Author: Oki Covarrubias
The V/H/S film series is well known at this point, at least within the horror community. The franchise includes eight main films, two spin-offs (SiREN and Kids vs. Aliens), as well as a Snapchat miniseries titled V/H/S: Video Horror Shorts. It would be remiss of me not to point all of this out, as the
Sana: Let Me Hear (2024), also known as Ano Ko wa Dare or Who’s That Kid, is a direct sequel to Takashi Shimizu’s Sana (2023), a film which I thoroughly enjoyed. Admittedly, I was oblivious to the fact that Sana would even receive a sequel, as I felt like everything was wrapped up nicely in
I was initially taken aback by the title of this film—I assumed that Lee Cronin was some prolific filmmaker that I had yet to familiarize myself with, but a quick Google search revealed that he’s a relatively new arrival to the mainstream. He stepped into the spotlight fairly recently by directing Evil Dead Rise back
When About a Place in the Kinki Region (2025) was first announced, I wasn’t able to discern that it was directed by Koji Shiraishi—the announcement came in the form of two poster reveals on my feed, with the description in all Japanese—but when I looked at the poster with the female character’s face on it,
To start, this is indeed an indirect sequel to 2020’s Stigmatized Properties, directed by none other than J-horror icon Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Dark Water). I’ve said and written this numerous times before: Nakata-san’s films have been hit or miss for me after The Complex (2013)—which I thoroughly enjoyed—with more misses than hits. The first Stigmatized
After stepping away from filmmaking since 2019’s charming musical comedy Dance with Me, director Shinobu Yaguchi makes his return with Dollhouse (2025), a horror tale centered on a cursed doll, of all things. Those who are only mildly familiar with Yaguchi-san’s filmography may find this genre jump to be rather jarring, but I assure you
It is no mystery to seasoned J-horror fans that many of the most prolific directors of the genre started their careers making low-budget short films for television or straight-to-video productions, otherwise known as V-cinema. Takashi Shimizu of Ju-On fame, for example, dipped his toes in the waters of V-cinema with 4444444444, In a Corner, and
With the Silent Hill 2 remake having received a positive reception from critics and fans alike, along with the hype surrounding Silent Hill f’s release, one may wonder: what ever happened to the original Team Silent, and what are they up to these days? Fans would be quick to point out that Keiichiro Toyama, specifically—director
I have spent a significant amount of my tenure with Grimoire of Horror reviewing the latest films of Takashi Shimizu—the man responsible for the sensational Ju-On film series—and although none of his newer films have affected me as much as his earlier work (Ju-On: The Curse (2000) and Marebito (2004) specifically come to mind), I
Filmmaker Koji Shiraishi has garnered quite a cult following over the years due to his continuous efforts within the horror world. Titles like Noroi: The Curse (2005) and Carved (2007) are relatively known amongst seasoned J-horror fans, but Shiraishi-san hasn’t managed to gain the attention that I believe he deserves. It pains me that a