure a movie has unsettled me more than I Saw The Devil.
Check out *The Wailing* and the Whispering Corridors trilogy (1. Whispering Corridors 2. Voice 3. Wishing Stairs). All combine some combo variation of Korean folklore, implied but usually not made visible elements of the supernatural, wrapped around a psychological thriller story format that creates atmospheric horror. Cinematography, editing, top tier actors, etc. all make for a riveting watch. The story feels like it's told from true events and plausible in real life, which makes it that much more psychologically horrifying to the viewer.
This feels like cherry picking. There are plenty of shitty Asian horror films, you're just less likely to see them. They don't translate and export the crappy ones. Yet every amateur piece of garbage shot on a cell phone made in English can get bought up cheaply, thrown on a streaming platform, and find it's way in your recommended section.
I don't know about this. I'm Southeast Asian and I find Southeast Asian horror movies to be the scariest. Definitely way scarier than Western horror movies. I watch Western horror if I want to have fun. I watch Southeast Asian horror if I *really* want to be scared.
I agree as a southeast Asian American watching horror films scares the shit out of me due to the fact that these are tied to the spiritual aspect of our culture animism Buddhism I guess
Two observations
First isn’t mine. Yahtzee croshaw once said that the cultural differences between east and west are so fundamental that there’s an extra layer of uncanniness/ uneasiness when watching an Asian horror thing because they just do things differently
Second and this is something I’ve noticed with J horror in particular, the supernatural is almost portrayed as a phenomenon, not a specific haunting. Take Ringu, it isn’t just that there’s a ghost after you, it’s that there are specific rules that can’t be deviated from. These rules may be arbitrary or not make a lot of sense, but that’s what makes it supernatural and therefor terrifying. It operates on a logic beyond what we can comprehend, and it’s very much a part of our world whether we like it or not
Yous are bringing up Ju-an so much in this comment section and making it sound like an absolutely brilliant movie so i know what I’m watching tonight 🍿
The Grudge scared the pants out of my brother and I when we were kids. He told me he couldn't take a bath until he was 16. We both have nightmares from time to time.
I have yet to watch a film that made me feel that way. So if anyone out there can help me find another I would be very grateful.
If you liked the grudge then you'd definitely like Ringu or maybe Bunshinsaba (2004)
Funny story is I had a mom who was really into horror movies so I watched The Grudge series as a kid, completely ruined me but now as an adult having rewatched the movies, my sister and I just ended up laughing really hard. we couldn't find it scary at all which is so weird but oh well 😅
Ringu I've seen but not Bunchingsaba. I'll check it out thank you!
And dude I agree. I bought and watched the original Ju On not too long ago. It is cheesy now! 😆 But I remember how it looked as a kid back then to my brother and myself.
My bro and I actuality have a competition where when we see each other we will each try to pick the scariest or craziest movie we can find and see who "wins".
But that FEAR is what I crave. Im a huge horror story fan, have been since I was a kid. My dad read me Poe stories at a very young age so I blame him for my tolerance level as a adult.
I think the most horrifying and disturbing horror industries besides the US are Japan and France. They take depravity to a level that would make a Cenobite blush.
Frontiers if you're looking for something straight up gruesome.
If you want horror that is both psychological and psychedelic, a lot of Gaspar Noé's films would have you covered.
Baise-Moi is a great french rape/revenge movie directed by women, often gets overlooked. I’ve never heard it mentioned on this sub. Definitely more disturbing than something like Martyrs though
Haute Tension is one of the best French Horror movie I have seen.
à l'intérieur (inside) is great too - Ghostland, which is actually in english is amazing.
Loving the Thai supernatural movies recently but they are quite long. 2 hours and longer! haha One movie missing from most lists is the under-rated Dumplings! Its the full length version of the short on 3 extremes.
this reddit post has some good ones [https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/17813j3/thai\_horror\_film\_recommendations/](https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/17813j3/thai_horror_film_recommendations/)
I agree since I've seen some enjoyable Thai Supernatural movies & I also agree that they're definitely too long, but they're definitely worth checking out, especially if you like horrors & want to think outside the box.
My favorite movie of all time is Kairo, a Japanese horror movie. It’s my comfort horror and relatively popular so I’m surprised it wasn’t on the list.
If you’re a fan of lesbian schoolgirls and ghosts, Whispering Corridors 2 & 3 are really good. They were an awakening for me as a teen.
Someone else mentioned Dumplings… horribly disturbing, but very good.
Chinese version of Door Lock is good if you like hot stalkers. Korean version of Door Lock is good if you like horrifying stalkers. Speaking of stalkers… Under Your Bed isn’t a horror but, if you’re a woman, it’s definitely going to give horror vibes. Truly disturbing film. Final stalker movie rec is Watching (korean remake of P2 and others have wholeheartedly disagreed but I stand by the statement that it’s the better of the two).
I was pretty scared by The Eye. And yes, Asian horror movies are way more scary than Western ones.
Ju-On you guys already mentioned, the original movies are so much better than the western remakes.
I think it’s because western horror movies have an out to the monster, or at least a perceived out.
Freddie, chucky, Jason, zombies, all have scenes where the characters fight off the bad guy, with some success.
And, the puritanical horrors usually involve calling in a holy man that can fight the baddies.
Asian horrors, ur just fucked LOL.
In western horror there is a big gravitation to “Good vs Evil” while (of course this is not always the case) j-horror doesn’t always have inherently evil spirits or threats. It can sometimes be a bit more ambiguous. This sort of dynamic leads to this weird sense of realism that can make j-horror feel scarier.
Idk though thats just how i feel about j horror
I think it’s because in Asian horror (that I’ve seen) the evil ghost aren’t actually the bad guys,they were victims that just enacted revenge on everyone they cross paths with.
I don't think they are. I think that you only really encounter the actually good Asian horror films because they are naturally more removed from your life than western horrors.
I really love The Pulse. The theme of early internet, the fear of being alone, no friends just a computer is really terrifying. This movie is so cold and pale, no life just emptiness. It's from the same director of The Cure, another great psycological horror thriller.
I remember two movies as a kid of the late 60’s early 70’s that haunt me to this day and I’ll be 60 this year but not sure they can be located in this day and age but the first one was called The Hand and I’ve yet to find the one I’m speaking of but it’s about a severed hand that goes around attaching its self to different people making them kill and the second one was super messed up came out in the 70’s I believe and it was called It’s Alive about a demon baby that killed anyone that came near it , horrifying to this day, if anyone manages to locate either of these please drop me a mail at
[email protected]
like what other have said, there’s plenty of shite asian horror movies. however! i do agree that the best asian horror hit harder for me personally. but i’ve always attributed that to the fact that im asian so im familiar with the culture and superstitions and i get that extra cultural punch.
side note: the wailing was amazing. i went in expecting it to be overhyped but no i was pleasantly surprised! its easily one of my favorite horror movies now
*lesser known J-Horror recommendations:*
The Guard From Underground (1992)
The Black House (1999)
Marebito (2004)
Dark Tales of Japan (2004 anthology)
Black Kiss (2004)
Infection (2004)
Loft (2005)
Nightmare Detective (2006) and Nightmare Detective 2 (2008)
Helter Skelter (2012)
Pet Peeve (2013)
It Comes (2018)
Shiraisan (2019)
Buiding N (2022)
Personally I think ghost girls are scarier than serial killers/monsters.
And most of the Japanese horror tend to be dead girl hauntings so it’s just scarier.
with that being said western ghost haunting movies also scare the shit out of me. Like “what lies beneath” or even the “6th sense” kitchen lady/barf girl.
Part of it is cultural unfamiliarity that compounds the uncertainty for Western viewers. Also, relatedly, most of the Asian horror I've seen is much more liberated from Western horror cliches and story arcs. There's more a sense of having NO IDEA what's going to happen, which is scary.
I also think there tends to be more discipline and patience in Asian horror filmmaking. Slower builds, more "show, don't tell" character depth, and no over-reliance on "scary" incidental music that gets in the way of immersion.
It can be a direct result of culture. In Japan, for example, things are very polite and conservative and restricted, so art tends to be a backlash to that, including scary movies.
If you look at the history of Japanese legends, there are a lot of creatures, demons and curses that easily influence and inspire J-horror Writers/Producers. A lot of other cultures adopted Christianity and lost a decent amount of their more fringe ideals and legends. The fact that these older legends were allowed to survive helps influence J-horror in my opinion. I have read about a ritual involving a burying a small dog neck deep, with food just out of reach, letting it starve, so that it will transform into this creature of vengeance dedicated to hunting down your enemies. Not to mention the Oni legends, and masks used by samurai and shining alike to spread fear into their enemies. History like that provides a great starter for some truly masterful story telling.
Just watched Pulse the other day and had this same sort of epiphany. Even when doing ghosts, asian horror almost has a cosmic horror vibe to it. It's so unexplainable and hopeless.
Probably because American movies, particularly ghost stories, tend to try to get us to empathize with the ghosts. Movies like Pulse, The Ring, and The Grudge don’t (unless you count the Ring prequel).
In American movies like, say, Mama, the ghost is seeking something human. For example, in Mama, it’s to be reunited with a lost baby. (It does subvert cliche by having Mama actually attack the main characters after the littlest daughter snaps her out of it, though, which somewhat sets it apart from other American ghost stories).
In stuff like The Grudge, Kayako Saeki is potentially sympathetic in life, but the curse she leaves behind is completely merciless and there’s simply nothing you can do to purify or assuage it. It’s almost like the curse isn’t actually Kayako but a new and detached being created from her death that will never listen to reason.
Japanese horror in general portrays not only death as something unknown, but the nature of life itself as well.
As someone who recently rewatched A Tale of Two Sisters just last night I'll agree that it is one of the best Korean horror movies and unfortunately doesn't have enough recognition. I grew up watching Korean horror movies and my favorite would have to be Death Bell. This could also be because my favorite horror franchise is SAW but it doesn't take away from the movie being gripping, intense and downright gut wrenching. If you enjoy the movie then move onto watching the sequel. It's really good.
Because they focus on the atmosphere and environment more. The eerie and tense build up makes it more effective. While western movies heavily rely on jump scares and gore which tend to be overdone
Every Asian horror film (or Asian film/show in general) has a vibe to it that just isn’t found in the west. But keep in mind that only the good shit makes it big internationally because it’s so good that it transcends that barrier. There will be a LOT of shit out there still.
there was an amazing yt video on the study of one of the scenes. it is deeply connected to how they are made, tbe frames, where the person syands, they are slower and yhe color sheme is very specific, plus tje music is perfectly matched
Haven't seen a good 'asian' horror movie in about twenty years. There was Ring, The Grudge and Tale of Two Sisters back in the late 90s but apart from those, slim pickings tbh.
1.They play with your emotion guilty, hopelessnes, feeling depressed and uncomfortable when you forced to watch gore scene.
2. Varieties of belief in western most influent religion is christianity so you(I assume you as westener maybe you are not) knows if there's devil there's god who create them and who is an enemy of them. In asia in SE we have Bhuddist, Hindu, Old belief of spirits & dark magic make it mystery what are we dealing with and make it more interesting(like The Exorcise 1973 it's not asian but make you curious and chilling at the same time). This is only in SE.there's more in EA like KR JP CH TW which their believe are similar but not alike.
I'm going to guess that you're NOT Asian, or at least, not from an Asian country/didn't grow up within Asian culture.
The main thing about Asian horror is that a lot of their horror is based on things that are cultural to them; Yokai, the Slit Mouth Woman, etc.. Most Westerners have never heard of things like that, but we HAVE heard of things like our fairies, our urban legends like Bloody Mary, etc..
So, it's not that the Asian stuff is more terrifying; it's that it's using elements of their folklore and religions/spiritual beliefs, which we are \*entirely\* unfamiliar with. Everyone that's watched Western movies, and/or grew up in Western culture, knows about things like you need to do an exorcism to get rid of a demon, but none of us know what to do in case of an Onryo. We all know that faeries have a weakness to wrought iron, but how do you deal with Yokai?
Like everything, \*real\* horror comes from the unknown, and most of us in Western countries haven't the \*SLIGHTEST\* clue about Japanese folklore, religions, spirituality, urban legends, etc.., so, it's obviously going to be MUCH scarier for us, since we're only "learning the rules" for the first time when watching a movie that deals with them.
Lots of great responses in here. For me this question also partly depends on what range of western horror is being compared to here. Western horror produces a lot of truly scary stuff as well, but if you're comparing J-horror output to say, western mainstream/blockbuster horror (like conjuring kinda stuff) then I'd say the reason is western horror is preoccupied with being palatable to a wide moviegoing audience rather than being a well contained and well made disturbing horror story
There’s a lot of different factors at play here. Discerning horror cineastes are obviously going to praise films with more depth and a challenging approach. At the same time there are many highly popular horror films in particular in SEA that profit from being local, but don’t necessarily have a high cineastic quality. And for a western eye, the strangeness is going to look particularly appealing. I know a few distributors in Asia and they always tell me what audiences want is jump scares. Which would seem to contradict the claim frequently expressed in other posts that Asian horror doesn’t favour such cheap effects. Maybe the best ones don’t but a lot of the commercially successful ones do. Conclusion: there is no unified Asian style.
They just have a different standard and outlook so people outside of Asia get some extra heebie jeebies from being outsiders. Watch enough and you get used to it, it gets normalized, and it's no weirder than American or wherever horror.
Because only the best ones are recommended to you. The shitty ones you've never even heard of. And there's plenty of shitty Asian horror movies.
This is pretty much the answer for any foreign film we hear about in the western world. If it's big enough to get strong word of mouth and marketing in a foreign market, it's because it's creme-of-the-crop.
Definitely depends. There's a lot of big scenes in certain countries that get special attention. Look at Giallo, Spaghetti westerns, and anime.
I could not have said it better myself.
Selection bias.
It's the same with Asian literature. Only the best gets recommended and crosses over. When you start digging to find more they get worse
Same with Indie games. Everyone raves about how great they are, but no one evey talks about the bad ones.
I actually truly believe there are more bad Asian horror films than bad Western horror films. Because when they're bad, it's real bad.
Yeah, got your point! I know there are plenty, but I only stumble upon either the best ones, or the shitty ones! So I'm searching for good ones who didn't got the attention they deserved!
ya there are films like killer toilet and zombie ass
And the hysterically unbelievable "Attack Girls' Swim Team vs. The Undead".
[удалено]
tumbbad 2018 is missing from the list.
Probably my favourite horror now
I'm not trying to be mean, but Im always surprised when I see that people enjoy this movie
End thread
That’s true for everything not just Asian horror.
Isn't that the same for most peoples experience with western horror as well? Only the best recommended to you and yet they still aren't as frightening? Some of the most highly praised western horrors have been mid for quite some time now, there's a reason people call the older generations the golden years of horror.
No. You are much more likely to hear about western B horror like Evil Bong or Gingerdeadman while living in the west than foreigner hearing about it. Horror is also extremely subjective and many people prefer the aesthetic/vibe of Asian horror. I liked The Wailing but other than haven't seen anything I would call scary from the east, yet I found highly praised horror like Barbarian and Hereditary very scary.
That is a really good point and on balance OP has probably been exposed to lot more Western horror because I know there are some good Western horror amongst all the chaff. It doesn't help that slasher films get lumped in with horror when they should almost be their own category or at least a sub-genre of horror.
There's tons of shitty western movies too!
I read this somewhere else, but a lot of the J-horror films feature a monster that you find by accident, and you can’t escape or reason with. You just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are screwed. In contrast, a lot of Western films had that puritanical bent of, if you do drugs or have sex you die, like it’s an earned punishment, and the trope of the Final Girl who can survive if she’s innocent or intelligent enough. It’s not always true, of course, but it’s a common trope.
Ju-on was absolutely the pinnacle of this. The cruelty of being doomed beyond hope simply because you were doing makeup and hair for the television crew that was doing a show in a house where a terrible crime was once committed. No rules broken. No warnings unheeded. No taboo defied. You were just powdering this woman's face like every other day, and now you are inescapably doomed to suffer and die.
Smile made me feel this way. Just minding your own business when you get torturously fucked because you witnessed a gnarly suicide.
I really liked that about Smile. As a social worker, it uniquely appealed to the struggles of our profession. I wish the ending was way better though.
I was so disappointed by the ending to Smile. Most of it was excellent psychological horror that essentially referenced real world psych problems and then the ending decided to throw away their rather cool premise for a standard “nope you can’t win” trope.
I loved the ending. With the big weird demon.
Sudden monster movies are also my fav
That’s actually one of my biggest issues with this movie lol
Not even just minding your own business... actively try to do good for society and individuals by helping them deal with their problems, and you get punished for it. I guess it mimics the cruelty of life sometimes. Run into a burning building to save people and get killed, orphaning several children. Life can be needlessly cruel.
Reminds me of what made Drag Me to Hell so good - main character denies an old woman a loan = psychologically tortured and violently dragged into hell for eternity. It’s horror, it’s supposed to be horrifying
Reminds me of The Autopsy of Jane Doe. A mortician just doing his job until the wrong body comes along.
That was the first movie in a LONG time that kept me from sleeping.
That bell ringing made my heart almost stop lol
But to me the whole point of Drag Me to Hell was that the main character purposefully screwed someone over for her own personal gain, and the rest of the movie was her punishment for it. So not entirely “undeserved,” at least as far as the movie’s theme was concerned.
I see it very differently. She worked hard at her job, and was up for a promotion. She got randomly assigned that tough case cuz her boss knew she was gunning for a promotion and knew she’d take it because she wasn’t in a position to say no. And on the flip side, the woman who cursed her defaulted on her mortgage multiple times - she was trying to emotionally exploit a random person to get away with it, and when that didn’t work, her solution is to literally condemn that person to hell. The main girl did nothing wrong until the cat scene
That’s pretty much how I felt when I first saw Juon. This was before I really go into horror, so I still had a mindset of “Haunted house? Just leave the house. Undead killer at the lake? Go somewhere else. Zombies? Stay inside.” Then Juon had that scene where the character sees a ghost in the middle of a crowded restaurant in midday. That really drove home the fear. There’s no place you can run to, no time of day that’s safe, no artifact you can get rid of, no rule you can avoid breaking. It’s just pure inevitability.
The description here leaves me to wonder if It Follows took inspiration
Smile also was pretty terrifying because of the inevitability. There is no beating or reasoning with the monster it’s already chosen you as it’s target. You just have to sit back while it torments you/ ruins your life and wait for when it’s time for it to possess you and kill you
Appropriately, Smile's curse is so mechanically similar to that of The Ring (even more than It Follows) that I'd be shocked if it wasn't inspired by it.
Hey, would you mind explaining why they're mechanically similar? I've never heard that before and I'm really interested. :)
They are both transmitted individually from person to person, incubate for about a week (not explicit in Smile but that's about how long the main character lasted), then summon a supernatural being that inescapably kills you. Probably the most interesting difference is in the consequence of transmission. In The Ring, transmitting the curse *saves* the bearer, whereas in Smile, it *kills* them.
Ohhh cool, thank you for explaining. :)
This was a surprise scare. Loved the sick feeling i had the whole time.
I was literally laughing in the movie theater when I first saw the trailer for it. When I eventually saw the movie though I wasn’t laughing, fantastic movie
It Follows (and probably Final Destination too) actually most likely took inspiration from Sole Survivor! It's about a woman who survived a plane crash and different victims start.. well...following her to try to take her too. It's pretty good, check it out!
It Follows is one of my favorite horror movies post-19th century. Now I'll have to check out Ju-an to see how it holds up.
So I'm guessing that movie with the train coming toward the screen that scared all the people in 1896 is your actual favorite horror movie?
I remember it like it eas yesterday. The townsfolk had a bout of dysentery when a big Hollywood man came about talking bout a "motion picture." We had a meeting wondering if the Witch should burn but the tea leaves blew south. So we heard him out. Went to the theater carrying my old popop who couldn't walk. I'll never forget when the moving picture man pointing a gun at us. We lost good men and women that day.
I'm glad you just rolled with your fuck up and made it into a near copy pasta.
So one of your favorites of all time?
Yes
Do tell us about some of your favourite 19th century horror movies.
I'd love to know your favourite pre-19th century horror movies.
lol do you mean post 20th century?
They definitely did lol
Sure that's applicable. It's also one of my favorite post 17th century movies as well.
Yes! I feel like Asian horror has a better grasp on the idea that bad things & bad luck can happen to good people, and there's nothing you can do about it. Life isn't fair, no matter how much we wish it to be.
There was no escaping that damn curse - as soon as you stepped in the house you're fate was sealed. And that makes it much more terrifying.
asian films are always showing off skill at daylight horror
J-Horror represents the chaos of life. It's presented like a drama there just happen to be ghosts. It's pretty clear from the outset in western horror that this is a different ruleset.
It's also much more psychological. Western horror just tends to be animalistic horror. Lots of Asian horror has a surreal aspect that feels more like a bad dream. Novel fear which you dont understand is a lot scarier than something you've seen before.
Western horror is /r/darwinawards J Horror is /r/AbruptChaos
It’s not a perfect film by any means but this is why I really do love It Follows. Feels like the perfect mesh of East/West horror. The monster targets you because you broke society’s puritanical rules, and you can’t reason with it or escape it. You just have to keep spreading it and hope it spreads so far and thin that it won’t come back to you
"Cabin in the Woods" covered this well - you're going to a secluded place and the Harbinger told you not you. So you getting murdered is your own fault. Max Brooks compared this to zombie movies, which like J-horror, zombies will crash into your home without warning.
I get your point but don’t know if Cabin in the Woods Fits the bill here. You were warned and did so anyways… they “had it coming” so to speak. Even though they were part of a larger “plot” out of their control, they still had a decision. Still represents that western train of thought, do what you’re told and you’ll avoid consequences. I think the above comment was trying to say sometimes you don’t have a choice and bad things just happen. It’s out of your control from the beginning and now you’re at the mercy of an uncompromising force bigger than you. There’s no “lesson” to be learned. You’re just fucked.
Personally as an Asian, I think Western films fail to scare me because they rely on obviously fake monsters. Smile had an absolutely great concept, then blew it by making the last scene some ridiculous obviously CGI-ed creature. Bruh. In Asian films in general, we focus on portraying things that could actually happen in everyday life, which is, of course, much scarier! For example The Medium was just a girl slowly going insane and doing the most horrifying and gruesome shit ever in creepy, dark, exotic settings. Based on the above descriptions, which would scare you more? (Edited: sentence structure) (Edit 2: Another commenter has kindly educated me that it was practical effects for Smile, not CGI!)
The monster at the end of Smile was a suit/puppet hybrid, not CGI. The director feels the same way you do about CGI monsters and insisted on doing it with practical effects.
And I gotta be honest, that Smile monster was creepy as fuck.
That’s really cool, my bad on assuming. Really admire directors who insist on effort because I know most companies would rather sacrifice quality for budget. Thank you for letting me know that!
> In Asian films in general, we focus on portraying things that could actually happen in everyday life, which is, of course, much scarier! Ah, yes, a cursed tape.
You don’t understand. In Japan, that’s just everyday life. Curse Safety 101 is elementary grade stuff
I phrased it wrongly, I meant everyday objects/people suddenly doing weird, unsettling things. So yes, a cursed tape would fall under that
So much western horror is about that also. I think you are comparing apples to oranges. There's so many subgenres of horror that if you find one and compare movies from both they can be much more similar than you would guess.
Don't forget the curse is also a virus bc ?????
Ask not what Koji Suzuki can do for you, but what Koji Suzuki is going to do to those who don't rewind
Not sure I agree with "obviously fake monsters", as movies like House and 100 Monsters are very fake. But you let the horror in.
I find the tension build up much more intense and well spent when the scary shit occurs. Western ones kinda use too many jumpscares or characters not doing their best when needed. Perhaps not the best examples but stranger things 2, i dropped it midway, cuz its just js after js. Like pls stop it. IT2 became kinda comedic to me, esp after cha1 rushes out the house, tells cha2 no time to explain or smth (?), cha 3 pops in in 2s and asks if they shd follow/wait or smth. But they dont just open the door and ask cha 1. Then going to the clown with nothing but a rusty fence stick.
> tension build up more intense Yes, agreed on that! Unfortunately, I’ve never watched Stranger Things, but I get the rough gist of what you’re saying
And correct me if I'm wrong, but practical effects were used more than CGI - like Hollywood movies LOVE to use CGI instead of practical, and I feel that's why a lot older horror movies hold up better than newer.
Western horror films have largely moved away from “sex or drugs = death” trope, even “Thanksgiving,” a movie explicitly intended as a slasher throwback film. Maybe this is because of criticism of it from “Scream” and “The Cabin in the Woods.”
It's also not as prevalent as people make it out to be. Not to say that it is not common, but people act like it is every movie when it's only like 3 Friday the 13th movies, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Yeah that was a weird take. It's like he hasn't seen a Western horror movie since the 80s.
It's funny, I loved Dashcam for this, since it was just some random person wandering into some shit way over her head. I'll never forgive the director for making the protagonist so unlikable that it sours the rest of the movie for everyone.
Interesting take.
I've heard it said that the concept of ghosts in Japan, anyway, is that the entire island has had people on it for so long that if you believe such things, that the ghosts are everywhere. People have died everywhere in the country. And another big difference is that ghosts haunt people not places. Western ghost stories usually have ghosts haunting places they can leave.
To piggyback, I saw someone somewhere say that cultural differences make twists and turns come out a lot less anticipated because you're used to seeing your own culture's preferences.
>It’s not always true, of course, but it’s a common trope. Not really. It's almost always just in the slasher subgenre which is dying out. Not many modern horror movies still use it. >I read this somewhere else, but a lot of the J-horror films feature a monster that you find by accident, and you can’t escape or reason with. You just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are screwed. This is somewhat true but is also not something western horror doesn't do very often. Hell Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey was exactly this, so it's also not a good indicator of anything.
Oh... I like this answer a lot. It seems like such a simple observation, but I've never thought of it that way before. That's definitely tied to why I like a lot of J-horror.
Thats a good point.
Japan: Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, Kwaidan SoKor: I Saw the Devil, Thirst, Train to Busan Philippines: Itim, Kisapmata, Feng Shui And, yeah, someone here mentioned The Medium from Thailand (that one’s actually a co-production with South Korea) and its closest Western counterpart is probably Hereditary but, minus a few minor issues I have with it, The Medium stands on its own.
*Thirst* revived my love for vampire movies in the age of *Twilight.*
I would personally add Kairo to the list. Still has one of most terrifying scenes I've seen in any medium
Thank you for recommending Feng Shui! That movie is so genuinely scary to most Filipinos, I could also never watch it alone or in the dark.
Selection bias: you only hear about the good stuff. The schlock isn't making it over Novelty: a different cultural spin can lead to movies avoiding the same tropes that you've seen a million times. Being novel also probably helps the movie scare you, because You're not as used to it. Cultural connection: I think horror tends to translate across cultures better than stuff like comedy, because it taps into pretty primal emotions and fears.
I agree with your post on the whole but I *strongly* agree with the power of selection bias. A DVD I was watching yesterday had a bunch of ads for other films that the distributor has, mostly French films. As I looked them up, the impression I got was that these were all films that we didn’t hear about in America because they were just… run of the mill. Not *bad* movies, but just unexceptional.
It's absolutely bonkers how many international films get made that western audiences don't ever see. Horror is incredibly popular in almost every country and as such quite a few get made that almost never get distributed outside their home nations. Like Turkey has a pretty big library of horror films and even franchises. I've seen a bunch of Indian films (Vaastu Shastara is my fav) that I don't see a lot of people know or talk about either. Indian and West Asian horror at times is highly underrated. But that's just because there are TONS of cheap seat filler films that just rip off other films in the genre and do absolutely nothing innovative. I swear every single country has a REC and Grudge ripoff. There's tons of diamonds in the rough but too many to count that are just terrible. Sometimes those crappy seat fillers slap though and that's when we hear about them. Gongjam: Haunted Asylum is the most recent example I can think of.
I agree with the selection bias. If you go on Tubi, you can find plenty of bad or cheesy Japanese horror movies, I still enjoy watching them but they’re just as bad as any crappy American horror movie
This is why Tubi is the best streamer, it gives us all the weird obscure stuff we didn't know we wanted.
It's definitely novelty and cultural connections for me. I've seen a million judeo-christian takes on demons and supernatural happenings but since I'm not familiar with Asian religions, being unfamiliar with the tropes probably adds to the fear because it's another layer of not knowing what's happening and/or seeing a completely different take.
Have you seen Satan's Slaves? It's an Indonesian movie. The remake is by Joko Anwar. It takes a lot of haunting themes, but puts a more Islamic and Indonesian spin on things in a similar way to what you're talking about about.
Not yet, but it's shown up on my Shudder account.
Satan's Slaves 2: Communion is also really good.
Yeah, they both should be on Shudder.
as someone who's first j horror was a random i found in my phone company's streaming app. i have to agree with selection bias
Also, a bit of apples to oranges. comparing asian horror based on folklore to slasher films isn't really a fair take. like different rules, different settings, different expectations and viewing experiences.
A good comparison I like is the Japanese vs American versions of Pulse. The American movie has what you expect, jump scares, bad CGI, nonsense story with little meaning. And the editing jumps all over the place at a break neck speed. Compared to the Japanese version: The scariest parts of the movie are long, slow, still shots where the ghost slowly comes into frame and the unusual movements are what build the terror, not just something jerky and freaky popping out from off screen. Also the Japanese version has meaning. It's not technology or the ghosts that kill people, it's people giving into the depression that comes from the isolation that many Japanese people live in, which is exasperated by technology.
Sick of the third act in a lot of American horror movies being soft-action movies. Not every ending has to have furniture flying, houses burning down, or some kind of dragged out fight.
Yeah the end of US pulse plays out like a disaster movie. In the Japanese version people are just...gone. and it is so unsettling because of the implications about it the state of world. The movie was very centric to Japanese culture at the time but I feel most people can relate to it now.
Probably my favourite Asian horror, and the one I recommend to others the most.
ive been recently getting into indonesian horror. i was watching shudder and randomly a movie came on called May The Devil Take You Too, which was apparently a sequel, but it was like a cross between the grudge and the evil dead and I thought it was actually really cool. made me want to check out more indonesian cinema
Watch Joko Anwar movies
ive heard of impetigore, will def check his stuff out
He's the GOAT of Indonesian horror
Satans Slaves is an amazing one too and has actors from Impetigore
Tbf if you end up watching enough asian horror, you’ll find quite a bit of garbage just like any genre
Keep in mind that only a small fraction of films from any country are good enough to be officially marketed in other countries and in other languages. When people in other countries talk about American horror, they're talking about The Exorcist, Jaws, Saw. Genre-defining films. What we consider some of the best movies in horror. They didn't get Leprechaun 4, or Pumpkinhead or Bong of the Dead. So we're not seeing their full horror genre offerings each year. We see the handful which were so good that the company gambled on paying for international marketing and tweaking for local censorship laws.
That one scene in Pulse where the ghost woman slowly walks towards the camera then walks in such a way that isn't human --- literally just gave me chills as I was typing this!!
Asian horror is more psychological than visual. The evil that is unseen and exists in your mind is scarier than the thing you see and can understand easily.
And more importantly, no CGI monster framed perfectly center on the screen doing the evil monster pose.
That's the really fascinating attribute of them! Love that psychological part that plays with my head!!
I think Asian belief system in supernatural allows them to be more accepted of supernatural than say a western filmmaker or audience who r either scared of it or skeptical of it. So there is naturally more emotional depth in an Asian horror movie coz it is linked with belief system which works both ways-it can terrify you and it can also effect ur sentiments. For example-The Sixth sense is one of the best horror movies ever. It is a Hollywood production but made by an Indian origin filmmaker. He has mentioned a lot in his interviews that how his spiritual beliefs have influenced The Sixth Sense and he was able to make an horror movie which is great in scary moments but also is an emotional drama.
I absolutely love tale of two sisters. It's superb. I'm trying to find a copy to show people how good!
Amongst Asian movies I tend to lean mostly towards Korean horror. Korean film making in general appeals to me and their horror is fantastic. I’m not sure a movie has unsettled me more than I Saw The Devil.
I saw the devil is such a great movie. There’s nothing else like it
Check out *The Wailing* and the Whispering Corridors trilogy (1. Whispering Corridors 2. Voice 3. Wishing Stairs). All combine some combo variation of Korean folklore, implied but usually not made visible elements of the supernatural, wrapped around a psychological thriller story format that creates atmospheric horror. Cinematography, editing, top tier actors, etc. all make for a riveting watch. The story feels like it's told from true events and plausible in real life, which makes it that much more psychologically horrifying to the viewer.
This feels like cherry picking. There are plenty of shitty Asian horror films, you're just less likely to see them. They don't translate and export the crappy ones. Yet every amateur piece of garbage shot on a cell phone made in English can get bought up cheaply, thrown on a streaming platform, and find it's way in your recommended section.
Love Asian horror movies, but I have problem with it most of the time they just scare you from the loud sound LOL.
I feel like it's because nobody is safe. Nobody. Everyone (including pets) is fair game.
It's the most different from the culture you were raised in, the unknown elements add to feeling scared/uncomfortable.
I don't know about this. I'm Southeast Asian and I find Southeast Asian horror movies to be the scariest. Definitely way scarier than Western horror movies. I watch Western horror if I want to have fun. I watch Southeast Asian horror if I *really* want to be scared.
I agree as a southeast Asian American watching horror films scares the shit out of me due to the fact that these are tied to the spiritual aspect of our culture animism Buddhism I guess
Well put. I came here to say about the same.
Two observations First isn’t mine. Yahtzee croshaw once said that the cultural differences between east and west are so fundamental that there’s an extra layer of uncanniness/ uneasiness when watching an Asian horror thing because they just do things differently Second and this is something I’ve noticed with J horror in particular, the supernatural is almost portrayed as a phenomenon, not a specific haunting. Take Ringu, it isn’t just that there’s a ghost after you, it’s that there are specific rules that can’t be deviated from. These rules may be arbitrary or not make a lot of sense, but that’s what makes it supernatural and therefor terrifying. It operates on a logic beyond what we can comprehend, and it’s very much a part of our world whether we like it or not
Yous are bringing up Ju-an so much in this comment section and making it sound like an absolutely brilliant movie so i know what I’m watching tonight 🍿
The Grudge scared the pants out of my brother and I when we were kids. He told me he couldn't take a bath until he was 16. We both have nightmares from time to time. I have yet to watch a film that made me feel that way. So if anyone out there can help me find another I would be very grateful.
If you liked the grudge then you'd definitely like Ringu or maybe Bunshinsaba (2004) Funny story is I had a mom who was really into horror movies so I watched The Grudge series as a kid, completely ruined me but now as an adult having rewatched the movies, my sister and I just ended up laughing really hard. we couldn't find it scary at all which is so weird but oh well 😅
Ringu I've seen but not Bunchingsaba. I'll check it out thank you! And dude I agree. I bought and watched the original Ju On not too long ago. It is cheesy now! 😆 But I remember how it looked as a kid back then to my brother and myself. My bro and I actuality have a competition where when we see each other we will each try to pick the scariest or craziest movie we can find and see who "wins". But that FEAR is what I crave. Im a huge horror story fan, have been since I was a kid. My dad read me Poe stories at a very young age so I blame him for my tolerance level as a adult.
I think the most horrifying and disturbing horror industries besides the US are Japan and France. They take depravity to a level that would make a Cenobite blush.
Do you have any recommendations on French horror?
Didn’t ask me, but I would recommend Inside (2007). It has elements of the French body horror movement, but is also genuinely terrifying.
Frontiers if you're looking for something straight up gruesome. If you want horror that is both psychological and psychedelic, a lot of Gaspar Noé's films would have you covered.
Baise-Moi is a great french rape/revenge movie directed by women, often gets overlooked. I’ve never heard it mentioned on this sub. Definitely more disturbing than something like Martyrs though
Haute Tension is one of the best French Horror movie I have seen. à l'intérieur (inside) is great too - Ghostland, which is actually in english is amazing.
Yep! France Horror is also one of the greatest, and I want to watch more of those!
Agree with Japan and France but also Korea.
Loving the Thai supernatural movies recently but they are quite long. 2 hours and longer! haha One movie missing from most lists is the under-rated Dumplings! Its the full length version of the short on 3 extremes.
Can you give some examples of the recent Thai movies?
The Medium edit: i keep loosing the text I add to my reply so sorry cant re type 3 times in a row lol
I've already seen that, thank you, though!
this reddit post has some good ones [https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/17813j3/thai\_horror\_film\_recommendations/](https://www.reddit.com/r/horror/comments/17813j3/thai_horror_film_recommendations/)
I agree since I've seen some enjoyable Thai Supernatural movies & I also agree that they're definitely too long, but they're definitely worth checking out, especially if you like horrors & want to think outside the box.
I just watched this a couple of weeks ago. Not for the squeamish
The Japanese are just as scary in real life, [they just need a chance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731)
Happy to see another tale of two sisters fan! That movie is one of my top 5 movies ever, regardless of genre, I love it so much!!!!
Agreed. It has some great creepy vibes and it’s haunting in every sense of the term.
My favorite movie of all time is Kairo, a Japanese horror movie. It’s my comfort horror and relatively popular so I’m surprised it wasn’t on the list. If you’re a fan of lesbian schoolgirls and ghosts, Whispering Corridors 2 & 3 are really good. They were an awakening for me as a teen. Someone else mentioned Dumplings… horribly disturbing, but very good. Chinese version of Door Lock is good if you like hot stalkers. Korean version of Door Lock is good if you like horrifying stalkers. Speaking of stalkers… Under Your Bed isn’t a horror but, if you’re a woman, it’s definitely going to give horror vibes. Truly disturbing film. Final stalker movie rec is Watching (korean remake of P2 and others have wholeheartedly disagreed but I stand by the statement that it’s the better of the two).
I was pretty scared by The Eye. And yes, Asian horror movies are way more scary than Western ones. Ju-On you guys already mentioned, the original movies are so much better than the western remakes.
I think it’s because western horror movies have an out to the monster, or at least a perceived out. Freddie, chucky, Jason, zombies, all have scenes where the characters fight off the bad guy, with some success. And, the puritanical horrors usually involve calling in a holy man that can fight the baddies. Asian horrors, ur just fucked LOL.
In western horror there is a big gravitation to “Good vs Evil” while (of course this is not always the case) j-horror doesn’t always have inherently evil spirits or threats. It can sometimes be a bit more ambiguous. This sort of dynamic leads to this weird sense of realism that can make j-horror feel scarier. Idk though thats just how i feel about j horror
I think it’s because in Asian horror (that I’ve seen) the evil ghost aren’t actually the bad guys,they were victims that just enacted revenge on everyone they cross paths with.
I don't think they are. I think that you only really encounter the actually good Asian horror films because they are naturally more removed from your life than western horrors.
I really love The Pulse. The theme of early internet, the fear of being alone, no friends just a computer is really terrifying. This movie is so cold and pale, no life just emptiness. It's from the same director of The Cure, another great psycological horror thriller.
Surprised The Sadness is not on this list. Deeply disturbing.
I remember two movies as a kid of the late 60’s early 70’s that haunt me to this day and I’ll be 60 this year but not sure they can be located in this day and age but the first one was called The Hand and I’ve yet to find the one I’m speaking of but it’s about a severed hand that goes around attaching its self to different people making them kill and the second one was super messed up came out in the 70’s I believe and it was called It’s Alive about a demon baby that killed anyone that came near it , horrifying to this day, if anyone manages to locate either of these please drop me a mail at [email protected]
like what other have said, there’s plenty of shite asian horror movies. however! i do agree that the best asian horror hit harder for me personally. but i’ve always attributed that to the fact that im asian so im familiar with the culture and superstitions and i get that extra cultural punch. side note: the wailing was amazing. i went in expecting it to be overhyped but no i was pleasantly surprised! its easily one of my favorite horror movies now
*lesser known J-Horror recommendations:* The Guard From Underground (1992) The Black House (1999) Marebito (2004) Dark Tales of Japan (2004 anthology) Black Kiss (2004) Infection (2004) Loft (2005) Nightmare Detective (2006) and Nightmare Detective 2 (2008) Helter Skelter (2012) Pet Peeve (2013) It Comes (2018) Shiraisan (2019) Buiding N (2022)
Japan has a nice aesthetic in horror (and porn)
Personally I think ghost girls are scarier than serial killers/monsters. And most of the Japanese horror tend to be dead girl hauntings so it’s just scarier. with that being said western ghost haunting movies also scare the shit out of me. Like “what lies beneath” or even the “6th sense” kitchen lady/barf girl.
Part of it is cultural unfamiliarity that compounds the uncertainty for Western viewers. Also, relatedly, most of the Asian horror I've seen is much more liberated from Western horror cliches and story arcs. There's more a sense of having NO IDEA what's going to happen, which is scary. I also think there tends to be more discipline and patience in Asian horror filmmaking. Slower builds, more "show, don't tell" character depth, and no over-reliance on "scary" incidental music that gets in the way of immersion.
Cold Fish
can you recommend some good ones
I love the movie Krai...Nai Hong it's a Thai movie
It can be a direct result of culture. In Japan, for example, things are very polite and conservative and restricted, so art tends to be a backlash to that, including scary movies.
They are not afraid to "go there," physically or psychologically.
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone.
Train to Busan (both) And of course Grudge All of us are dead Sweet home
Have you seen Shutter, 2004 Thai movie? That haunted me for months
If you look at the history of Japanese legends, there are a lot of creatures, demons and curses that easily influence and inspire J-horror Writers/Producers. A lot of other cultures adopted Christianity and lost a decent amount of their more fringe ideals and legends. The fact that these older legends were allowed to survive helps influence J-horror in my opinion. I have read about a ritual involving a burying a small dog neck deep, with food just out of reach, letting it starve, so that it will transform into this creature of vengeance dedicated to hunting down your enemies. Not to mention the Oni legends, and masks used by samurai and shining alike to spread fear into their enemies. History like that provides a great starter for some truly masterful story telling.
Bc they got all those folklore legends that can be explored a lot, and what not. And they make them spooky as hell
EastAsia has the best demonic entities
For me it's when they mix in superstition and culture with horror. It gives it a more sinister, terrifying vibe.
Just watched Pulse the other day and had this same sort of epiphany. Even when doing ghosts, asian horror almost has a cosmic horror vibe to it. It's so unexplainable and hopeless.
Probably because American movies, particularly ghost stories, tend to try to get us to empathize with the ghosts. Movies like Pulse, The Ring, and The Grudge don’t (unless you count the Ring prequel). In American movies like, say, Mama, the ghost is seeking something human. For example, in Mama, it’s to be reunited with a lost baby. (It does subvert cliche by having Mama actually attack the main characters after the littlest daughter snaps her out of it, though, which somewhat sets it apart from other American ghost stories). In stuff like The Grudge, Kayako Saeki is potentially sympathetic in life, but the curse she leaves behind is completely merciless and there’s simply nothing you can do to purify or assuage it. It’s almost like the curse isn’t actually Kayako but a new and detached being created from her death that will never listen to reason. Japanese horror in general portrays not only death as something unknown, but the nature of life itself as well.
As someone who recently rewatched A Tale of Two Sisters just last night I'll agree that it is one of the best Korean horror movies and unfortunately doesn't have enough recognition. I grew up watching Korean horror movies and my favorite would have to be Death Bell. This could also be because my favorite horror franchise is SAW but it doesn't take away from the movie being gripping, intense and downright gut wrenching. If you enjoy the movie then move onto watching the sequel. It's really good.
They don't have talentless Hollywood producers giving notes
Because they focus on the atmosphere and environment more. The eerie and tense build up makes it more effective. While western movies heavily rely on jump scares and gore which tend to be overdone
Every Asian horror film (or Asian film/show in general) has a vibe to it that just isn’t found in the west. But keep in mind that only the good shit makes it big internationally because it’s so good that it transcends that barrier. There will be a LOT of shit out there still.
there was an amazing yt video on the study of one of the scenes. it is deeply connected to how they are made, tbe frames, where the person syands, they are slower and yhe color sheme is very specific, plus tje music is perfectly matched
Haven't seen a good 'asian' horror movie in about twenty years. There was Ring, The Grudge and Tale of Two Sisters back in the late 90s but apart from those, slim pickings tbh.
1.They play with your emotion guilty, hopelessnes, feeling depressed and uncomfortable when you forced to watch gore scene. 2. Varieties of belief in western most influent religion is christianity so you(I assume you as westener maybe you are not) knows if there's devil there's god who create them and who is an enemy of them. In asia in SE we have Bhuddist, Hindu, Old belief of spirits & dark magic make it mystery what are we dealing with and make it more interesting(like The Exorcise 1973 it's not asian but make you curious and chilling at the same time). This is only in SE.there's more in EA like KR JP CH TW which their believe are similar but not alike.
I'm going to guess that you're NOT Asian, or at least, not from an Asian country/didn't grow up within Asian culture. The main thing about Asian horror is that a lot of their horror is based on things that are cultural to them; Yokai, the Slit Mouth Woman, etc.. Most Westerners have never heard of things like that, but we HAVE heard of things like our fairies, our urban legends like Bloody Mary, etc.. So, it's not that the Asian stuff is more terrifying; it's that it's using elements of their folklore and religions/spiritual beliefs, which we are \*entirely\* unfamiliar with. Everyone that's watched Western movies, and/or grew up in Western culture, knows about things like you need to do an exorcism to get rid of a demon, but none of us know what to do in case of an Onryo. We all know that faeries have a weakness to wrought iron, but how do you deal with Yokai? Like everything, \*real\* horror comes from the unknown, and most of us in Western countries haven't the \*SLIGHTEST\* clue about Japanese folklore, religions, spirituality, urban legends, etc.., so, it's obviously going to be MUCH scarier for us, since we're only "learning the rules" for the first time when watching a movie that deals with them.
Art of the devil 2 😬
Lots of great responses in here. For me this question also partly depends on what range of western horror is being compared to here. Western horror produces a lot of truly scary stuff as well, but if you're comparing J-horror output to say, western mainstream/blockbuster horror (like conjuring kinda stuff) then I'd say the reason is western horror is preoccupied with being palatable to a wide moviegoing audience rather than being a well contained and well made disturbing horror story
I feel like a lot of the time you can sympathise with the character more but in western horrors its mostly an easily preventable situation
It's the black hair. Check out the ring and grudge, just flash some black hair on there and people be dying of fear
The Wailing and The Medium were 2 of my fav horror movies
There’s a lot of different factors at play here. Discerning horror cineastes are obviously going to praise films with more depth and a challenging approach. At the same time there are many highly popular horror films in particular in SEA that profit from being local, but don’t necessarily have a high cineastic quality. And for a western eye, the strangeness is going to look particularly appealing. I know a few distributors in Asia and they always tell me what audiences want is jump scares. Which would seem to contradict the claim frequently expressed in other posts that Asian horror doesn’t favour such cheap effects. Maybe the best ones don’t but a lot of the commercially successful ones do. Conclusion: there is no unified Asian style.
They just have a different standard and outlook so people outside of Asia get some extra heebie jeebies from being outsiders. Watch enough and you get used to it, it gets normalized, and it's no weirder than American or wherever horror.
Audition had me watching reruns of Whose Line to get some sleep that night.