THE LAST FRANKENSTEIN
This 1992 Japanese production is that rarity of rarities: a successful attempt at reimagining a classic story
TOMIE (Film)
A popular, heavily sequalized Japanese horror-fest, one of several to follow in the wake of the phenomenally successful RINGU
TOKYO FIST
A masterwork from one of Japan’s greatest contemporary filmmakers, Shinya Tsukamoto
RINGU
Forget about SCREAM or THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT—RINGU is the state of the art in nineties-era horror
DEMON POND (1979)
A little known stunner by Japan’s Masahiro Shinoda, whose visual brilliance, audacity and fecund imagination are put to excellent use in this spectacular Kabuki-styled fantasy
CURE
The artful and disturbing CURE was the breakout film by Japan’s Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and is still arguably his finest work
DREAM SPECTRES: EXTREME UKIYO-E
A lively, user-friendly study of ukiyo-e (“images from the floating world”) woodblock printed art from 18th and 19th Century Japan
IREZUMI
A key work by one of Japan’s neglected masters of cinema, director Yasuzo Masumura, who in IREZUMI created a starkly violent and perverse account of obsession, revenge and elaborate tattoos
THE NEIGHBOR NO. 13
A film that offers a wicked twist on the age-old theme of a wimp taking revenge on his tormentors, this is a harsh, violent piece of work with an assured and compelling visual style
HAUSU
A far weirder than average haunted house movie from Japan, a heavily stylized film dealing with issues of sexuality and femininity