Thanks to the early introduction of motion-picture cameras to the country by businessman Katsutaro Inabata (with help from his former classmate Auguste Lumière), silent short films of all types, including spooky ones based on Japanese folk tales, were plentiful in early 20th century Japan. Thus began a tradition of kaiki eiga, or “strange films,” as they were called in the first few decades of their existence. Nowadays, you’re more likely to hear the loanword horā, from the English “horror.”
Their unique iconography—again, much of it drawn from folklore—has made Japanese horror films a source of fascination for fans around the world. There’s an atmospheric creepiness that these filmmakers capture better than anyone, and that manifests in everything from the stark minimalism of classics like Onibaba and Kuroneko to the digital static of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse. Running alongside this hushed impulse is a hot, spurting vein of outrageous bloody excess, seen in films like Suicide Club and Battle Royale.
All of the movies mentioned above appear on our official Spooky Kabuki list, the result of our community-led Showdown, in which you voted for your favorite Japanese horror films. But where do you go once you know your Audition from your Kwaidan?
