George Iida

How did a single ‘Big in Japan’ videotape change the course of global horror history? Find out in this insightful documentary charting the origins, evolution and diffusion across the world of a distinctive brand of Japanese supernatural chillers featuring vengeful ghosts manifesting themselves through contemporary technology against a backdrop of urban alienation and social decay. From Psychic Vision: Jaganrei (1988) and straight-to-video scary true stories to such key titles as Ring (1998), Pulse (2001) and The Grudge (2002), critics and filmmakers reflect on how the bleak Dystopian visions and unsettling atmospheres infiltrated their way into the world’s shocker consciousness.

Set in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands, a rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest slow, boring, Japanese living.

Set in 1932, amid the rise of militarism after the establishment of the Manchukuo colony in Northeast China, the story centers on a trio of karateka. Studying under their aging master in a small dojo in the woods of central Kyushu, Choei, Taikan and Giryu face a company of kempeitai military police come to requisition their dojo for use as a military base.

A young pathologist seeks answers to the mysterious death of a friend and soon comes into contact with the same cursed videotape that caused the death of the friend's wife and son, which is haunted by the curse of Sadako, a relentless spirit.

A young pathologist seeks answers to the mysterious death of a friend and soon comes into contact with the same cursed videotape that caused the death of the friend's wife and son, which is haunted by the curse of Sadako, a relentless spirit.

In different parts of Tokyo, four young and seemingly healthy people suddenly die of heart failure at exactly the same moment. Reporter Kazuyuki Asakawa decides to investigate the deaths, and discovers that the four had stayed at a rural inn together just a week earlier. At the inn, he comes across a strange video that ends with a message saying that anyone who watches it will die exactly seven days later. Now the clock is ticking for Asakawa. Can he break the curse in time?

Teru Aoki (青木 輝) is on a train to Tokyo after a school trip. A disaster occurs which partially destroys the train and blocks a tunnel. When Teru awakes, he finds all his classmates and teachers are dead.

A bizarre medical exam of a nude woman by several doctors and scientists reveals that their latest subject has committed suicide before giving birth to one of the mutant creatures they had placed within her body. So, an investigative crew of scientists (along with a large human mutant cyclops creature) heads out to the city streets to obtain a new donor/victim in the form of a young girl. Gore and Z-Grade mayhem ensue.

A pair of hard-boiled Tokyo cops are investigating a gruesome murder: after killing the victim, the murderer cut his skull open and cooked his brain in a stew. As they try to track down the killer, they discover that, quite literally, everybody is a suspect. Will they bring the terror to an end, or will they become part of it themselves?

A pair of hard-boiled Tokyo cops are investigating a gruesome murder: after killing the victim, the murderer cut his skull open and cooked his brain in a stew. As they try to track down the killer, they discover that, quite literally, everybody is a suspect. Will they bring the terror to an end, or will they become part of it themselves?

Furuchi and Hama are two unsuccessful repair agents and electronic engineers. One day Furichi finds a so-called Kotatsu heater. Soon after this Furichi dies in a traffic accident. But with the help of a stun gun succeed Hama Furichi bring back to life, but also Kotatsu heater comes alive then.

Jam Films is a 2002 suite of 7 shorts produced by Sega/Amuse.

Jam Films is a 2002 suite of 7 shorts produced by Sega/Amuse.

A bizarre medical exam of a nude woman by several doctors and scientists reveals that their latest subject has committed suicide before giving birth to one of the mutant creatures they had placed within her body. So, an investigative crew of scientists (along with a large human mutant cyclops creature) heads out to the city streets to obtain a new donor/victim in the form of a young girl. Gore and Z-Grade mayhem ensue.

An exciting 'psychic movie' starring Kanako Enomoto, adapted from the manga series by Yukio Tamai. Police detectives searching for clues related to a serial murder case seek out help from high schooler Yurika, who possesses latent split personality psychic abilities. The mystery deepens once Yurika is brought face-to-face with the crime scenes.

The movie version of the TV series that gained cult popularity. One day, the Kirihara brothers who have supernatural powers meet a supernatural power girl named Sakie Tengen, and fight against an organization that has noticed her ability.

The movie version of the TV series that gained cult popularity. One day, the Kirihara brothers who have supernatural powers meet a supernatural power girl named Sakie Tengen, and fight against an organization that has noticed her ability.

A landscape that has been filmed once is projected onto a screen and then filmed again. The re-shot screen changes with the sound of quick beats. An unremarkable local landscape. Roads stretching through rice paddies, clusters of telephone poles, wooden houses with large eaves. These landscapes are transformed into a blur of memory for the purpose of reshooting. The electrically produced noise-like acoustics and the sound of beating quislings beat the landscape out of the memory circuits of the brain. For a moment, a girl stands in front of a screen of landscape, and the landscape rotates around her. The whole work is more than an idea, including the composition in which the synthesis of a kind of screen process brings about change.

A landscape that has been filmed once is projected onto a screen and then filmed again. The re-shot screen changes with the sound of quick beats. An unremarkable local landscape. Roads stretching through rice paddies, clusters of telephone poles, wooden houses with large eaves. These landscapes are transformed into a blur of memory for the purpose of reshooting. The electrically produced noise-like acoustics and the sound of beating quislings beat the landscape out of the memory circuits of the brain. For a moment, a girl stands in front of a screen of landscape, and the landscape rotates around her. The whole work is more than an idea, including the composition in which the synthesis of a kind of screen process brings about change.

A landscape that has been filmed once is projected onto a screen and then filmed again. The re-shot screen changes with the sound of quick beats. An unremarkable local landscape. Roads stretching through rice paddies, clusters of telephone poles, wooden houses with large eaves. These landscapes are transformed into a blur of memory for the purpose of reshooting. The electrically produced noise-like acoustics and the sound of beating quislings beat the landscape out of the memory circuits of the brain. For a moment, a girl stands in front of a screen of landscape, and the landscape rotates around her. The whole work is more than an idea, including the composition in which the synthesis of a kind of screen process brings about change.

A collection of five short stories by Hoshi Shinichi

A collection of five short stories by Hoshi Shinichi

A Japanese Anthology

Keroppi in the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Subaru is investigating the death of of a enemy, Kaneyama but before he died, he undertook a project, which was how to teach seven teenage girls how to use black magic to get revenge on people they don't like, but when one of the girls feels remorse, she is told by the other girls to continue with the black magic. Subaru tries to stop them but the girls think that he is their enemy and put a curse on him.

Subaru is investigating the death of of a enemy, Kaneyama but before he died, he undertook a project, which was how to teach seven teenage girls how to use black magic to get revenge on people they don't like, but when one of the girls feels remorse, she is told by the other girls to continue with the black magic. Subaru tries to stop them but the girls think that he is their enemy and put a curse on him.

Furuchi and Hama are two unsuccessful repair agents and electronic engineers. One day Furichi finds a so-called Kotatsu heater. Soon after this Furichi dies in a traffic accident. But with the help of a stun gun succeed Hama Furichi bring back to life, but also Kotatsu heater comes alive then.

Roller skating boy band Hikaru GENJI face a series of strange events after a baby one day suddenly appears in their dormitory.

Roller skating boy band Hikaru GENJI face a series of strange events after a baby one day suddenly appears in their dormitory.

Teru Aoki (青木 輝) is on a train to Tokyo after a school trip. A disaster occurs which partially destroys the train and blocks a tunnel. When Teru awakes, he finds all his classmates and teachers are dead.