Japan movies giving the world the creeps

[KiwiCoromandel]

Japan movies giving the world the creeps

25.03.05 1.00pm

TOKYO - Whether they come crawling out of television screens or slither malevolently from gloomy bedroom closets, Japanese ghosts are emerging to haunt movie audiences around the world.

The Japanese-directed horror film "The Ring Two" grabbed the top spot at US movie theaters last weekend, following a pattern set by "The Ring," and "The Grudge," two remakes of Japanese horror films that have racked up spooky successes at the box office.

"Dark Water," yet another Japanese horror remake, is set for release later in the year.

Takashige Ichise, producer of several of the eerie films that started a horror boom in Japan in the late 1990s and have translated into big bucks at the international box office, is confident of the reason for their appeal.

"Japanese horror is scarier than American horror," he said in an interview. "Japanese films show ghosts coming into people’s everyday lives. When the audience goes home, in the elevator, in the bath, wherever they are, they will still feel afraid," he added. "That eerie feeling lasts."

Joe Drake, President of Mandate Pictures and executive producer on "The Grudge," sees the Japanese style as an attractive novelty.

Read more............

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1...jectID=10117102

[Wolfie]

Sounds cool. I'll probably check out the original first though.