THAT'S IT - I am DONE with Asian horror - these guys are total jokes!

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I know that guy might generalize and stereotype a bit, but the bottom line is that most American movie goers prefer braindead movies. It's not really their own fault, but Hollywood film makers have throughout a long time dumbed them down with remakes, poor blockbusters etc. I mean, think about it... look at the movies shown at mainstream cinemas. Rarely if ever a foreign movie's shown. And mindless gore has become a big cliche in modern horror. Hostel might be a bad example, as it actually had a strong point as well as irony to boot, but stuff like Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning and the whole Saw franchise really are hitting rock bottom with poor directing, bad acting, nonsense plot but a lot of gore to try to make up for all the movies faults, and people actually buy it. Some people even think the original Saw film is the best horror movie ever made. And really, when it comes to Asain horror, there might be a trend that's been going on for some time with the evil spirit theme, but again... you don't have to look far from the mainstream horror to find some good stuff here as well, and a couple of the evil spirit films are still working out great, even though they've been boring for some time now. Try stuff like Gozu, Uzumaki, Tetsuo and Cure for some mind-altering experinces... also more fun stuff like Bio Zombie, The Host, Happiness Of The Katakuris, Wild Zero, Versus, Rahtree and Doppelganger is worth checking out.

I don't agree with anything you said really but i do feel that Japanese horror has in a way began to parody itself over the last 2 years by "re-making" older versions of successful horror films all be it with a few more twists.

I do get the sense i'm watching the same move sometimes but that said i do not believe modern american horror has any edge at all.

I've been making my rounds on the IMDb movie boards in an effort to rectify the common misunderstandings regarding Asian horror. All I keep hearing are ill-advised assertions that Asian horror is repetitive and formulaic, when no one bothers to watch more than a handful of titles. The fact of the matter is that Asian horror is by far the most original and imaginative film industry in the world.

Click on the following link for a thread to get you started: http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000024/nest/85822569?p=1

Although the long-haired ghost makes an appearance in numerous East Asian horror movies, there are a ton of other psychological/philosophical ideas that are represented by the genre.

I don’t like Asian horror movies because they’re Asian. I like them because they have original and interesting content that quite simply doesn’t EXIST in American cinema. There is no quality American equivalent to A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), Cure (1997), Kairo (2001) (though they tried), Diary (2006), Abnormal Beauty (2004), Marebito (2004), Audition (1999), Koma (2004), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Strange Circus (2005), Alone (2007), Spider Forest (2004), Chaos (1999), Retribution (2006), Charisma (1999), MPD Psycho (2000), Hypnotist (1999), Uzumaki (2000), Rampo Noir (2005), Three Extremes (2004), Suicide Circle (2002), etc.

Now consider some of the following psychological/philosophical concepts that appear in Asian films:

1. The fractured mind of a young girl as expressed through a magnificently-structured blend of delusions.

2. The concept of identity expressed through a battle of wills between a detective and a genius who uses the power of suggestion to set in motion a series of killings throughout a city.

3. The strong jealousy and resentment of a woman as expressed through paranoid schizophrenia.

4. The childhood abuse of a girl as expressed through morbid photography.

5. The revitalization of a man’s vitality and will to live as expressed through his bloodletting relationship with an otherworldly being.

6. The concept of memory as expressed through apocalyptic spirits.

7. Commercialism and pop culture are criticized by making suicide the next fad.

8. False dichotomies and the relationship between the individual and society as expressed through a tree, its surrounding forest, and the people who fight for each side.

Now consider some of the plotlines that appear in Asian horror films:

1. A psychotic organ thief revitalizes the independence and health of a friend through suicide.

2. A man seeks vengeance by destroying the world with rusty metal protrusions.

3. A detective with a split personality tries to stop a serial killer who was once a personality within himself.

4. A hypnotist kills his enemies through persuasion of suicide via a specific frequency of sound waves.

5. Women seek beauty through the eating of dead fetuses.

6. An entire town is terrorized by spiral patterns.

There are tons of other examples I could list (especially in other genres), but this will suffice to make a point. There simply aren’t quality American movies that provide this type of diversity, content, or depth. How do you explain the absence of such concepts/themes in American horror cinema? Did no scriptwriter in the entirety of the United States of America even bother to think of something more than a bunch of naked teens getting slaughered/tortured in different venues? Did they really waste the better part of decades of filmmaking on carbon-copies? You bet.

It is funny, however, that a previous poster defended Hostel by pointing out that the first torture scene came at the 40-minute mark - like anything that came before it was even remotely intelligent.

Click on the link below for my Asian movie recommendation listing:

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur10058980/boards/profile/

maybe hes trying to say what im thinking, wow, what a waste of my time. i usually like asian horrors, this one sucked big time

I think someone killing both their children and then a bunch of strangers just to prove some stupid crap about souls and reincarnation is pretty damn scary. :P hahah
And just because people in different countries do things differently doesn't mean they ought to change it. Heck, if we called each other only by titles then we'd never mess up anyone's name and we'd never have to be embarrassed. Also, I'm pretty sure they do use names as well. :P

Looking at your posting history, it seems that you like the Saw films and think global warming is a myth.

In other words, you're a moron who wouldn't know taste or intelligence if they gang-raped you.

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