Horror From The East...
Few events have influenced modern horror films more than the Asian horror boom of the late 1990's and the early 2000's. Here are some fan favorites -as well as some lesser known titles- from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore. As an added bonus, some older classics will also be added from time to time...
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- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsNanako MatsushimaMiki NakataniYûko TakeuchiA reporter and her ex-husband investigate a cursed video tape that is rumored to kill the viewer seven days after watching it.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsHaruhiko KatôKumiko AsôKoyukiTwo groups of people discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet.
- DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsMegumi OkinaMisaki ItôMisa UeharaA mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.
- DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsNoriko SakaiChiharu NiiyamaKei HorieAs their curse spreads on, the ghosts find their chance to live once again through the pregnancy of a cursed woman.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsHitomi KurokiRio KannoMirei OguchiA mother and her 6-year-old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.
- DirectorNorio TsurutaStarsHiroshi MikamiNoriko SakaiMaki HorikitaA newspaper predicts the deaths of a man's (Hiroshi Mikami) family members and friends.
- DirectorYoshihiro NakamuraStarsMaiko AsanoMakoto AshikawaMansaku IkeuchiShogo (Ryuta Sato), the arrogant and condescending star of a popular call-in radio-show must temporarily broadcast out of Studio 6, a creepy and dilapidated booth abandoned since its last DJ committed suicide several years ago. Suddenly, Shogo begins receiving disturbing calls, the voice on the line whispers "Liar" over and over. Is the joke on him, has someone discovered the truth about his sinister past, or has the curse of Studio 6 been unleashed again? In this Booth, all sins will be atoned for.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsRyûhei MatsudaHitomiMasanobu AndôThree people in Tokyo take a surreal voyage of self-discovery through memory and nightmares. "O" intends suicide while talking on a cell-phone with a stranger he meets on line who plans a simultaneous suicide. Events take a horrifying turn. Keiko Kirishima is a cool, seemingly emotionless police detective, brilliant but off-putting. She's faced with two mutilated corpses who appear to have killed themselves, but she's not sure. A cell-phone number links the deaths. She calls on Akumu Tantei, a poor and suicidal young man who has the ability to enter people's dreams. He's reluctant to help. His past haunts him. A subconscious duel of terror and blood awaits the three.
- DirectorOxide Chun PangStarsRace WongRosanne WongAnson LeungJiney, an artist, witnesses a car crash. She photographs the victim, becoming obsessed with death. She receives a snuff video. Her friend Jas realizes it's real. Jiney gets another disturbing tape, leaving her terrified.
- DirectorDae-wung LimStarsLee Dong-kyuSeong-won JangSeol-ah YuBuried grudges have disasterous consequences for a class reunion in this unapologetically bloody film from Korean director Dae-wung Lim.
- DirectorSong Il-gonStarsKam Woo-seongJung SuhKang Kyung-hunA recently widowed TV producer is drawn to an isolated cabin in a mysterious woods.
- DirectorByeong-ki AhnStarsHa Ji-WonKim Yu-miWoo-jae ChoiInvestigative reporter Ji-won begins to receive a series of menacing calls. To escape the terrifying and relentless clanging of the telephone, she changes her number and moves out. But the threatening campaign of terror continues unabated.
- DirectorFruit ChanPark Chan-wookTakashi MiikeStarsBai LingLee Byung-hunKyoko HasegawaAn Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors.
- DirectorDanny PangOxide Chun PangStarsAngelica LeeChutcha RujinanonLawrence ChouA blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she will be able to see again. She gets more than she bargained for upon realizing she can also see ghosts.
- DirectorKi-hyeong ParkStarsShim Hye-jinKim Jin-geunOh-bin MunAfter unsuccessfully trying to have a baby of their own, Dr. Kim Do-il and his father convince his wife Choi Mi-sook to adopt a child in an orphanage. Mi-sook is connected to arts and chooses the six years Kim Jin-sung that loves to draw trees. The boy becomes close to the eight years old next door neighbor Min-jee and is attracted to an old Acacia tree in their lawn. When Mi-sook unexpectedly gets pregnant, her mother asks her to return Jin-sung to the orphanage, beginning the rejection process of the boy. When the baby is born, Mi-sook does not treat Jin-sung well, who believes the acacia tree is his mother, and in a rainy night he vanishes. Along the next days, the family becomes insane, disclosing a dark secret about Jin-sung.
- DirectorKelvin TongStarsAlessandra De RossiHuifang HongBenny Soh"Every year, for thirty days during the lunar seventh month, the Chinese believe that the gates of hell are thrown open. Vengeful spirits or hungry ghosts wander among the living, seeking revenge and justice before the gates of hell are closed again for another year." The eighteen years old Rosa Dimaano arrives in Singapore from Philippines to give support to her family working as a maid in the house of the artists of a Chinese opera troupe Mr. and Mrs. Teo on the first day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. She is welcomed by the family and introduced to their friends and their retarded son Ah-Soon. Later, Mrs. Teo advises her about their beliefs and how the dead should be respected and honored along the seventh month. However, Rosa sweeps their offer on the sidewalk breaking a basic rule and offending the spirits, and she is haunted by ghosts everywhere. When Ah-Soon calls her Esther Santos and she finds some belongings of the unknown Esther in the house, she discloses a dark and scary secret about the past of her masters.
- DirectorLee Woo-cheolStarsSung Hyun-ahDa-an ParkJeong Ho-binA cellist is haunted by strange events after a car wreck
- DirectorKôji ShiraishiStarsEriko SatôHaruhiko KatôChiharu KawaiA suburban town in Japan is the victim of what is supposedly just an urban legend, a woman's spirit with a horribly disfigured face who is intent on kidnapping children for unknown reasons.
- DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsShin'ya TsukamotoTomomi MiyashitaKazuhiro NakaharaA fear-obsessed freelance cameraman (Shinya Tsukamoto) investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.
- DirectorSang-gon YooStarsSong Yun-ahShin Hyeon-junKim Seung-wookLee Hyun-min, who works reconstructing faces from their skull, quits his work in a institute to stay with his Beta-allergic daughter Jin that was submitted to a transplant of heart by the specialist Dr. Yoon. The newcomer researcher to the institute Jung Sun-young comes to his house bringing the skull of a victim of a serial-killer that had her whole body melted down with acid by the murderer. Hyun-min refuses the assignment, but he is haunted by the ghost of the victim and scared he decides to reconstruct the face of the woman. When Jin has trouble with the transplanted heart, Hyun-min requests the donor case history to Dr. Yoon, but the doctor refuses to give the information, claiming confidentiality issue. Dr. Yoon becomes the prime suspect of Detective Suh, who is in charge of the investigation of the murder cases, and he discloses the identity of the victim based on the reconstructed face. Meanwhile Hyun-min has a premonition and finds another skull buried a long time ago below the sand in a field. He reconstructs the face, unraveling a supernatural secret.
- DirectorTae-kyeong KimStarsKim Ha-neulNam Sang-miJeon Hye-binA teenage girl suffering from amnesia discovers that she is somehow connected to a group of people who are being killed off one by one by a vengeful ghost.
- DirectorChao-Bin SuStarsChang ChenYôsuke EguchiKarena Kar-Yan LamIn Taipei, the crippled scientist Hashimoto uses his invention of "Menger Sponge" to capture the energy of the spirit of a child in an old building. He invites the specialist in reading lips, Detective Tung, to join his research team that is studying the phenomenon to understand the movements of the lips of the ghost. Hashimoto is trying to disclose why the energy of the ghost does not dissipate, and Tung discovers the identity and the dramatic story of the boy. He was sick with tumors and was killed by his own mother and buried nearby a nuclear plant. Hashimoto deduces that the rage of the boy for his mother associated to the location where the body was buried were the reason to keep the energy. When the government decides to shutdown the research, Hashimoto becomes insane and takes the spirit with him.
- DirectorJae-yeon YunStarsSong Ji-hyoPark Han-byeolJo AnA staircase leading to the dormitory of a remote boarding school usually has 28 stairs, but every so often there appears to be 29. When someone steps on the mysterious extra stair, the horror begins.
- DirectorKi-hyeong ParkStarsKim Gyu-riYun Ji-hyePark Jin-heeIn a Korean school, students are regularly beaten and mistreated by their teachers. However, the spirit of one pupil, who died ten years ago, periodically returns in the guise of a new girl, thus able to gain a revenge on the culprits.
- DirectorPaul SpurrierStarsSuangporn JaturaphutOpalDor YodrakWhilst growing up in rural Thailand, a young orphan girl is taught the ways of magic by her grandmother. But when grandmother falls sick, Dau is lured to Bangkok to find work so that she can buy medicine. She finds herself working in a go-go bar, and her journey from naiveté to maturity is swift. She uses the magical skills her grandmother taught her to her advantage, but in doing so makes enemies within the bar. As her magic gets darker, and the consequences increasingly horrific, she gradually loses control, and something evil takes over.
- DirectorTanit JitnukulStarsArisa WillsSupakson ChaimongkolKrongthong RachatawanBoom, pregnant from an affair, is told by her lover to leave him and his family alone. Enraged, she goes to a witch doctor and has him use black magic against her ex-lover and his family. They all die in suspicious manners. Just when Boom thinks everything is over, a woman claiming to be her lover's secret mistress claims his inheritance and moves in to his house with her 4 children. Not long after that, unexplainable things happen to the family and, one by one, they begin to die.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsRyûhei MatsudaYui MiuraHanae KanStill haunted by his unwanted abilities, which allow him to enter other people's dreams, and memories of his mother dying when he was a child, Kyoichi Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda) contemplates suicide while slowly drowning in his world of misery. Yukie Mashiro (Yui Miura), having heard rumors about Kagenuma's extraordinary abilities, visits his home to beg for his help. She tells him she suffers from nightly nightmares that are getting scarier. The murderous ghost in the dreams has already killed two of her friends. She's afraid she's the next to die and believes only Kagenuma can save her. Kagenuma ignores her pleas for help, but Yukie, refusing to give up, returns every day to change his mind. Kagenuma finally decides to take on Yukie's case to understand the circumstances of his mother's death. It, however, demands from Kagenuma more than he expected to give while it leads him into the darkest corners of dream scape.
- DirectorYûichi SatôStarsTetsuji TamayamaAsami MizukawaMitsuyoshi ShinodaTwo people kidnap a girl, hoping for a ransom.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsSong Kang-hoKim Ok-binChoi Hee-jinThrough a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsTadanobu AsanoNao ÔmoriShin'ya TsukamotoAs sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanKim Jee-woonNonzee NimibutrStarsLeon LaiKim Hye-suJeong Bo-seokAn anthology consisting of three horror shorts from different Asian directors: Memories by Kim Jee-woon, The Wheel by Nonzee Nimibutr, and Going Home by Peter Chan.
- DirectorJôji IidaStarsYôsuke EguchiMiwako IchikawaTakashi KashiwabaraA pair of hard-boiled Tokyo cops are investigating a gruesome murder: after killing the victim, the murderer cut his skull open and cooked his brain in a stew. As they try to track down the killer, they discover that, quite literally, everybody is a suspect. Will they bring the terror to an end, or will they become part of it themselves?
- DirectorYoshihiro NishimuraStarsEihi ShiinaItsuji ItaoYukihide BennyIn future Tokyo, a young woman in the privatized police force tracks down her father's killer while battling against mutant rebels known as engineers.
- DirectorNorio TsurutaStarsYukie NakamaSeiichi TanabeKumiko AsôIn this prequel to Ring, a young Sadako becomes an actress in hopes of escaping her troubled past. But strange visions and terrifying powers begin to manifest...
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsLim Soo-jungYum Jung-ahKim Kap-suAfter being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.
- DirectorYûdai YamaguchiJun'ichi YamamotoStarsIssei TakahashiAoba KawaiKenichi KawasakiFull-throttle splatter-ific Japanese cyberpunk science fiction/horror at its most aggressive, this mind-blower about alien parasites that turn their human hosts into slave "Necroborgs" will leave you dizzy and drained - in a good way.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsHidetoshi NishijimaYûko TakeuchiToru BabaTakakura is a former detective. He receives a request from his ex-colleague, Nogami, to examine a missing family case that occurred six years earlier. Takakura follows Saki's memory. She is the only surviving family member from the case. Meanwhile, Takakura and his wife Yasuko recently moved into a new home. Their neighbor, Nishino, has a sick wife and a young teen daughter. One day, the daughter, Mio, tells him that the man is not her father and she doesn't know him at all.
- DirectorJuno MakStarsSiu-Ho ChinKara WaiHee Ching PawA public housing tenement is plunged into a dark storm of supernatural chaos.
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsKichiemon NakamuraNobuko OtowaKei SatôTwo women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- DirectorHiguchinskyStarsEriko HatsuneFhi FanHinako SaekiThe inhabitants of a small Japanese town become increasingly obsessed with and tormented by spirals.
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsGong YooJung Yu-miMa Dong-seokWhile a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.