Celluloid Zombie has been a fan of horror movies his whole life, and for much of that time the best of the genre invariably came from the US and, to a lesser degree, the UK. The likes of George Romero, John Carpenter and Wes Craven defined the genre through much of the 70s and 80s. However, over the last decade Western horror seems to have lost its way, becoming mired in an endless cycle of torture porn or tedious remakes of old classics, with only the occasional standout moment of success.
It’s no accident, then, that a large portion of US horror movies are also remakes of films from a part of the world that seems to have cornered the market in accomplished, well-executed and downright scary entries into the genre. Hollywood is looking across the pacific toward Asia, and this is where all dedicated horror fans should be looking, too. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong. This is where Horror’s new home is.
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I've only seen maybe half of these. Might have to check out the others. I will agree Asians really do know how to do horror better than Hollywood (you'll get the occasional good American one though). Though, the Spanish/Mexicans are pretty high on that list too. The two really know how to let it simmer and build tension/suspense and create an atmosphere which is something Hollywood has seemed to abandon in general.
I didn't care for Ju-On, and Ring was ok, but I wouldn't rate it #1. I did really like Audition and Tale of Two Sisters, though. Shutter sounds familiar, but can't really remember if I've seen it. The others I haven't though.
I have seen a few of these and enjoyed them all. However the only one I have seen both the American and Japanese versions of is the Ring. And, I know this may be controversial, I didn't prefer the Japanese version. The story is more mystic based, like how they find out about the girl, which didn't work for me so much. I preferred the more grounded journalistic approach from the American one which for me, made the horror feel more grounded also and so scarier.
Still, the scariest scene from the American one is taken straight from the Japanese version!
I only saw the original The Eye, Grudge, and The Ring of the Asian made version and they were scary. I even watched them at home in the daytime and they were creepy but I liked them a lot. Enough to the point that when they were remade I saw them again. Never saw any of the others.
I thought the American version of The Grudge was hilarious. The mewling kid was priceless.
The Audition was that rare movie that actually made me cringe.