The Yurei
It’s that time of year again, when we take a look back at some of our favourite releases over the last 12 months. While 2025 has been a challenging year, with many ups and downs in multiple aspects of life, there have been some fantastic films released over the course of 2025. From slapstick comedy
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
Third Window Films follow up our box set focusing on Takashi Ishii titled 4 Tales of Nami, with another look into the work of the legendary artist through a 5-film set of cinematic adaptations of his manga series. A collection of 5 films from 1979 to 1994 adapted from Takashi Ishii’s cult manga, all featuring new
We meet Elena, a “gajin” with a British father and Japanese mother, at her lowest, in a hospital bed after an implied attempt at taking her own life, or self-harm to the point of hospitalization. This incident acts as a catalyst to send her to a new school, where, while she still feels the prejudice
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
The International Film Festival Rotterdam has revealed the second focus program for its upcoming festival, taking place from 29 January to 8 February 2026, marking the 55th year of IFFR. This dedicated showcase will centre on V-Cinema, the Japanese direct-to-video cinema boom that transpired in the late 80s, and has had a memorable impact on
The manner in which mainstream Bengali cinema sidesteps serious horror, almost as though it were a contagious disease, is a phenomenon deserving scrutiny. Bengali culture, from its expansive literary canon and oral storytelling to its everyday chatter in the 21st century, has never lacked horror elements. It overflows with supernatural entities, some benevolent and absent-minded,
Meiruko-chan is a 2025 Japanese supernatural horror/slice of life film written and directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura. Beginning his career with the horror film series Honto ni Atta! Noroi no Video, Yoshihiro Nakamura would proceed to write and direct the first seven films in the series–later returning to the series to narrate films eleven through to
Director Kenichi Ugana is profoundly interested in exploring societal outcasts and obsessives in his work, whilst maintaining a distinct punk and transgressive style. With titles such as Visitors: Complete Edition (2023), Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition (2021), and The Curse (2025), to name a few, the young director’s vast number of films feature elements from all
Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition (Ibutsu – Kanzenhan) is a 2021 Japanese horror drama film written and directed by Kenichi Ugana. Renowned for directing bloody horror, Kenichi is recognised as the creator behind films such as Visitors: Complete Edition (2023), the Japanese-Taiwanese collaborative horror The Curse (2025), and the upcoming Incomplete Chairs (2025). The film compiles