Tag: Japanese Horror
Death Penalty.com is a 2011 Japanese psychological horror thriller written by Toshifumi Hiroki and directed by Ryota Sakamaki. Both known for their work in budget horror titles, Ryota Sakamaki has worked as a director on such films as Neo Document Series ZONE (2004), Scarier Stories than Ghosts Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2005), and Dark
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
Exit 8 is a 2025 Japanese psychological horror film written and directed by Genki Kawamura, with additional writing from Kentaro Hirase. The film is based on the video game of the same name, created by Kotake Create. Genki is known as a producer for such titles as the live-action adaptations Parasyte: Part 1 (2014) and
Splatter: Naked Blood is a 1996 extreme splatter horror film written by Taketoshi Watari and directed by Hisayasu Satô. Watari is known as a screenwriter and actor who worked closely with the director, collaborating on numerous titles in both roles. Satô is notable as a boundary-pushing director, known for films such as Lolita Vibrator Torture
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
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
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