Japanese Horror - Influence

Influence

In the past few years several of the more popular Japanese horror films have been entirely remade. Ring was one of the first to be remade in America as The Ring, and later The Ring Two (although this remake bears almost no similarity to the original Japanese sequel).

Here is a list of some Japanese horror films that have been remade for the US market.

• The Ring - 2002
• The Grudge - 2004
• Dark Water - 2005
• The Ring Two - 2005
• The Grudge 2 - 2006
• Pulse - 2006
• One Missed Call - 2008
• The Grudge 3 - 2009
• The Ring 3D - 2012
• The Grudge 4 - 2013

With the exception of The Ring, every one of the J-Horror remakes has received negative reviews (though The Grudge and Dark water have received mixed reviews) with One Missed Call receiving the worst reception of all the remakes earning the moldy tomato award at Rotten Tomatoes for garnering a 0% rating. As of early 2012, The Ring 3D is still awaiting release and as such has yet to be reviewed while The Grudge 4 has been announced but the plan for filming has yet to be revealed.. Many of the original directors who created these Asian horror films have gone on to direct the American remakes. For example, Hideo Nakata, director of Ring, directed the remake The Ring Two and Takashi Shimizu, director of the original Ju-on, directed the remake The Grudge and its sequel, The Grudge 2.

Several other Asian countries have been remaking these Japanese horror films as well. For example, South Korea created their own version of the Japanese horror classic Ring, titled The Ring Virus.

Inspired by current trends in Japanese horror, the first film by Los Angeles-based writer-director Jason Cuadrado, Tales From The Dead, is a horror film in four parts which Cuadrado filmed with a cast of Japanese actors speaking their native language.