-A list of movies that I've watched
-Includes brief synopsis and personal review/rating
-Warnings included where necessary
------------------[UPDATES]------------------
September 12: Added Oh! My Zombie Mermaid and Sars Wars
August 11: Added Silk, Body 19, Sumpah ini Pocong, Sumpah Pocong Di Sekolah, The Victim, and Neighbour No 13
August 6: Added Sick Nurses, The Red Shoes, Whispering Corridors V: A Blood Pledge, and Ghost Game.
August 4: Added The Ring 0.
June 11: Added Epitaphand Men Behind The Sun. Updated info for The Eye, The Eye 10, The Uninvited, Carved, Uzumaki, and Tokyo Zombie.
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13 Beloved
13 is a new and very secret competition offering a grand prize of 100 million Baht.The 13 challenges will test a contestant in every aspect of their life from love to religion. Even their moral values.......
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
If you liked the Saw movies, you'll love this. Gore, action, and humor, it has it all.
10/10
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4444444444 & Katasumi
Japanese
Katsumi:In a Corner/Katasumi begins with two Japanese schoolgirls (revealed to be Kanna and Hisayo in the first Ju-On film) who are caring for their school's rabbits....
4444444444: opens with a young man (revealed to be named Tsuyoshi in the first Ju-On film) riding his bicycle home.He has an incoming call from the number 4444444444 (the numeral "4" is culturally symbolic of bad luck.)
With both these shorts, I really couldn't suppress a laugh. Cheesy and hardly frightening, but unique enough. Give 'em a watch when you have the time. It's only a total of about 6 minutes long for the both of them.
3/10
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Audition
Japanese
Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught on Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
With fair warning, this movie is NOT for everyone. By the end of the first hour, you will be very tempted to turn it off and do something else. The pace was infuriatingly slow I almost didn't finish it myself. It's notorious for all the people that walked out on it when it came out in theaters. But if you can endure all that, it's very worth it in the end.
8/10
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Battle Royale
Japanese
Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline - Japan is a police state, known as the Republic of Greater East Asia (Dai Toa Kyowakoku). The story follows a class of students who are chosen for the "Program" - aka Battle Royale, in which they must fight each other to the death.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
One of my absolute favorites. Just an amazing movie all around. Go watch it.
10/10
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Battle Royale 2
Japanese
Teenager Midori's family moves back to the city where she lived as a child and is relieved to discover that her old friend Ryusuke still lives there. Her terrifying nightmares begin intersecting with her everyday life. Do her nightly dreams about an anonymous fortune-teller have anything to do with the tragedies plaguing her high school?
Adult content warning: violence
If you go into this expecting something remotely similar to the first, you will be sorely disappointed. More on the dramatic/action side than anything in a completely different genre. But if that's what you enjoy, that's great.
7/10
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Body 19
Thai
Chon, a med student, starts seeing a psychotherapist after he dreams about a woman who he had only met once in a restaurant. In his dreams, a mysterious man murders her, slices her body into pieces, and flushes them down a toilet one by one. The murderous dreams haunt him into his waking memory, and eventually he feels as if his own body is being dissected and carved up by the surgical knife.
I watched this one a while ago and ended up re-watching most of it. The definition of a psychological thriller.
9/10
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Carved
Japanese
Legend holds that 30 years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by the spirit of a woman whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured by a jealous husband. Roaming the streets wearing a long coat and surgical mask, the spirit would approach her young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if she was pretty. The victim’s response would almost always lead to their violent death.
A kind of creepy movie, but I found it really hard to enjoy (so-so acting, sloooow). The ending was pretty good, but there was a LOT of nothing to sit through to get to it. If the ending is good enough, then I don’t mind that in a movie, but in this case I really wasn’t sure.
5/10
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Cello
Korean
Mi-ju's career as a musician and a teacher has stalled, a former student threatens revenge for a bad grade, an invitation to a concert reminds her of a friend's fatal car accident, there's a near accident on her drive home. That night, a ghost visits her, and everyone in her household, including her dog, her sister-in-law, her husband, and their two daughters, is at risk. Over the next few days, the past takes on new importance. As people die horrid deaths, Mi-ju must discover where the evil resides.
One of those movies that's great all-around with some morals to share.
8/10
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Cinderella
Korean
Hyun-soo ‘s happiness comes to an end as her friends who have received facial surgery from her mother start to commit mysterious suicides by cutting out their faces. She also starts to feel that there is someone else in the house where she lives alone with her mother.
Adult content warning: gore
Although this movie didn't stand out to me in particular, it was still a good watch. Definitely had a few memorable scenes and a pretty good twist ending.
8/10
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Coming Soon
Thai
This movie will scare you from the second you step inside the movie theatre. The horror movie that you just saw is about to happen to you in real life!
Better than most Thai movies I'll admit, but nothing spectacular. It seems like with an original idea like this they could have done more with it.
6/10
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Dark Water
Japanese
The plot involves a woman, Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki), who, in the midst of an unpleasant divorce, moves to an eerie, run-down apartment building with her young daughter, Ikuko (Rio Kanno). The ceiling of their apartment has a dark and active leak. Yoshimi discovers that the upstairs apartment, which appears to be the source of the leak, was formerly the home of a young girl named Mitsuko Kawai (Mirei Oguchi), who was of similar age to her daughter.
A fairly typical plot, but very well presented, touching, and eerie.
8/10
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Death Bell
Korean
About 6 months prior to the college entrance exam, a school manages a cram course for its top 20 students. Evaluated only by their grades, school life is so stressful that some students suffer from serious mental problems.
A sudden piano solo of "Fur Elise'" wakes up the sleeping students and a screen shows the top student, Hye-yeong, dying in a water tank. A voice asks the students to solve a question, to decide the fate of Hyeyeong....
A good, classic suspense/mystery/horror movie. If you’re good at spotting the details, it’s not terribly hard to predict the ending, but the terrific acting and plot keeps you hooked. The music too.
9/10
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Dream Cruise
Japanese
Absolutely terrified of the sea, an American lawyer reluctantly goes on an ocean cruise to be near the wife of a client with no idea of the grim situation that awaits them all.
It comes off as a little cliche at some points, but was overall a pretty creepy movie. A lot of suspense, a pinch of action, and some good old fashioned ghost horror.
8/10
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Ebola Syndrome
Chinese
Ah Kai is a wanted convict from China who escapes to South Africa after killing his former boss and his boss's wife. In South Africa, he works at a Chinese restaurant and one day travels with his boss to a South African tribe that is infected with the Ebola virus. Kai sees a dying infected tribe member and rapes her, contracting the virus. Kai, however, is immune to the infection. He becomes a living carrier, spreading the disease to others through body fluids.
Adult content warning: sexuality
The single most terrifying movie I've watched in my life. No ghosts, nothing supernatural.
10/10
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Epitaph
Korean
a horror movie about a mysterious incident that took place at the Gyeongseong Ahnsaeng Hospital in 1942.
A rather depressing psychological storyline with some good scares thrown in. There’s nothing really that I’ve seen before that I could compare this to. Very artistic in its delivery.
8/10
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Ghost Game
Thai
Ghost Game tells the story of 11 contestants who sign up for a scary reality show which forces them to confront the supernatural and their innermost fears
The single winner of the show will be rewarded for 5 million Baht ($US 130,000), the highest amount ever offered on a Thai game show. Inspired by the big reward, they accept to risk their lives in the museum, confronting traps set by the show's producers, as well as those of the real ghosts whose spirits haunt the place
Eh, I didn’t see much special about it. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but pretty predictable and generic as far as ghost stories go. Good for just general entertainment, but it’s not the one to look to if you’re looking for a really scary, moving, or unique ghost movie.
4/10
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Guinea Pig Series
Japanese
Adult content warning: extreme gore, nudity
A collection of 30 minute movies exploring just how far violence can be taken.
-Flowers of Flesh and Blood
A woman walking home late at night is attacked by an unknown assailant who knocks her out with chloroform. When she regains consciousness, she finds herself tied to a bed in a blood- spattered dungeon, at the mercy of a white-faced man in a samurai helmet who wants to turn her into a "flower of blood and flesh." He then proceeds to slowly dismember and disembowel her as the camera records it all.
Who needs a plot? Certainly not a psychotic killer. So there’s not much to say about this one besides gorehounds, rejoice.
-He Never Dies
A man gets depressed because his girlfriend has dumped him for his friend.
He tries to attempt suicide but to no avail, so he decides to scare the guy that stole his girl, by throwing his own guts at him.
Apparently the Japanese don’t “slit” their wrists: they just dig in.
Very funny stuff.
8/10
-Mermaid in the Manhole
An artist finds and rescues a mermaid in a sewer. He takes her home with him and she develops sores all over her body that begin to pustulate and bleed.
He uses what oozes from her sores to paint her portrait. When he can no longer handle it anymore he breaks down and dismembers her body.
It was actually a really good story, but it seemed to move at a rather slow pace. I kind of never want to pop another pimple.
7/10
-Android of Notre Dame
In "Android of Notre Dame," a scientist's sister has a dreaded heart disease that is slowly killing her. Now, he must find a way to cure her in any way possible. Animal research can only do so much but, on the other hand, a real human body could work wonders.
Kind of funny, but so full of bad acting, really cheesy gore that’s supposed to be convincing, and a predictable plotline it doesn't really matter. It was a rather unpleasant surprise considering how much I liked the rest of the series.
3/10
-Woman Devil Doctor
A mad doctor displays a selection of her more gruesome case studies. Starting with one family whose heads explode if they get angry and a woman whose heart explodes if she's surprised, the doctor then presents us with a man whose right half wants to kill his left.
Other subjects put on display are the effects of going to a sauna if you're a man who sweats blood, the possibilities of romance between woman and zombie, and a game of one- upmanship between hospital patients.
A collection of ridiculous, funny stories. Easy to find a good laugh in every one. Even the credits are amusing. Reminds me of Franken Fran.
9/10
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Horrors of Malformed Men
Japanese
A medical student takes the place of a recently deceased high class man who looks eerily identical to himself in order to find his way onto the island from his strange visions. On the island is a mad scientist, creating twisted, imperfect creatures to take over the world. All he needs is the son he sent away to medical school for the surgeries to be a complete success.
A very old movie, and very trippy. Unfortunately I could only pick out one good actor and the plot moves at a slow pace. But an interesting idea nonetheless.
4/10
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Kowai Onna
Japanese
Unholy Women (Kowai onna), is a composite of three unrelated half-hour horror movies
-Rattle Rattle
The story of a young woman who is pursued by an evil other-worldly being
I cannot express how much I love the ending. Of course the rest of it is pretty fantastic too.
9/10
-Steel
A young man who agrees to take the sister of his boss out on a blind date is drawn into a world more frightening than he ever dreamed possible.
A complete mindfuck.
10/10
-Inheritance
A supernatural tale of a woman and her young son, scarred by abuse and psychological trauma
Honestly my least favorite of the three, but still very good.
8/10
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Meatball Machine (Mitoboru mashin)
Japanese
Alien parasites take over the bodies of humans, turning them into killing machines.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
A very strange plot with gore to spare, comparable to the likes of Tokyo Gore Police. Some bits are a little repetitive and annoying, but overall it's everything you'd expect it to be.
6/10
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Men Behind The Sun
Japanese
The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, nudity, racism, animal violence
Going into this I knew at least the cat scene was real. Only afterwards did I discover (according to Wiki) that a certain autopsy scene that genuinely disturbed me is also claimed to be real footage. It really is a part of history that they’d never taught us in a classroom.
Another one that’s hard to give a rating. Can’t say there’s any character or plot development because hey, it’s a movie that tries to stick with historical accuracy.
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Moon Child
Japanese
In the year 2014, Japan has collapsed economically and thus its people emigrated in large numbers and settled in other parts of the world. In a corner in Asia, there is a little street called Mallepa, a big melting pot where Asians such as Hongkongers, Taiwanese and Japanese live together. It was a place where people fought for order, food and freedom. It was there where Shou (Gackt), raised as an orphan and Kei (Hyde), who could live forever, met and became the best of friends. However, they were unable to escape from the fight for power involving gangs of different ethnicity on the street of Malepa.
Adult content warning: violence
A beautiful, beautiful movie. One of few I've shed a tear over.
10/10
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Muoi
Korean
Yun-hee is under pressure by her editor to produce something of interest for her next book. She hasn’t had a book published in three years and is all too cognizant of this fact. Things look up when her old friend Seo-yeon calls from Vietnam. Seo-Yeon informs Yun-hee about a local Vietnamese folklore centered around a girl named “Muoi” and her haunted portrait
An eerie story with a decently paced plot. A little predictable, but I'd recommend it to pass the time.
6/10
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Neighbour No 13
Japanese
On his first day at a construction site he meets his foreman and realizes that, to his quiet horror, the foreman is no other than Toru Akai. When Juzo discovers that Akai lives upstairs from him at their apartment block, he's started to feel the effects of his traumatic experiences of being bullied by Akai and his crones, a scarred, mentally deranged man named No. 13 - that slowly takes over Juzo to start a highly orchestrated vengeance against those who hurt Juzo, past and present.
All the reviews are either love or hate. I’m on the love side. What most people seemed to dislike about it was the slow pacing, which is understandable, but if you can endure that it has a really good plot and some beautiful scenes. It’s one where the ending seems open to interpretation, and can leave you feeling either disturbed or pleased. Also has a catchy ending song by Hirakawachi 1-Chome.
9/10
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Noriko’s Dinner Table
Japanese
A teenager called Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Tokoyama, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com.
She becomes involved with Kumiko's "family circle", which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
A much different style of film than it’s “sequel”, Suicide Club. A long, slow moving narrative as opposed to the mystery/horror of SC. But being someone who can tolerate these kinds of movies, it had a very interesting message that I haven’t really seen explored to this extent anywhere else. It also manages to tie in well to SC, and answers a few more questions about it.
6/10
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Oh! My Zombie Mermaid
Japanese
A grappler who finds his mansion in shambles and his wife transformed into a zombie mermaid following a housewarming party needs cash to fix his home and his wife. He decides to hold a multistage death match on live television, taking on everyone from a kung fu expert to a chandelier-wielding maniac to earn the Money.
Adult content warning: mild gore
A very outlandish, fun movie. Imagine mixing wrestling, Yu Yu Hakusho, a zombie movie, and Elektra. Not much of a storyline or any character development to speak of, but that’s part of what makes it so funny.
8/10
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Painted Skin
Chinese
During the Chin and Han era, Commander Wang Sheng (by Chen Kun) leads his troops in a raid on bandits in the desert, in the process he rescues a beautiful woman and brings her back with them. However he has no idea that this woman, Xiao Wei (by Zhou Xun), is in fact a fox spirit in human form.....The Nightamre begins.....
No one genre can contain this movie. Drama, romance, action, fantasy, horror, and a touch of comedy wrapped into one. Great cast and beautiful action sequences.
9/10
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Princess Aurora
Korean
A woman gets killed in a department store. No one imagines this could lead to serial murders, but two days after the first murder, another homicide occurs. A woman is suffocated to death and the only evidence left at the crime scene is a sticker of the cartoon character "Princess Aurora"
Adult content warning: violence
A tragic murder mystery, focusing on loss and revenge. The idea isn't what could be called astonishingly original, but is played out very well.
8/10
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Real Onigokko
Japanese
In Japan, a mysterious series of murders has occurred, which only targets people whose last name is ‘Sato’. Tsubasa Sato finds out that he is now in a parallel world where the lord of the land plays a lethal game of tag - a real onigokko (chasing game) that targets people whose last name is ‘Sato’...
An original idea, and not terribly played out, but it seemed to be lacking in plot and character development.
6/10
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Sars Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis
Thai
The SARS Virus has evolved into a form of Super SARS, only this time it brings its victims back from the dead as hungry SARS zombies. A condominium in Thailand becomes a quarantined infection zone, and a team of doctors and commandos is sent to control the situation. In the same building Liu is being held hostage, and her father, a business tycoon, has sent Khun Krabi to rescue her.
Hm, what to say about this. As one of the characters mentions, this movie pretty much milks it for everything it’s worth. Plenty of breaking of the 4th wall, comedy, ridiculous situations, and… well, just a very silly movie altogether.
7/10
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Shinku (Deep Red)
Japanese
The Movie focuses on a relationship that develops between two people who find their lives irrevocably changed as a result of a horrible multiple homicide.
Less of a horror and more psychological and dramatic. A seemingly simple plot that thickens throughout the story, and interesting main characters. Sad but meaningful ending.
7/10
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Shutter
Thai
The horror begins when Thun, a young photographer and his girlfriend, Jane, accidentally hit a woman while driving. They decide to leave the dead woman and drive away. Later, Thun discovers an unexplained event when he finds a mysterious shadow appears on his photo.
One of the better Thai films. Scary movie all the way through with a great ending.
9/10
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Sick Nurses (Suay Laak Sai)
Thai
Seven pretty, scantily dressed nurses along with chief surgeon are involved in sick and twisted trade of debauchery and death while working in a strange and creepy hospital. Each nurse has their own secret obsession. Those obsessions are to ultimately become the topic of their fate.
There seemed to be a lot of mixed reviews on the site, but I enjoyed this one. You actually get to see a lot of the ghost, and not only that, but it’s pretty badass. And the twist at the end was one I hadn’t seen before this, so I definitely approve. One of those scary/sad films.
7/10
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Silk
Thai
Armed with a newly invented device called the Menger Sponge, a team of scientists - led by enigmatic Hashimoto - captures the energy of a ghost child. This child, isolated in an empty flat, moves his lips to words no one understands. In an effort to learn more about the ghost they enlist special agent Ye Qi-Tung who's able to read lips.In order to learn more about the ghost child's background they set the ghost child loose
I might have to change my opinion of Thai movies if I keep stumbling upon good ones like this. Not the feel-good film of the year, but has an ending much different from many of the asian horror flicks. Granted it was a bit cheesy during some parts and the summary itself made me leery, I can’t deny it was an absolutely beautiful movie. Very sad.
9/10
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Soul Guardian
Korean
A cult committed a mass suicide, the only survivor was a pregnant women. She died on the operating table but the doctor was able to save the child. Twenty years later several people are found dead, the police believe it is the work of a serial killer. The only link between the victims is a missing finger. Three people with supernatural power believe the devil has returned for the child that was saved twenty years ago, they track her down and try protect her from the forces of evil.
This is one movie I didn't enjoy at all. If you're into cheesy romance, predictable plotlines, and bland characters, you might want to consider watching this.
1/10
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Suicide Club (Jisatsu Circle)
Japanese
On May 26, 54 teenage schoolgirls gather on a platform at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to commit mass suicide. As the train approaches the station, they line up on the edge of the platform, join hands, and throw themselves in front of the train as it is arriving. This leaves the station in complete chaos as blood literally splashes on the platform from under the train. In the midst of the chaos someone leaves a small white bag on the platform.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
An incredibly dark and insightful movie that takes a look at society from an entirely different point of view. Full of unforgettable scenes, you will find yourself asking "WTF" over and over again.
9/10
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Suicide Dolls
Japanese
A woman shoots herself. A woman hangs herself. A woman commits harakiri.
Adult content warning: extreme gore
WARNING: This is not a typical movie. It's not what you expect. There are just some things that shouldn't be done, and this film went there and beyond. Worst is after the credits.
{no idea what rating to give}
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Sumpah ini Pocong
Indonesian
At the suggestion of his spiritual adviser, Ki Bolon, Sugandhi dared to carry out the oath of pocong to maintain his looks and status for eternity. Unfortunately the shroud used in the pocong oath had a dark past
It was actually a pretty darn funny movie. Much different from the typical American or British style comedy that I think most people are accustomed to. I admit that this style of purely silly/stupid comedy isn’t my favorite, but it was a fun watch regardless. What I really liked is that, for someone like me who’s really never been out of the states or my own area, it gives a completely different perspective on the modern world, and proves wrong most of the preconceived notions about places like where the movie was set.
6/10
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Sumpah Pocong Di Sekolah
Indonesian
When three teenage boys hire a stripper and film her taking in a classroom they get into big trouble. They end up pocong swearing that they had nothing to do with it.By lying they unleashed an evil spirit that wants to see them dead sooner rather than later.
Another pretty mediocre ghost story. Nothing new, unique, or engaging, but decent acting and delivery kind of made up for it. Not recommended, just because there are better ones out there.
5/10
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Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Korean
A Christian musical procession waits outside a prison for Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young Ae), a recently-reformed female prisoner, who had been convicted of murdering a young schoolboy, Won-mo. The case, a national sensation because of her young beauty and innocent appearance, earns her a lengthy prison sentence, reduced because of her apparent spiritual transformation in prison, resulting in the nickname of the "Kind-Hearted Ms. Geum-Ja." As Lee Geum-ja emerges from prison, she immediately sidesteps the procession, intent on revenge.
Adult content warning: violence
A relatively slow movie with little action to speak of. But suspense and an interesting lead kept me watching. An eerie look into human psychology.
7/10
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Tale of Two Sisters
Korean
Su-Mi and her younger sister Su-Yeong return home from an absence to live with their father and stepmother. But tensions are high between the stepmother and the sisters. When ghosts begin appearing and other disturbing events occur, the mystery surrounding the family begins to unravel itself.
Absolutely perfect in all ways. Terrific acting and an in-depth plot with a startling twist. Pay attention to details~
10/10
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The Coffin
Thai
Inspired by a true ritual in Thailand where people would lie in the coffin for a specific period in hope to ward away bad luck and evil spirits. Chris decides to try the ritual in desperate hope of prolonging his girlfriend, Mamiko's (Shibuya) life.
Moves at a very slow pace and didn't have a very in-depth plot. I wouldn't recommend taking the time to watch it. Rather, find a good synopsis if you're curious.
4/10
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The Eye
Chinese
A blind girl gets a cornea transplant so that she would be able to see again. However, she got more than what she bargained for when she realised she could even see ghosts. Some of these ghosts are down right unfriendly.So she embarks on a journey to find the origins of her cornea and to reveal the history of the previous dead owner.
And overall interesting movie. Nothing particularly stuck out to me, but it wasn’t bad in the least. Pretty much your typical ghost story.
7/10
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The Eye 10
Thai
In Thailand, Chongkwai is welcoming his friends Ted and his cousin May and Kofei and his girlfriend April from Hong Kong. While in a tourist tour, they see an accident on the road, and when they return to Chongkwai's home, they decide to tell ghost stories. Chongkwai shows them a mystic book with ten ways to see spirits and they decide to follow the procedures. When Kofei vanishes, April tries to fin him, while Ted and May runs back to Hong Kong. But the spirits do not leave them and insist to play with them.
I found this film so bad it was funny. I honestly thought it was supposed to be a parody at first. Apparently it is, indeed, a sequel despite being absolutely nothing like its predecessors.
3/10
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The Grudge
Japanese
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The Grudge 2
Japanese
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The Machine Girl
Japanese
It is about a young Japanese schoolgirl, whose life is destroyed when her brother is killed by a the son of a Ninja-Yakuza. With her hand cut off, she replaces it with a gatling gun and seeks revenge.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
A quest revenge turns into nothing less than a complete and utter bloodbath. No, seriously, someone could bathe in the ridiculously glorious amounts of it. For a gore movie, it has a pretty good plot, and it’s pretty easy to sympathize with the main character. Also has some dark comedy thrown in.
8/10
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The Red Shoes
Korean
It is inspired by the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbour's. At the start of the film, we see a high school girl calling her friend on the phone. As she counts to 100 before her friend arrives, she notices a pair of red shoes on the subway platform.
I saw this a while ago and was very disappointed that, when I went to rewatch it, it had been removed due to copyright claims. But, as many Korean films, a good psychological thriller.
7/10
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THE RING 0 :Bâsudei (Birthday)
Japanese
The prequel to the horror film Ringu, this movie provides the background story of how Sadako later became the vengeful murdering spirit. The story starts with her as a shy, somewhat withdrawn, college student who nonetheless gets involved in a drama club....
You get to learn about Sadako! Very sad, and certainly not one of those “oh, well that was pointless” types of sequels.
7/10
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The Ring
Japanese
The film begins with two teenagers, Masami (Hitomi Sato) and Tomoko (Yuko Takeuchi) talking about a videotape recorded by a boy in Izu which is fabled to bear a curse that kills the viewer seven days after watching. Tomoko then reveals that a week ago, she and three of her friends watched a weird tape and received a call after watching it....
A good, classic Asian horror movie. Because of some major differences it’s hard to compare to the American version, but in all honesty each was just as enjoyable (and there aren’t many I can say that about).
7/10
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The Ring 2
Japanese
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The Uninvited
Korean
Kang Jeong-weon, an interior decorator, nods off on the subway one night and wakes up at the last stop. As the train doors close behind him, he looks back and sees two young girls seemingly asleep in the car. The next day, the bodies of the two girls in the subway car are found by police. Following an accident at work, Jeong-weon starts suffering from black-outs, and has visions of the two dead girls sitting at the dinner table.
First of all, this film is completely unrelated to the 2009 American remake of the same name (which is actually based off A Tale of Two Sisters). While overall slow moving, it was truly a prime example of psychological films. Another slow moving film, but the ending is entirely worth it.
8/10
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The Victim
Thai
"If we play the character of the dead, won't we insult their soul?" Ting, an aspiring actress, works for the police by performing the role of a victim in police re-enactments of serious crimes. Strange things begin to happen when she plays the role of Meen the former Miss Thailand who was brutally murdered. The eerie feelings after make her decide to investigate the truth behind Meen's death.
Just when you think it’s getting predictable it takes another twist. Pretty darn haunting movie.
8/10
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Tokyo Gore Police
Japanese
The Tokyo Police Corporation is at war with the "engineers"--genetically modified super-criminals can bio-fuse their open wounds with weapons. Ruka, the top engineer hunter, must cut through the psychotic engineers to track down her father's killer.
Adult content warning: extreme gore, violence
While it looks like they spent their entire budget on fake blood and one particular fight scene, it’s still an entirely entertaining gore movie (if you didn’t get that from the title). It actually has a pretty good plot behind it too. But most of it is ridiculous (and hilarious) bloody scenes.
8/10
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Tokyo Zombie
Japanese
Looming over a future Tokyo is "Black Fuji" – a massive stinking mountain of garbage and a popular place to dump anything from toasters to dead bodies. However, something within the toxic mountain is bringing the dead back to life and infusing them with an insatiable hunger for human flesh! Nearby at a fire extinguisher factory, two bored employees practice jujitsu while their boss is away. With enough practice, one of them reckons he can train the other to be a world champion. And certainly what better way to practice their martial arts – on the unleashed hordes of the undead!
Ohmygoodness the only films I’ve laughed at as hard as I did this one were Monty Python ones. If you like the more dry style of comedy, you’ll surely appreciate this.
9/10
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Uzumaki
Japanese
The plot concerns a town infected with malevolent spirals. This abstract concept manifests in grotesque ways, such as a teenager's long hair beginning to curl and take over her mind, or a corpse wound around itself.
A movie adaptation of the manga. And it actually does a pretty good job of following it, with the exception of cutting out most of it. But what it has is true to the story. I love the way it’s filmed. The colors, cartoonish effects, and lenses used gives it a much different feel from other movies. Plus it has an awesome ending song by Do As Infinity.
9/10
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Whispering Corridors Series
Korean
Whispering Corridors
Whispering Corridors is set in a fairly typical all-female school in Korea, called Jookran High School For Girls, and the story begins on the night before the first day of the new school year. A female teacher called Mrs Park (better known by her unaffectionate nickname ‘Old Fox’ on account of her nasty behaviour and treatment of the students), has discovered something mysterious and weird concerning a late pupil of the school called Jin-ju. Jin-ju had committed suicide in the school’s art rooms nine years previously, and her ghost was said to haunt the art rooms which had been closed up after the incident.
Leans more towards drama than horror, but it has its moments. The entire Whispering Corridors series is one I highly recommend.
7/10
Whispering Corridors II (Memento Mori)
The film revolves around the relationship between two high school students, Yoo Shi-Eun and Min Hyo-Shin. As the two girls become romantically involved, their taboo friendship causes them to be marginalized by the other students.
A bit more on the drama side than horror, but it has its moments.
7/10
Whispering Corridors III (Wishing Stairs)
The legend goes that if you climb the twenty eight steps leading up to the school dormitory, counting each step aloud, and find a twenty ninth, a spirit will appear and grant you a wish. The movie takes place in a girl's art school and focuses on two friends studying ballet, however their friendship soon turns sour when they find themselves competing for a single spot in a Russian ballet school.
Like the prequels it has drama, but the horror factor gets kicked up a notch or two. Twisted and touching.
9/10
Whispering Corridors IV (Voice Letter)
Yeong-eon, the top singer at an all girls school, is murdered by a music sheet in the opening scene. The day following her death nobody can see or hear her except her friend Seon-min. After Yeong-eon convinces Seon-min that it is her voice that can be heard the two attempt to find out what happened to Yeuong-eon.
My personal favorite of the series. The perfect combination of drama, horror, and mystery.
10/10
Whispering Corridors V (A Blood Pledge)
So-hee,Yoo-jin,Eun-yeong,Unjoo, tried to commit a joint suicide after making a vow on blood. But the three are still alive, and only Unjoo died. The desire, jealousy, and lies behind the pledge of death between the four girls are revealed, along with the hidden truth behind Un-joo’s disappearance on her own…
What can I say, I love this series. More like Voice Letter than the others, it has a good mix of scary and social tension. My only slight disappointment was in the end, but that’s for entirely personal reasons, and it really wasn’t a bad ending.
8/10
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Yes, I can See Dead People
Chinese
A boy who sees ghosts has his brother possessed bu vengeful spirits.
"Nam sees ghosts. In a rather droll opening voiceover, Nam describes how many of his friends have died - some through glossed over suicide played for gallows humor - and finishes up his prologue by mentioning that yep, he can see ghosts. No exclamation point, no registration of alarm; just the matter-of-fact acknowledgment that he can see the undead"
Not outstanding, but does a good job of mixing humor and horror.
6/10
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