An Exploration of Japanese Horror
A deep dive look into Japanese horror film
The inspiration for this syllabus is the Japanese Horror iceberg created by Reddit user blondeboyzzz, in this spread. The original poster also created a letterboxd list of all the fims available here. The iceberg begins with the classics, and ends with much more obscure content.
Each unit represents a tier on the iceberg; as we discuss, compare, and analyze the content provided. Disclaimer: I will be jumping between tiers slightly based on what is available at my local video store, online, or on ThriftBooks. As we get deeper into the iceberg I may need to subscribe to streaming services, but for now I hope to support Video Universe rather than Bezos or pirating. Discussions will appear to you in the form of essays, lists, podcasts with my partner, and however else I feel is the best way to display my thoughts on this platform. I’m still deciding where I want my paywall to be on this content, but once I have a grasp on my own posting ability I will let you know.
Please comment your thoughts on the films and books along with me. Either comment on the bottom of the corresponding post, or tag me in your thoughts on Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter. Try not to spoil films from the next tiers for me! Wait until the post is made to comment thoughts.
Unit One: Introduction to Japanese Horror
Films: Ring (1995), Perfect Blue (1997), Godzilla (1954), Audition (1999), and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)
Books: Ring by Koji Suzuki and Audition by Ryu Murakami, Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis by Yoshikazu Takeuchi
Discussions: Kaiju and Post-War Japan, unsettling mundanity, intro to extreme, book to screen adaptations, and horror anime.
Unit Two: Humble Beginnings and Fan Favorites
Films: Hausu (1977), Dark Water (2002), Kwaidan (1964), Kuroneko (1968), Noroi: The Curse (2005), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Pulse (2001), Suicide Club (2001), Onibaba (1964), Ichi the Killer (2001)
Books: Dark Water by Koji Suzuki, Jisatsu Saakuru: Kanzenban by Sion Sono
Manga: Ichi the Killer by Hideo Yamamoto
Discussions: Japanese ghost stories, low budget body horror, pseudo-documentary, jidaijeki, and early 2000s anxiety towards the growing internet.
Unit Three: Mini-Classics and Cult Favorites
Films: Midori (1992), Confessions (2010), Cold Fish (2011), Gozu (2003), Kotoko (2011), A Page of Madness (1926), Tokyo Gore Police (2008), Strange Circus (2005), Angel Dust (1994), Retribution (2006), Ju-On 2 (2001), Devil’s Experiment (1985), Sweet Home (1989), Gemini (1999), Noriko’s Dinner Table (2005), Visitor Q (2001), Imprint (2006), Ju-On: The Curse (2000), Uzumaki (2000), Blind Beast (1969), Evil Dead Trap (1988), Exte: Hair Extensions (2007), Tag (2015), Flowers of Flesh and Blood (1985), Helter Skelter (2012), Lesson of Evil (2012), Horrors of Malformed Men (1969), Haze (2005), Machine Girl (2008), Mermaid in a Manhole (1988), Jigoku (1960), As the Gods Will (2014), School of the Holy Beast (1974), Matango (1963), Ringu 2 (1999), Ring 0 (2000), Seance (2000), Marebito (2004), Demons (1971), One Missed Call (2003), One Cut of the Dead (2017), Belladonna of Sadness (1973), Violated Angels (1967), Pinnochio 964 (1991), and Rubber’s Lover (1996).
Books: Confessions by Kanae Minato, Moju and Strange Tale of Panorama Island by Rampo Edogawa, Spiral, Lemon Heart, and Birthday by Koji Suzuki, Horror to the Extreme by Jinhee Choi, Riaru Onigokko by Yusuke Yamada, Aku no Kyōten by Yusuke Kishi, The Voice in the Night by William Hope Hodgson, Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Mark McShane, Chakushin Ari by Yasushi Akimoto, Satanism and Witchcraft by Jules Michelet.
Manga: Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show by Suehiro Maruo, Uzumaki by Junji Ito, Helter Skelter by Kyoko Okazaki, Lesson of the Evil by Yusuke Kishi, As the Gods Will by Muneyuki Kaneshiro, Hino Horror and Panorama of Hell by Hideshi Hino
Video Game: Sweet Home
Discussions: Subgenre of Ero Guro, Sion Sono, Noboru Iguchi, Takashi Miike, Shinkankakuha avant-garde group, the Guinea Pig films, pink films, pinky violence, nunsploitation, the controversy of Midori, and V-Cinema in Japan, survival horror games, Toho Studios, Shock/Gore.
Unit Four: Entering Obscurity
Films: Grotesque (2009), Freeze Me (2000), Infection (2004), Day of Destruction (2020), The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959), Orozco: The Embalmer (2001), The Vampire Doll (1970), 2Idk (2003), Premonition (2004), School in the Crosshairs (1981), A Record of Sweet Murder (2014), Nightmare Detective (2006), Hiruko the Goblin (1991), It Comes (2018), A Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007), Splatter: Naked Blood (1996), Over Your Dead Body (2014), Hanging Garden (2005), Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975), Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters (1968), The Living Skeleton (1968), Loft (2005), Monster’s Club (2011), Meatball Machine (2005), Reincarnation (2005), Miss Zombie (2013), Liverleaf (2018), Rampo Noir (2005), Death Powder (1986), and Talking Head (1992).
Books: Edogawa Rampo stories, Taku Mayumura books, Bogiwan Ga, Kuru by Ichi Sawamura
Manga: Misumisou by Rensuke Oshikiri, Yōkai Hunter by Daijiro Morohoshi
Discussions: Kabuki plays, Mondo Film, J-Horror Theater, Kuchisake-onna, the first Cyberpunk/body horror, cosmic horror realism, Tokusatsu horror, Shochiku Studio, Tetsuo’s influence, Sabu, and surreal meta-film of Mamoru Oshii.
Unit Four 1/2: Obscurity Continues
Films: Organ (1996), Greatful Dead (2013), Evil Dead Trap 2 (1992), Biotherapy (1986), Ju-On: The Curse 2 (2000), The Complex (2013), Malice@doll (2001), Guzoo (1986), Biolocation (2013), The Demon (1978), Tomie: Unlimited (2011), Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead (2011), Inferno of Torture (1969), Petshop of Horrors (1999), Hellevator (2005), Goth (2008), The Snake-Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (1968), Tomie: Forbidden Fruit (2002), All Night Long (1992), Virus (1980), Black Cat Mansion (1958), Dark Tales of Japan (2005), Cult (2013), Spiral (1998), Long Dream (2000), Red Room (1999), Howling Village (2019), and Shogun’s Joy of Torture.
Manga: Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino, Junji Ito short stories,
Books: Goth by Otsuichi, Kazuo Umeza stories, Virus by Sakyo Komatsu
Discussions: Computer-generated experimental OVA, Kinji Fukasaku, “ghost cat” films, and Takashi Shimizu.
Unit Five: Forgotten Realm
Films: Kirei? (2004), Inugami (2001), A Drowning Man (2001), The Suicide Manual (2003), Boy From Hell (2004), Marronnier (2004), Evil Death Trap 3 (1993), The Booth (2005), Shikoku (1999), The Sylvian Experiments (2010), Zoo (2005), Being Natural (2018), Shady (2012), Kichiku: Banquet of Beasts (1998), Man Woman and the Wall (2006), Lizard Baby (2005), Embalming (1999), St John Wort (2001), Crazy Lips (2000), Love Ghost (2000), The Last Supper (2005), Dead Girl Walking (2004), All Night Long 2 (1995), EGG (2005)
Books: The Complete Manual of Suicide by Wataru Tsurumi, Zoo by Otsuichi, The Last Supper by Kei Ohishi
Manga: Hideshi Hino stories
Visual Novel: Otogirisō by Koichi Nakamura
Discussions: Eiga Wiki editing, and criminal code censors.
Unit Six: Lost to the West
Films: Mermaid Legend (1984), Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy (2021), The Cinderella Addiction (2021), The Discarnates (1988), Dancing Mary (2019), Fatal Frame (2014), Haunted School (1995), A Garden Without Bird (1992), Lovely Devils (1982), The Ingami Family (1976), Kasane - Beauty and Fate (2018), Demon Pond (2005), Under Your Bed (2019), Teke Teke (2009), Don’t Look Up (1996), Shogun’s Sadism (1976), The Iron Crown (1972), Occult (2009), The Snow Woman (1968), Dogra Magra (1988), Psychic Vision: Jaganrei, Shrill Cries of Summer (2008)
Video Games: Fatal Frame series
Manga: Kasane by Daruma Matsuura
Books: The Inugami Clan by Kosuke Kindaichi, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn.
Discussions: Nobuhiko Obayashi, J-Horror by David Kalat, Kyōka Izumi plays, Kei Ohishi, Mari Asato, Teke Teke, early Hideo Nakata, splatter film, and mockumentary.
Unit Seven: Into the Depths
Films: Alone in the Night (1994), Cruel Ghost Legend (1968), A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975), The Lakeside Murder Case (2004), Difficulty Breaking (2017), The War of the 16 Year Olds (1973), Haunted Castle (1969), Curse of the Dog God (1977), The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen (1938), Tsuburo (2004), Lullaby to Kill (1977), Writhing Tongue (1980), The Inferno (1979), Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit (1968), Nuns that Bite (1977), Perfect Blue (2002), Murder on D Street (1998)
Books: Lakeside by Keigo Higashino
Discussions: Jidaigeki, Tokuzō Tanaka, Gendai-geki, Kaibyo, trauma, Tatsumi Kumashiro, and live action vs. anime.
Unit Eight: Unofficial Subtitles Only
Terror in the Streets (1970), Orochi (1925), White Panic (2005), The Fang in the Hole (1979), A Mummy’s Love (1973), Island of Evil Spirits (1981), The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1992), Scream from Nowhere (1977), Death Forest: Forbidden Forest (2014), Reibyo Densetsu (1983), Blue Lake Girl (1986), Saya: Perspective in Love (1986), Labyrinth Romanesque (1988), Ura Horror (2008), Youba (1976), Door (1988), Lullaby of Death (1985), Queen Bee (1978), Kappa (1994)
Game: Death Forest
Book: Queen Bee by Seishi Yokomizo
Discussions: Michio Yamamoto, Seijun Suzuki, Masahiro Shinoda, HP Lovecraft influence, Nobuhiko Obayashi, Akio Jissôji, and Yôhei Fukuda.
Unit Nine: Are These Films Even Real?
Lady Plastic (2001), Nerawareta Gakuen (2012), Maneater (1999), Lovefoolery Case of a Severed Head (1967), Woman Transformation (2007), Legend of Homo-Aquerellius (1996), The Hiding (2008), Cursed Village in Yudono Mountains (1984), Peeping Tom (2008), The Viper’s Hex (2018), Agi The Fury of Evil (1984), Bugs (1997), Masseur’s Curse (1970), Heaven and Hell (1999), Miporin (2019), The Hanging Balloons (2000)
Books: Nerawareta Gakuen by Taku Mayumura
Manga: Nerawareta Gakuen by Taku Mayumura
Discussion: are these even worthy of watching?
Thank you for reading!
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