In the modern internet age, it seems crazy that there are still localization issues. It makes sense why Final Fantasy 6 might get released in the States as Final Fantasy 3 20 years ago, but this is 2016 now for fuck’s sake! And yet, in this modern wonder age of instant streaming and limitless data plans, we are at the whims of the region coding gods to determine whether or not we get to taste the best foreign flavors.
Thankfully, the good people over at Scream Factory are doing their part to remedy this with the release of Over Your Dead Body. On January 5th, Westerners will be able to get their hands on the Blu-ray/DVD. It’s a quick turnaround, as the film only saw its original Japanese release in August of 2014. Maybe times are changing, and we’ll someday soon be able to watch our favorite J-horror films without having to buy them off of a bootlegger at a swap meet for indefensible prices. Ahhhh, the good ol’ days.
In honor of this bold vision of a future where everyone can watch everything and the angels sing from sea to sea, I present my list of “7 Must Own Cult J-Horror Films.” Hopefully you’ll find stuff here that you haven’t heard of and begin your own cinema odyssey to the Land of the Rising Sun!
7) Onibaba (1964):
This one might be a bit of a cheat, as anything that can be picked up as part of the Criterion Collection can’t exactly be considered “cult.” Onibaba has received universal critical acclaim, and yet, almost barely anyone I know has even heard of it. I think this one deserves a spot on the list because A) it is old enough that most modern viewing audiences have missed it, and B) the movie is awesome. It’s with good reason that this is considered a classic. The dark, depressing tale of poverty, sex, desire, and revenge blurs the lines between good and evil. What is human and what is demon is fuzzy, and it’s hard to pick out a single “moral” of the film. When war ravages the land, rape and sex seem the same, and murder becomes a way of life, what does your “humanity” even mean?
6) Versus (2000):
Another one on this list that might be considered cheating, Versus has already seen success in the U.S. as a cult hit. This one is also going to fall under the rule “B” exception above: because it is really fucking awesome. The movie starts with fugitives on the run, quickly turns into zombie survival, warps into trans-lifetime good vs. evil with reincarnating samurai, and ends in the sci-fi apocalypse. It’s also a slapstick comedy, kung fu movie, and love story. I’m not sure where the one-handed cop fits in the overall description, but it’s got one of those, too. The movie doesn’t exactly make perfect “sense,” but it all comes together in an insane and badass package. If you haven’t seen it, pick up the extended Ultimate Versus immediately.
5) Uzumaki (2000):
I was first exposed to the terrifying and brilliant mind of Junji Ito with The Enigma of Amigara Fault. I could go on for a whole article listing just my favorite panels from his manga. He’s a genius on par with Geiger and Templesmith visually and matches King and Barker for creativity and terror. He is a paragon of horror, and his shocking and bizarre visions will haunt you. Uzumaki is a film based on a manga of the same name and tells the tale of a town falling victim to a terrible spiral curse. Much of Ito’s brilliance comes from his imagery so don’t bother trying to look up a synopsis. Pick up the movie, and let the surreal horror overtake you.
4) Nightmare Detective (2006):
I remember this film making the rounds around 2009-10, and it was pretty popular for a while before inexplicably completely falling off the map. For years I couldn’t even find a copy online and only finally stumbled across one during the closeout sale for Reel Video. The movie can kind of be described as Inception meets A Nightmare on Elm Street. After a series of bizarre murders, “nightmare detective” Kyoichi Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda) must reluctantly stop a murderer from killing people in their dreams. The landscape of the dreams is creative and dark, an uncanny reflection of the subconscious. It’s a unique take on an established concept and deserves a spot on anyone’s psychological horror watchlist.
3) Marebito (2004):
After watching Marebito the first time, don’t be surprised if you’re left with a look of confusion and muttering “whaaaaat?” If you don’t know that this is one of those experimental films going into it, you’re going to assume that you’re watching a bad VHS bootleg re-cut. It isn’t Jodorowsky level of completely insane, but be ready to open your mind to a lot of obscure concepts very quickly. After filming a homeless man killing himself by shoving a knife in his eye, cameraman Masuoka becomes obsessed with figuring out what terrified him enough to commit such a gruesome act. This leads him to the nightmarish underworld of Tokyo, where white humanoid creatures walk on all fours and the ghost of Kuroki teaches him about hollow earth theory. Kuroki is also the man who killed himself at the beginning and seems more annoyed than anything when informed of this. He eventually finds the vast Mountains of Madness and in the ruins of an ancient village a girl chained in a cave. She won’t speak or eat, and strange shit starts to go down. This movie is out there and should frequently be taken more as metaphor than an actual chronicle of events. It’s weird but will certainly last you well past the first viewing.
2) Occult (2009):
Koji Shiraishi is a fascination of mine. I stumbled upon his works during the found footage craze that followed Paranormal Activity, but his works are far different than the imitations and cash-ins of the West. The style is more “documentary in the making” than “a few nights in a haunted house,” reminiscent of the French classic Man Bite’s Dog. Occult focuses on the interaction between documentary filmmaker Koji Shiraishi (a character in the film, not the real director) and Shohei Eno, a man who miraculously survived a mass killing three years prior. Eno is homeless but seemingly blessed with small supernatural happenings. The purpose of these events is initially unclear, but they are unlikely caused by the “angels” that Eno claims. Shiraishi is a master of the style and has camcorder filming down to an art. The film stumbles in its final minutes, but the twists and turns it takes to get there surpass almost any Western found footage film.
1) The Curse (2005):
Another Koji Shiraishi film, this movie sits in my personal top 10. Along with being one of the best found footage movies to date, it’s a sublime supernatural thriller. Slow and suspenseful, the robust cast and runtime might scare more casual viewers off. The film is devoid of jump scares, choosing instead to build tension with subtle haunting imagery and a building sense of dread. Things reveal themselves in due time, and the conclusion feels heavy and powerful without requiring a ton of flashing lights and booming effects. It is by no means a boring film. It defies boundaries, showing us that found footage can be smart.
Over Your Dead Body (2014):
Discerning fans of J-horror will have noticed by now that I have yet to list a work by Takashi Miike. My reason for doing this is simple: Miike could easily dominate this list. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the genre, the man is a legend. Horror fans the world over are familiar with his films Audition and Ichi the Killer, raising the level of extreme violence in cinema. His artistic breadth is as diverse as Kubrick, and the volume of his library of work is staggering. He is one of the most talented, prolific, and interesting directors in the world.
With Over Your Dead Body, Miike again delivers for fans of his iconic violent horror. Combining visceral bloodshed with a supernatural surrealism, he delivers a unique blend of body and mind that reflects the breadth of his talent. Check out the trailer below and our review, and see if you’re as excited as I am to show this off at nerd parties.
So, what do you think of my list? Did I miss your favorite cult J-horror film? Let me know below!