The J-Horror Virus

Horror, Documentary95 minutes2023Japan, United Kingdom

How did a single ‘Big in Japan’ videotape change the course of global horror history? Find out in this insightful documentary charting the origins, evolution and diffusion across the world of a distinctive brand of Japanese supernatural chillers featuring vengeful ghosts manifesting themselves through contemporary technology against a backdrop of urban alienation and social decay. From PSYCHIC VISION: JAGANREI (1988) and straight-to-video SCARY TRUE STORIES to such key titles as RING (1998), PULSE (2001) and THE GRUDGE (2002), critics and filmmakers reflect on how the bleak Dystopian visions and unsettling atmospheres infiltrated their way into the world’s shocker consciousness.

Director
Sarah Appleton
Cast
Takako Fuji, George Iida, Rie Ino'o, Teruyoshi Ishii, Kiyoshi Kurosawa