Asian Film
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
There’s something thrilling about watching a seasoned director’s first film. It’s like discovering the blueprint of what’s to come—a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the voice they’ll refine over the years. Sure, it may be rough around the edges, but you start spotting those telltale signs: the themes, the tone, the obsessions that will come to
Hotspring Sharkattack (also known as Onsen shâku) is a 2024 Japanese action comedy film written and directed by Morihito Inoue in his feature debut. There have been cases of mysterious disappearances of onsen visitors in Atsumi city in S prefecture. The victims were eventually found dead with signs of severe injuries to their bodies resembling
Did you know Hideaki Anno, best known for Evangelion, has also tackled themes of inner turmoil and depression in live action? If you don’t, no one can blame you. It’s easy to associate Anno with mechas, apocalyptic imagery, and psychological breakdowns. But in his 1998 live-action debut Love & Pop, he trades in the esoteric
Missing Child Videotape is a 2024 Japanese supernatural horror film written and directed by Ryota Kondo with additional writing from Suzuyuki Kaneko. Known for directing the short films Akai tegata (2010) and Kyouran (2010), Ryota Kondo has also collaborated on the horror anthology Hyakki Yobanashi (2023), featuring the segment “Oni no Yobigoe”. Whereas Suzuyuki Kaneko
Psychic Vision: Jaganrei is a 1988 Japanese faux-documentary/supernatural found footage horror film written by Chiaki Konaka and directed by Teruyoshi Ishii. Beginning his career in 1986 with the horror comedy short Daikanyama Wonderland Horror, Teruyoshi has since directed such films as the anthology horror Kuchisake-onna (1996) and action horror Viral Dead (2020), as well as
Wings of the Abyss is a 2025 Japanese crime thriller written and directed by Yuki Kobayashi. The director is known for the action thriller Kamikaze Cowboy (2015), the comedy-drama Death Row Family (2017), and the sci-fi action thriller Rise of the Machine Girls (2019). A young intern, Jin, who loves skateboarding, struggles to balance his
Few things in life are as galvanizing as a truly remarkable film poster. Before one ever steps foot into the theater, before the flickering wizardry of the limelight takes hold of your very soul, it’s these posters—the bold splash of color, the cryptic imagery, the perfectly chosen tagline—that first whispers its enigmatic secrets to us.
The Unsolved Love Hotel Murder Case Incident is a 2024 Japanese found-footage horror film written and directed by Guy and Dave Jackson. An Osaka-based, English-born director, the mononymous Guy is known as the director of such films as The Sound of Summer (2022), as well as the short films The Rope Maiden (2013), Difficulty Breathing
2 Girls 1 Gut is a 2024 extreme horror short written and directed by Guy. A British ex-pat filmmaker based in Osaka, Japan, Guy has made a name for himself in the J-horror genre with titles such as Difficulty Breathing (2020), The Sound of Summer (2022), and the found footage horror The Unsolved Love Hotel