13 Best Japanese Horror Movies in 2022

13 Best Japanese Horror Movies in 2022

From funny anime to thrilling horror movies, Japanese’s cinema finds new ways to provoke thrill and excitement for the audiences. Nothing hits the spot quite like Japanese horror films. Combining a mixed of Japanese urban legends and some spooky locations, these films will have you feel the chills running down your spine!

            Japanese horror has always set the bar high when it comes to making your skin crawl. Today we will introduce you to the Best 13 Japanese Horror Movies that you must watch! We recommend not watching these alone unless you want to stay up all night!

 

 

 

1. Ring

 

 Photo: kadokawa

 

The Ring is an iconic Japanese horror film that made a lot of people fall in love with Japanese horror movies. The story line and cinematography are both thrilling and exciting, it will make you want to watch the whole movie, even if you are too scared to! The story follows Reiko Asakawa, a TV station director who is fastinated by the strange death of four people who was interviewed about a Japanese urban legend.

            What strange is that all of them have watched a “curse video” claiming that anyone who watches the contents will die 7 days after. Reiko continues to investigate their deaths further and obtained a video of the real curse. After watching the contents, strange phenomena began to occur one after another around Reiko. Will she get out of this curse? Or will she turn into the fifth death?

 

 

 

2. Ju-on: The Grudge

 

Photo: Amazon

 

Another iconic Japanese horror, the storyline is about Rika Nishina, a college student who volunteered to take care of a bedridden old man, Yukie Tokunaga. One day, Rika visits his house and notices some odd things around the house. Surprised by the stench and scattered objects throughout the house, Rika discovers Yukie’s strange appearance in a dimly lit room. And the corpse of the son and his wife can be found from behind the ceiling.

            If reading this doesn’t give you goosebumps already, then you should definitely go watch the movie!

 

 

 

3. One Missed Call

 

Photo: toho

 

One Missed Called is a Japanese horror film released in 2003, it is about a cursed phone call that is unavoidable. The main characters are Yumi Nakamura and Yoko, it started from a strange call that was received on Yoko’s phone. The incoming call was from Yoko herself with her own voice. Three days later, Yoko dies a mysterious death. Same thing also happened to a friend of both Yumi and Yoko, who received an incoming call and die soon after.

Eventually, the phone call reached Yumi’s childhood friend, Natsumi Konishi, and Yumi struggles to save her childhood friend. And finally, Yumi receives a call. Will she survive this deathly curse?

 

 

 

4. The Joyurei: Don’t Look Up

 

 

Photo: interfilm 

 

A legendary horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, who also produced “Ring” and several Japanese horror films. It is about a new director Toshio Murai who was working on his debut film. However, he discovered that a mysterious woman appeared in the undeveloped film that was mixed in the test film. Several mysterious incidents began to occur one by one at the shooting site, and then dead people start appearing on the film.

            This movie will give you goosebumps as you watch it in fear, the camera work is so impressive that it will make you feel like you are in the movie!

 

 

 

5. Dark Water

 

Photo: amazon

 

This film is a classic that remains underrated till this day! Dark Water is about Yoshimi, a single mother in the midst of a divorce. Yoshimi is in a battle with her husband to gain custody of her daughter, Ikuko. Yoshimi knows that she is at a disadvantage as she is not in an independent stage, to prove she is able to take care of her daughter, she moves into a dilapidated apartment building, where the haunting begins.

At first, there was a leak in the ceiling, then black hair appears in the tap water, and a child ghost appears halfway through the film. This creepy storyline will run chills down your spine! Don’t let the innocent mother and daughter relationship fool you!

 

 

 

6. Tales of Terror from Tokyo and All Over Japan

 

 Photo: amazon

 

Tales of Terror is an anthology of short horror films and vignettes, some as short as merely 5 or 6 minutes, some as long as 20 minutes. The location and language are Japanese, but there is very little need to read the subtitles. The eeriness of these short stories is gripping and requires little dialog to relate. The series is full of separate and unrelated horror tales, although it is short, it is just enough to build a creepy atmosphere and tension in each story.

            The stories range from stark horror, to merely strange, and a few are even humorous. Most of these tales centre around strange apparitions or hauntings, and many of them involve doors and what might be lurking on the other side. The film directors make very effective use of hidden horror in these films. The build-up tension makes it so interesting and addictive to watch.

 

 

 

7. Gakkou no Kaidan: School Ghost Stories

 

Photo: amazon

 

On the way home, Mika Shinoda witnessed a mysterious soccer ball bouncing on its own in front of an old school. Then, Mika mysteriously disappeared after following the sound of laughter into the bathroom. The rumours of the school being haunted, with strange things happening around 4:44 am, where disappearance of children soon emerge. Mika’s older sister and her group of friends decided to go into the haunted school to find her . Soon, they realised that these rumours were true and now they must find Mika and save themselves from the malevolent ghosts that haunt the school building

 

 

 

8. Tomie

 

 

Photo: kadokawa

 

Tomie is based on the mystery horror manga released by Junji Ito. It is about Tsukiko Izumisawa, a college student who suffered from memory disorder due to a traffic accident three years ago. Tsukiko undergone hypnosis under the guidance of a psychiatrist, Tatsuko Hosono.

On the other hand, a detective is also chasing the missing case of Tomie Kawakami (Miho Kanno), a friend of Tsukiko. The detective visited Tatsuko’s house the same day that hypnotic Tsukiko slowly mumbles the name “Tomie”, the truth about the mysterious case slowly reveals as Tsukiko slowly remembers what really happened.

 

 

 

9. For My Daughter’s 7th Birthday

 

 

Photo: amazon

 

Mayumi and her daughter live a poverty life in an old apartment. Mayumi relentlessly blows a grudge against her husband who abandoned the two mother and daughter, and eventually commits suicide on New Year’s Day, when Maya, their daughter turned seven. Thirty-five years later, a women named Yoshiko Ikehata is murdered at home.

The police investigated the case and believed that this is a grudge-related incident. This movie is more of an unsolved mysterious rather than a thrilling horror movie. It is great a film if you are looking for something more mind-puzzling rather than jump scares!

 

 

 

10. Audition

 

 Photo: amazon

 

Audition is about Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), who suddenly lost his wife and was still shocked and deeply affected by it. He runs a video production company, and lived quietly with his only son, Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki). One day, at the suggestion of his friend Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura), they decided to hold an audition called movie production and find a remarriage partner for Aoyama among the participants.
            Attracted by Asami Yamazaki, a woman who is particularly eye-catching among the participants. Aoyama and Asami begin dating, however, Aoyama soon realised that Asami is not the women he believes she was….

 

 

 

11. Sadako Vs Kayako

 

 

 Photo: amazon


Sadako Vs Kayako is about college students Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) and Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro) who have obtained the rumoured "curse video". After watching the cursed videotape, Suzuka has only two days before she will be killed by demonic entity Sadako. When they asked for help from the psychics Tamao and Keizo, they suggested that there was no choice and the only way to save a doomed schoolgirl from Sadako’s curse is to introduce another curse into the mix. Needless to say, things did not go as plan.

 

 

 

12. The Complex

 

 

Photo: amazon

 

Asuka Ninomiya (Atsuko Maeda) has moved to the so-called housing complex with her family. One day, Asuka met a boy named Minoru (Tanaka Kansei) whom she met in the housing complex, he claims that he was living with a person with no blood connection.

            One day, early in the morning, an alarm clock went off from the next room, Asuka was suspicious of the unstoppable sound. When she asked her neighbour, there was no answer. From that day onwards, a mysterious phenomenon will strike Asuka and her family in a never-ending cycle.

 

 

 

13. Noroi: The Curse

 

 

Photo: amazon

 

The home of Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki), a mysterious true story writer and documentary filmmaker, burned down at midnight. His wife’s corpse was found but Kobayashi himself disappeared. The tragic event occurred just before the documentary "Noroi" was stored because it revealed to have a shocking content. 

 

 

 

 

Source

Eigahitotottobi

Filmaga.filmarks

Ranking.goo.ne

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