Top 10 Japanese Horror Movies

Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (Dark Water) - 2002 - Hideo Nakata – When a divorced woman moves into a run-down apartment, strange things stat happening. Water begins leaking everywhere and she can’t get it to stop. Then things go from bad to worse when a ghost of a young child shows up.

Koroshiya Ichi (Ichi the Killer) 2001 – Takashi Miike - More of a serial killer movie than supernatural horror, the story revolves around a missing Yakuza boss and a lot of money. His gang starts looking for him and is not very nice about questioning people. Leading the bloody charge is the psychopathic Ichi.

Kwaidan (1964) - Masaki Kobayashi – An older Japanese movie from the 60’s, it is still a classic. It contains four ghost stories all depicting traditional Japanese folklore. White filmed in black and white, the movie has a beautiful, fairytale-like setting.

Jisatsu sâkuru (Suicide Club) 2001 - Sion Sono – When 54 teenage girls commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, it starts a wave of suicides all over Tokyo. But there is more to it than just a death fetish. Police investigators, with the help of a computer hacker, try to make a connection between the mysterious incidents.

Ôdishon (Audition) - (1999) - Takashi Miike – This film is a lesson for all men to always be careful of women. When a widower complains of being lonely, his best fiend sets up auditions for a fake movie so the widower can find a new bride. The problem is the woman he chooses turns out to be less than stable.

Ringu (1988) - Hideo Nakata – Also known as Ring, this is the movie that can be credited with bringing international attention to Japanese horror. In the movie a strange videotape kills anybody who watches it. When a young woman sees it, she has a week to figure out how to stop the chain of events.

Kairo (Pulse) 2001 – Kiyoshi Kurosawa - This is what happens when you use the Internet too much. Ghosts begin invading our world through the technology of computers and the web. People start disappearing and two survivors must flee Tokyo.

Ju-on (The Grudge) 2002 - Takashi Shimizu – Another movie that gained international notoriety, it featured a house infested with ghosts. The theme of the movie was a curse that keeps repeating itself and building with each new victim. Featured a creepy ghost kid who screamed like a cat.

Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) 2003 - Takashi Miike – This film is definitely an excuse not to answer your cell phone. When young girls start receiving phone calls from themselves three days in the future, it is a sign of terrible events to come. One girl who hears the message has to figure out where the calls are coming from.

Uzumaki (Spiral) (2000) – Higuchinsky - Yhis is one of the strangest, most surreal horror movies ever created. A town becomes obsessed with spiraling, twirling patterns. Slowly, some of the residents start turning into snail people.