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I've been pondering this question for a long time. I don't purport to be an expert on J-Horror. I don't think I've seen any of the classics in their Japanese incarnations, except "Audition". I have seen The American versions of "The Ring", "The Grudge", "Dark Water" and "Pulse". Maybe a couple more slipping my mind at the moment.
Truth to tell, except for "The Ring", I haven't really liked any of them. I'm thinkin' that's maybe because my American ass just doesn't get it. So that got me to wondering: What is it about these films that makes them SO scary to the Japanese? What cultural taboos or insecurities are being tapped? And how are they different from ours? And Am I being obtuse in that (for the most part) I DON'T find them all that scary? Do other, perhaps less Ugly Americans, shiver in all the right places?
So I started looking for common threads in the limited exposure I have to the films in this sub genre. Things I've noticed include:
1. The creepy revenants of killed kids hauntng the protagonist. We see this most effectively done in "The RIng", IMO, with Marissa's video assisted hijinx. I have to admit that the scene toward the end when her wavery, B&W image comes right the fuck out of the TV made me flinch a bit. That was truly creepy. But for me, at least, it was because of the inevitability of her slow, implacable advance, and the exceedingly well done jump scare her unexpectedly coming OUT of the TV into the real world caused. Her being a crepy kid had little if anything to do w/ it for me. But the prevalance of creepy dead kids in "The Grudge" and "Dark Water" lead me to believe this image or concept resonates with the Japanese on some level I admit I do not truly understand. As an American filmgoer, I concede that, yeah, they're creepy, but would any other ghost, if properly rendered, be just as creepy to an American audience? Are they somehow creepier because they're kids (to us or the Japanese)? As much as I advocate the use of violence vs. kids in horror films as a device sure to get an audience to squirm in terror, I just don't get an especially terifying vibe from the dead kids in J-horror simply by virtue of the fact that they are dead kids. Does anyone have any insight into the special place this holds in the hearts & minds of the Japanese? Or is this just a case of all the Japanese filmmakers imitating "Ringu", and American re-makes following suit?
2. Drowning. This seems to be the preferred method in J Horror flucks for creating the creepy dead kids noted above. It's featured prominently in "The Ring", "The Grudge" & "Dark Water". By all acounts, drowning is a horribly painful way to die. And we have an instinctive fear of it (hence the success of waterboarding as a method of torture). But for some reason, American filmmakers seem to avoid its widespread use (at least, as far as I can tell; if I am wrong about this, please point that out). But drowning sems to hold a special place in the hearts & minds of the Japanese, and I'll be damned if I know enough about their culture to hazard a guess as to why. Any insights on this point are welcome here indeed.
3. Hair. Marissa's locks drooped greasily down over her face in "The Ring". Tendrils dogged the protagonists in "Dark Water" and "The Grudge". On this point, I think I do have a half assed theory. I recall seeing a pictorial in Playboy in the 80's, wherein several centerfold photos were re-shot for the Japanese version of Playboy, with the change being the addition of panties to cover the pubic hair of the playmates. The caption explained the Japanese Playboy can't show pubic hair. So I'm guessing this is some wierd (to us) cultural taboo. I'm guessing that the Japanese find hair to be gross on some level, although I'll be damned if I know why. I guess you could say our own culture abhors blood in much the same way (witness: the scene in "The Shining", where the elevator doors open up and blood spills out, filling a room to the point the furniture floats to the top of the frame). But the question remains in my mind: why hair? What is it that causes hair to frighten Japanese filmgoers so?
4. Family members as the killers. And especially parents. Parents drowned their soon-to-return-to-haunt-the-protagonists kids in all the J Horror I've seen except "Pulse". Surely, the idea that a parent, in whom we as children place all our trust, regardless of culture, betraying that trust and murdering their own flesh & blood is a terrifying proposition. And while I'm at a loss at the moment to think of American cinematic examples of this, I'm sure someone explored the phenomenon. But its ubiquitous nature in J Horror leads me to conclude that the Japanese find it esprcially disturbing for some reason. Have they simply hit upon a universally scary idea before we evolved our films to take widespread advantage of it? Or is there, again, a deeper cultural meaning at work here?
Insights and discussion welcomed, encouraged, & hell, required. Please post some here.
Truth to tell, except for "The Ring", I haven't really liked any of them. I'm thinkin' that's maybe because my American ass just doesn't get it. So that got me to wondering: What is it about these films that makes them SO scary to the Japanese? What cultural taboos or insecurities are being tapped? And how are they different from ours? And Am I being obtuse in that (for the most part) I DON'T find them all that scary? Do other, perhaps less Ugly Americans, shiver in all the right places?
So I started looking for common threads in the limited exposure I have to the films in this sub genre. Things I've noticed include:
1. The creepy revenants of killed kids hauntng the protagonist. We see this most effectively done in "The RIng", IMO, with Marissa's video assisted hijinx. I have to admit that the scene toward the end when her wavery, B&W image comes right the fuck out of the TV made me flinch a bit. That was truly creepy. But for me, at least, it was because of the inevitability of her slow, implacable advance, and the exceedingly well done jump scare her unexpectedly coming OUT of the TV into the real world caused. Her being a crepy kid had little if anything to do w/ it for me. But the prevalance of creepy dead kids in "The Grudge" and "Dark Water" lead me to believe this image or concept resonates with the Japanese on some level I admit I do not truly understand. As an American filmgoer, I concede that, yeah, they're creepy, but would any other ghost, if properly rendered, be just as creepy to an American audience? Are they somehow creepier because they're kids (to us or the Japanese)? As much as I advocate the use of violence vs. kids in horror films as a device sure to get an audience to squirm in terror, I just don't get an especially terifying vibe from the dead kids in J-horror simply by virtue of the fact that they are dead kids. Does anyone have any insight into the special place this holds in the hearts & minds of the Japanese? Or is this just a case of all the Japanese filmmakers imitating "Ringu", and American re-makes following suit?
2. Drowning. This seems to be the preferred method in J Horror flucks for creating the creepy dead kids noted above. It's featured prominently in "The Ring", "The Grudge" & "Dark Water". By all acounts, drowning is a horribly painful way to die. And we have an instinctive fear of it (hence the success of waterboarding as a method of torture). But for some reason, American filmmakers seem to avoid its widespread use (at least, as far as I can tell; if I am wrong about this, please point that out). But drowning sems to hold a special place in the hearts & minds of the Japanese, and I'll be damned if I know enough about their culture to hazard a guess as to why. Any insights on this point are welcome here indeed.
3. Hair. Marissa's locks drooped greasily down over her face in "The Ring". Tendrils dogged the protagonists in "Dark Water" and "The Grudge". On this point, I think I do have a half assed theory. I recall seeing a pictorial in Playboy in the 80's, wherein several centerfold photos were re-shot for the Japanese version of Playboy, with the change being the addition of panties to cover the pubic hair of the playmates. The caption explained the Japanese Playboy can't show pubic hair. So I'm guessing this is some wierd (to us) cultural taboo. I'm guessing that the Japanese find hair to be gross on some level, although I'll be damned if I know why. I guess you could say our own culture abhors blood in much the same way (witness: the scene in "The Shining", where the elevator doors open up and blood spills out, filling a room to the point the furniture floats to the top of the frame). But the question remains in my mind: why hair? What is it that causes hair to frighten Japanese filmgoers so?
4. Family members as the killers. And especially parents. Parents drowned their soon-to-return-to-haunt-the-protagonists kids in all the J Horror I've seen except "Pulse". Surely, the idea that a parent, in whom we as children place all our trust, regardless of culture, betraying that trust and murdering their own flesh & blood is a terrifying proposition. And while I'm at a loss at the moment to think of American cinematic examples of this, I'm sure someone explored the phenomenon. But its ubiquitous nature in J Horror leads me to conclude that the Japanese find it esprcially disturbing for some reason. Have they simply hit upon a universally scary idea before we evolved our films to take widespread advantage of it? Or is there, again, a deeper cultural meaning at work here?
Insights and discussion welcomed, encouraged, & hell, required. Please post some here.
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