Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of J-Horror.

Bots that Box: Hugh Jackman (right), Evangeline Lilly (behind bench) and Dakota Goyo say hello to a new contender in REAL STEEL.
The official Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie is still in the planning stages, but until then, we have REAL STEEL, the Disney/DreamWorks family-friendly take on a world in which the squared circle has [...]

There is a tradition in Japan to present ghost stories during the warm summer months. An 18th century kabuki play by Nanboku Tsuruya provided the most popular and durable storyline – that of an ambitious, would-be samurai named Iemon who marries and then murders Iwa, whose ghost returns to wreak revenge on her faithless [...]

The Nightmare Lives: An indelible image from YOGI BEAR.
So, in the place of a CINEFANTASTIQUE PODCAST in which we discuss our top ten lists for 2010, we give you a CINEFANTASTIQUE POST-MORTEM in which we discuss doing a show in which we discuss our top ten lists for 2010. Who knew a little thing like [...]

Hollywood Reporter informs us that James Wong (X-FILES, FINAL DESTINATION) will write and direct a remake of the 2005 Japanese film THE NEIGHBOR NUMBER 13 (Rinjin 13-Go) for Distant Horizon productions. Shooting is scheduled to begin this year, with distribution targeted for the fall of 2011.

Still from the Japanese version of The Ring

According to The Hollywood Reporter Paramount are giving horror series THE RING, which is based on the Japanese originals, another shot. The studio are planning to make THE RING 3 with a younger cast in mind and of course, want to shoot it in 3D.
The [...]

This period costume drama, from the director of RING, is a deliberate attempt to move away from the tropes of modern J-Horror cinema in favor of a more traditional approach to the supernatural.

Surfing the Internet the other day, I stumbled upon an advertisement posing as an article, which posed the question, “What is the Asian secret to strong lush hair?” I did a screen grab, so that you can see what I am talking about without having to click through the link:

As you can probably guess, my [...]

There is now a German trailer available for THE SHOCK LABYRINTH, a new 3D J-Horror film from Takashi Shimizu, the director who gave us the JU-ON films and their first two American remakes, THE GRUDGE and THE GRUDGE 2. The storyline follows some friends trapped in a maze-like haunted house attraction, and it is based [...]

Remember how scared you were when you first saw THE GRUDGE? Want to feel that way again? Well, it’s a good thing home video allows you to pop the 2004 film in the DVD player, because watching THE GRUDGE 3 is not going to invoke any of the atmospheric, irrational thrills you recollect from the [...]

American audiences are sick and tired of American J-Horror remakes and sequels, and who can blame them after ONE MISSED CALL, SHUTTER, and especially the dismal directo-to-video disturbance known as THE GRUDGE 3? Yet Japan continues to produce modern kaidan eiga (”ghost story movies”), and the most recent examples look pretty good, judging by the [...]

The PG-13 shocker THE UNINVITED snuck through theaters like a cat burglar last year, leaving behind little evidence of its presence other than a few tattered posters hanging from construction site fencing. Not helping the film’s case with genre audiences was its status as yet another remake of an Asian ghost story, this time South [...]

The late Japanese director Nobuo Nakagawa – whose horror films in the ’50s and ’60s laid the groundwork for later movies like RING and JU-ON – will be honored at next year’s Future Film Festival in Venice. Nakagawa’s works include GHOST STORY OF YOTSUYA (based on a classic legend), GHOST CAT MANSION, GHOST STORY OF [...]

If you’re like me, you probably experience frustration on a weekly if not daily basis when it comes to getting your fix of Asian horror movies. Sure, famous titles like RING and JU-ON are available on DVD if you look hard enough, and a ton of lesser known titles show up on shelves here or [...]