Japanese Horror Film Culture

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Ambria Cassidy Karlins ENC1102 03/31/2014 Horror as a Window into Cultural Taboo, Attitudes, and History. From the classic America-made Texas Chainsaw Massacre that our parents sat down to into the seventies, to the Japanese horror hit Ju-On: The Curse, horror has become an important genre in film culture. Horror films and their contents have changed with the generations, a constant ebb and flow and reflections of the deep-seated fears and underlying attitudes still prevalent in global societies. American films have often been criticized for blatant misogynistic treatment of women and the sexualization if the violence they face. The numerous rehashing of horror films from other countries, Wee says, is an attempt to “establish an identity against a foreign other”. Despite …show more content…

This fear of technology and the dead are often mixed with a high regard for tradition and rituality. Films like Ringu, Shutter, and One Missed Call involve technology and the dead in one way or another, as do many other Japanese horror films. Often, spirits have the ability to effect tech, from computers to cameras to VHS tapes. This reflects an uneasiness and fear in Japanese culture with technology. It gives the dead an easy, almost unstoppable way of interacting and affecting the living from the beyond the grave, a message that not even modern technology will protect you. It’s often steeped in tradition and urban legend, as well. Japan has a rich history and multiple common religions, giving rise to many tales both old and new. Paranormal incidents and malicious spirits are rarely truly destroyed in J-horror, reflecting the enduring nature of this spirituality. Even urban legends that are associated with schools, when proved to be true, cannot be stopped. It ties in with the cultural belief that some things that cannot be stopped or explained, they simply

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