Happy Halloween!
I do LOVE a good horror flick, and the best time to watch them is Halloween! So if like me you want to kick back on All Hallows' Eve with some good horrors, then here is some recommendations.
10)The Doll Master (2004/South Korea)The Doll Master... The scariest doll since Chucky!
The story follows a group of students who are invited to a museum in the middle of nowhere for a private doll gallery and the promise of dolls to be made in their image. You guessed it. The dolls start killing people!
Brought to life by a vengeful spirit the doll starts killing off the guests one by one, as they try to figure out what is going on and how to stop it!
There is a lot more to this film with clever twists and turns! All is not as simple as it seems. And if you wait patiently through the slow burning story you are in for a treat. Great story and ending. Well worth the wait.
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9)R-Point (2004/South Korea)R-Point stands out from a lot of other Asian horrors because of the fact it's a horror/war film.
Set during the Vietnam War. After a platoon of South Koreans go missing in Romeo Point, Lieutenant Choi takes a platoon to search for them. Upon arriving on the island and finding a grave site and abandoned building, they discover that one of the men in their platoon is actually one of the missing men they are trying to find... Brilliant! The film is full of shocking twists like this which make it more of a psychological and atmospheric horror!
Now queue all the soldiers distrust for each other and we end up with a classic Asian horror!
8)Noroi (2005/Japan)Japan does "found footage" horror. And does it very, very well!
The film is 2 hours long, slow paced and can take a while for you to really get where it's going. But if you have the patience to sit through it then you will be rewarded!
Noroi is filmed as a documentary and it really feels like you are watching a real documentary at times. A very creepy documentary with some subtle yet terrifying images that will be stuck in your head.
The story is pasted together with found footage, documentary, home video and video clips from TV game shows. This keeps it fresh and interesting and helps it flow better and takes away limitations you would have from other found footage films.
This is one to watch without knowing too much about, so i'll leave it at that. Check it out especially if you are a fan of handheld films, or were before the over saturation.
7)One Missed Call (2003/Japan)
The first film on the list to be directed by Takasahi Miike! And the first film on the list to have an American remake. Avoid the remake and stick to the original!
Part Horror, part Mystery. People are recieving missed phone calls from an unknown number, the voice mail is oddly made from two days in the future... And is from yourself screaming in terror and agony. Two days later... you die!
Of course the message then gets passed on to your contact list so all your friends are next! It takes one girl and guy to team up to investigate where these phone calls are coming from and try and stop it, while they race against time before they recieve the call!
Sounds like a typical J-Horror, nothing too original here, but very fun and scary! Also has a really creepy ring tone that I used for a while on my own phone. Eeek!
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Part Horror, part Mystery. People are recieving missed phone calls from an unknown number, the voice mail is oddly made from two days in the future... And is from yourself screaming in terror and agony. Two days later... you die!
Of course the message then gets passed on to your contact list so all your friends are next! It takes one girl and guy to team up to investigate where these phone calls are coming from and try and stop it, while they race against time before they recieve the call!
Sounds like a typical J-Horror, nothing too original here, but very fun and scary! Also has a really creepy ring tone that I used for a while on my own phone. Eeek!
3 short stories told by 3 brilliant directors from across Asia! These are very versatile and intriguing horror films which go from weird, to weirder to weirdest.
Dumplings directed by Fruit Chan is a slow burning, sick and twisted film. Not scary but disturbing.
Cut directed by Park Chan-Wook is a confusing and sophisticated torture flick. Very well made!
The Box directed by Takashi Miike is the scariest out of the bunch. Weird imagery and dream sequences with lots of what the hell moments.
A good 3 movies in 1 horror film which has something to please everyone.
5)Ju-On(The Grudge)(2002/Japan)The curse of one who dies in the grip of a powerful rage.
One of the best films I have ever witnessed for creating an unsettling atmosphere.
A home-care worker goes to work in a house occupised by an old lady who is bed-ridden and terrified of something in the house. After exploring the house the home-care worker discovers a door shut with duct tape... In which hides a little boy and his cat.
Queue some of the creepiest and scariest scenes ever recorded for film. It's great at suspense and building up the scares, it will have you jumping all over the places and hiding your face. But, it also has a great story which is told very well.
4)Audition(1999/Japan)Kiri Kiri Kiri
This is Takashi Miike's masterpiece! A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special movie audition, arranged for him by a friend to secretly find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Over an hour of this film is essentially a drama. It has a long, dramatic and interesting build up to the horror you are about to see! And boy is there a lot of! The last half hour is outstanding and really makes the film come together.
Audition also helped inspire the American film Hostel... But don't hold that against it! Check it out.
3)Tale Of Two Sisters(2003/South Korea)This has had the Hollywood remake treatment. I forgot the name of it, but avoid it and watch this very intelligent, very frighting original!
Two sisters return home to stay with their father and cruel stepmother.. after spending time in a mental institution! Once there, in addition to dealing with their stepmother's obsessive and unbalanced ways, they are haunted by the tragedies of deaths from within the family.
This is very well told. There are some very good scares in this one. But it's the story and characters that really grab your attention. It's a rollercoaster full of twists and turns! And one that as soon as it ends, you will want to rewatch it again. Awesome mind blowing ending!
2)Ringu(1998/Japan)What?! The Ring isn't number 1?
The fight for first and second place was a tough one! Very tough. Thought about it for a long time but I just honestly feel that number 1 on the list scared me more! Don't get me wrong though, Ringu is a masterpiece.
The story centres around a videotape. If you watch it you die in seven days! A TV journalist teams with her ex-husband and investigates the death of two teenage girls. She discovers a lot more than she bargined for.... Sadako!
The image and look of Sadako is very well known by now. It's been used it countless other films and even spoofed in comedies. But most people will know her from the US remake... Which was actually a pretty decent remake!
This film terrified me when I first seen it, and the brilliant ending was planted in my brain and made me scared of my own TV for a long time. It's that good!
1)Pulse(2001/Japan)Would you like to meet a ghost?
Yes.You guessed the number 1 film on the list... well probably not actually.
Japanese university students investigate a series of suicides linked to an Internet Webcam that promises visitors the chance to interact with the dead.
Nothing to unfamiliar for a J-Horror, almost like the Ring in a way. Set on the internet it's something we can all relate to, otherwise how are you reading this blog? The internet can be a scary unfamiliar place as we see in this nearly incomprehensible horror tale.
Pulse has a very lonely dark setting and atmosphere. It's a gore free chilling film which will leave you thinking long after the credits have finished. Don't worry if it takes you a few watches to know what's going on as it can be truly baffling. A real horror masterpiece in the genre which must be seen by everyone!
There you have it! My top 10! It was a very tough job narrowing it down to 10 and putting it into order. Still a few films I might have got in the wrong order but i'll leave it at that.
I hope you all have a good Halloween and watch some good horrors! These are some suggestions that shouldn't leave anyone disappointed. Did I miss anything out? Let me know!
Trick or Treat?!
:)
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