J-Horror Rising
Vengeful ghosts returning from beyond the grave, young women with supernatural abilities, investigative narratives, a terror of technology, and an ominous aura of urban alienation and isolation mark the wave of horror and mystery films that emerged in Japan at the turn of the millennium, collectively labeled as "J-Horror".
Remastered from the best available elements and alongside a host of new and archival extras, J-Horror Rising presents seven of the genre's most distinctive titles.
The chilling Noroi: The Curse adopts a pseudo-documentary format as an investigative reporter into paranormal phenomena is forced to confront horrors beyond his wildest imagination after learning about an ancient folkloric demon.
In the ghostly pastoral horror of Shikoku, a young woman returns after many years to her rural birthplace, only to find her best friend from childhood has died by drowning when just sixteen. The dead girl's mother, the local Shintoist priestess, has embarked on the region's famous pilgrimage - but why is she walking backwards?
The aftermath of the devasting Kobe Earthquake of 1995 creates fissures in the already fractured mind of a high-school girl in Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, allowing an unwelcome intruder to set up home in her head and leaving a volunteer worker with psychic powers to determine which of her personas is the fake one.
Shikoku also provides the mystical backdrop to Inugami, as a teacher from Tokyo finds himself drawn to a local papermaker, only to find himself the subject of some hostility from her extended family, who have long ties to the region and are rumoured to be the descendants of the guardians of ancient evil canine spirits.
Megumi Okina (Ju-On: The Grudge) plays the art designer for a horror-themed videogame in the innovative St. John's Wort, who is forced to confront her childhood traumas when her colleagues ask her to gather visual materials from the creepy gothic mansion she has inherited from her estranged artist father.
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman features the titular predatory murderess drawn from urban legend, where it turns out home isn't the safest place for her potential child victims in this disturbing supernatural horror.
A new craze for wearing ceramic masks sweeps the students of a high school, unleashing a wave of anonymous juvenile delinquency amongst the literal fashion-victims of Persona, which boasts early appearances from Battle Royale stars Tatsuya Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama.
-
Noroi: The Curse
Movie + 4 extras
2005 • Japan • Directed by Koji Shiraishi
The chilling Noroi: The Curse adopts a pseudo-documentary format as an investigative reporter into paranormal phenomena is forced to confront horrors beyond his wildest imagination after learning about an ancient folkloric demon.
-
Shikoku
Movie + 3 extras
1999 • Japan • Directed by Shunichi Nagasaki
In the ghostly pastoral horror of Shikoku, a young woman returns after many years to her rural birthplace, only to find her best friend from childhood has died by drowning when just sixteen. The dead girl's mother, the local Shintoist priestess, has e...
-
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl
Movie + 1 extra
2000 • Japan • Directed by Toshiyuki Mizutani
The aftermath of the devastating Kobe Earthquake of 1995 creates fissures in the already fractured mind of a high-school girl in Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, allowing an unwelcome intruder to set up home in her head and leaving a volunteer worke...
-
Inugami
Movie + 1 extra
2001 • Japan • Directed by Masato Harada
A teacher from Tokyo finds himself drawn to a local papermaker, only to find himself the subject of some hostility from her extended family, who have long ties to the region and are rumoured to be the descendants of the guardians of ancient evil canine sp...
-
St. John's Wort
Movie + 1 extra
2001 • Japan • Directed by Ten Shimoyama
Megumi Okina (Ju-On: The Grudge) plays the art designer for a horror-themed videogame in the innovative St. John's Wort, who is forced to confront her childhood traumas when her colleagues ask her to gather visual materials from the creepy gothic mansion ...
-
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
Movie + 3 extras
2007 • Japan • Directed by Koji Shiraishi
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman features the titular predatory murderess drawn from urban legend, where it turns out home isn't the safest place for her potential child victims in this disturbing supernatural horror.
-
Persona
Movie + 1 extra
2000 • Japan • Directed by Takashi Komatsu
A new craze for wearing ceramic masks sweeps the students of a high school, unleashing a wave of anonymous juvenile delinquency amongst the literal fashion-victims of Persona, which boasts early appearances from Battle Royale stars Tatsuya Fujiwara and ...