J-horror Inquirer article

eigagogo at free.fr eigagogo
Fri Jun 9 05:41:41 EDT 2006


?Ghost of hunchback? is indeed an interesting movie ! If its gothic inspiration
is quite evident (haunted mansion & hunchback ), some typically ?ero-guro?
extravaganza moments recalls so well its japanese origin. I would like to dig
the Sato filmography to check if this kind of western-influenced flick is
unique in the 60?s japanese productions or belong to a more wide ?trend?.
Anyone saw the Okura?s ?Blood of the 99th virgin? ?

To an extent, i like to think about some ?early 60?s pinku? as being a kind of
?hybrid? horror. In some Okura productions, mix of horror/erotism/thriller made
some interesting results,   Wakamatsu?s claustrophobic pinku (Embryo,..) are
worth mentionning too.



Selon "J.sharp" <j.sharp at hpo.net>:

> I think it is a mistake to analyse this in terms of a basic dichotomy
> between East and West as represented by the two extremes of Japan and
> Hollywood. Horror as a global cinematic genre has over its history received
> inspiration from all sorts of diverse sources, and had a long and
> interesting history long before Hollywood belatedly discovered how
> profitable it could be with its coffee-table horros like Rosemary's Baby and
> The Omen.
>
>
> Firstly, horror is most certainly not an exclusively all-American genre. In
> its most simple model, its literary origins, the writings of Stoker,
> Shelley, Conan Doyle, Le Fanu et al are British or Irish (with the exception
> of Poe). Its cinematic origins, the expressive use of light and shadow and
> camera movement was brought by the Germans in films like Caligari, Faust and
> Nosferatu. These elements were first combined and applied in a commercial
> formula in the Universal films from the 1931 adaptations of Dracula,
> Frankenstein and the Invisible Man onwards. But the first American horror
> boom from Universal was pretty short, barely lasting into the 40s where it
> came to an ignoble end with all those ridiculous House of Frankenstein type
> mad monster conventions, where they'd throw in Dracula, the mummy, the
> wolfman, Frankenstein and the rest of them into one 70-minute film. For the
> 50s, Hollywood was more concerned with paranoid "reds under the bed"
> fantasies, with the Russians represented by flying saucers or giant
> radioactive insects crawling around Arizona. Horror was effectively replaced
> by science fiction in America after the war.
>
> But this I think makes the synchronous arrival of the groundbreaking genre
> films of  Terence Fisher at Hammer studios and Nobuo Nakagawa at Shintoho
> all the more interesting.
> Why did two countries at opposite sides of the world begin work in a genre
> they had never really touched before (ok, there were British horrors in the
> 30s, but it was never a hugely successful market) but which was to become so
> lucrative to their industries (albeit at different points in history). Part
> of the answer is probably due to a relaxation in censorship after the war -
> weren't horror films banned in the UK during the war?
>
> One thing that I have always been unclear on is the question of where Nobuo
> Nakagawa's increasingly bloody Kaidan films like Ghost of Yotsuya were in
> anyway influenced by Hammers films, or in other words, were Hammer films
> ever released in Japan during the late 50s. I don't think they could have
> been, because most of these works were being made at exactly the same time.
> Its just a coincidence.
>
> Anyway, during the 60s horror was pretty much dominated by the Europeans -
> mainly the Italians, Germans and British. America had a few notable
> additions later on in the decade, namely Rosemary's Baby and Night of the
> Living Dead, but for the most part its contributions were either forgotton
> z-grade exploitation films for the drive-in market or in the case of Roger
> Corman's Poe adaptations, emulations of European films.
>
> The Japanese horror film in the 60s boasts one interesting sounding title I
> have never seen, entitled Ghost of the Hunchback / Kaidan Semushi Otoko
> (1965), directed by Hajime Sato for Toei . The Aurum Encyclopedia of Horror
> describes this as belonging to a gothic tradition then very prevalent in
> Italy "with lighting and costumes and modelled on the gothic films of Mario
> Bava and Antonio Margeriti". Could this really be true? Were Bava's films
> released in Japan in the early 60s?
>
> So in other words, rather than looking at J-horror vis-a-vis American horror
> traditions, its necessary to look at the whole picture and ask questions
> like why did Italy start making horror films the same time as Britain and
> Japan. Did these countries continue making horrorf films perhaps because
> they were easy to sell to the American market? Which American, British,
> Italian German or whatever horror films were actually screened in Japan
> around the same time they were released?
>
> Regarding the second point, Nakata has never denied his influence from
> Hollywood films, both in Videodrone, The Haunting, Poltergeist for the first
> Ring, and Exorcist 2 in the second - he always in interviews cites these as
> explicit influences. As the genre's strongest proponent in Japan, Kiyoshi
> Kurosawa has very eclectic viewing habits for example, and I know that he is
> as big a fan of Italian gothic films by the likes of Mario Bava as he is of
> the work of Jean-Luc Godard, and he certainly watches a lot of American
> horror too.
>
>
> This is just my view of the complex picture to counter all these articles
> about J-horror and threads I keep seeing on film websites to the effect of
> "Japan is a new source of inspiration for Hollywood but thats ok because
> they have been stealing ideas from Hollywood for decades".
>
> Any thoughts on this, anyone?
>
> Jasper
>
>
>
>
> --------- Original Message --------
> From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Subject: RE: J-horror Inquirer article
> Date: 08/06/06 18:59
>
> >
> > This kind of brings up a point that I've discussed
> > with several people. There is a tendency to assume
> > that &quot;foreign&quot; (i.e. non-American) cinemas are
> > completely isolated, drawing only on influences within
> > their respective cultures, but the impact of American
> > films on any cinema cannot be denied. Film makers are
> > like anybody else, they like to imitate their favorite
> > film makers, so it comes to, who laid the chicken and
> > who cracked the egg?
> >
> > --- Mark Mays &lt;tetsuwan at comcast.net&gt; wrote:
> >
> > &gt; Ordinarily, I'd say blame us in the media, however,
> > &gt; I think this was a fan
> > &gt; thing. Everything from Japan (except animation) that
> > &gt; achieves a level of
> > &gt; cultural cache is given the appellation &quot;J-*****&quot;.
> > &gt; It's nominally a simple
> > &gt; declaration of origin, however it takes on all sorts
> > &gt; of meaning, you know .
> > &gt; . . .
> > &gt;
> > &gt; Influence, btw, is so cyclical. Yeah, there's been
> > &gt; bits and pieces of things
> > &gt; showing up in Holly-woof films, and well I suppose a
> > &gt; remake signifies the
> > &gt; ultimate in &quot;influence.&quot; However, there are a bunch
> > &gt; of critics I know who
> > &gt; will eagerly point out what they see as the
> > &gt; influence of Western horror
> > &gt; films in the recent Japanese horror boom. How does
> > &gt; one separate the two when
> > &gt; examining a single work? I don't know if it is so
> > &gt; easy.
> > &gt;
> > &gt; -----Original Message-----
> > &gt; From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > &gt; [mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] On
> > &gt; Behalf Of Mathieu
> > &gt; St-Pierre
> > &gt; Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 6:49 PM
> > &gt; To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > &gt; Subject: Re: J-horror Inquirer article
> > &gt;
> > &gt; Does anybody know where the term &quot;J-HORROR&quot; come
> > &gt; from? Because to my opinion
> > &gt;
> > &gt; this thing never really exist... What I mean is
> > &gt; Japanese horror movies
> > &gt; always been around. It only been massively
> > &gt; recognized by the U.S. and Europe
> > &gt;
> > &gt; with the arrival of Ring. But the term &quot;J-HORROR&quot;
> > &gt; was probably used by the
> > &gt; movie industry in the u.s. or the DVD industry to
> > &gt; sell more easily something
> > &gt;
> > &gt; that was difficult to market at that time. So
> > &gt; &quot;J-HORROR&quot; would only be a
> > &gt; market name so to speak. Maybe the critics started
> > &gt; using it afterward. But,
> > &gt; I may be all wrong. This is just my opinion.
> > &gt;
> > &gt;
> > &gt; Mathieu St-Pierre
> > &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;yeah thanks for the article, i am doing my phd on
> > &gt; j-horror's influence on
> > &gt; &gt;hollywood do u have anything else on this subject?
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;Emma Newbery BA
> > &gt; &gt;Programme Leader
> > &gt; &gt;BTEC National Diploma in Media (Moving Image)
> > &gt; &gt;Blackpool and the Fylde College
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;From: Michael McCaskey &lt;mccaskem at georgetown.edu&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Reply-To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Subject: Re: J-horror Inquirer article
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:16:08 -0400
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Many thanks! You all are practically writing my
> > &gt; new lecture for me.
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Michael McCaskey
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;----- Original Message -----
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;From: Brian Ruh &lt;brianruh at yahoo.com&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Date: Thursday, June 8, 2006 1:12 pm
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;Subject: Re: J-horror Inquirer article
> > &gt; &gt;&gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; On 2006.6.8, at 11:17  AM, Michael McCaskey
> > &gt; wrote:
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; &gt; Does anyone know about any other non-horror
> > &gt; remakes, recent or on
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; &gt; the horizon?
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; After my previous post I saw the announcement
> > &gt; that New Line has bought
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; the rights to remake Battle Royale:
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/060608b.php
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; = Brian
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; Brian's Essential Reading:
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; Book:     http://www.oshiibook.com
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt; Research: http://www.animeresearch.com
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;
> > &gt; &gt;&gt; &gt;
> > &gt; __________________________________________________
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