Spooky Season '25
a couple of underseen recommendations, inspired by my recent travels to Japan...
Maybe it’s because I’ve made a couple of trips to Japan in the last year- but more people need to watch some Japanese Horror movies- yes, even those you who don’t particularly like being scared- I’m giving you some fun, scare-minimal recommendations for Halloween.
You’ve probably heard of “The Substance”, or had a passing familiarity with the Conjuring movies- my goal here is to give you something a little more obscure off-the-beaten path: to say I’ve watched a lot of horror movies is a bit of an understatement, so this season is my time to shine. But if you haven’t watched the 1954 Godzilla in a while- go watch it! The Criterion remaster is beautiful.
My first two recommendations are themed to the undead: not vampires, or ghosts, but the “zed” word: Tokyo Zombie and One Cut of the Dead. Each of these is charming, a little bloody, and more than a little bit funny. The droll, matter-of-fact approach to zombies is a little like Japan’s answer to Shaun of the Dead- maybe not as laugh-out-loud funny, but understated. Dry. So very a Japanese response to a zombie pandemic.
Tokyo Zombie (東京ゾンビ) has been described as not really a horror movie, or a zombie movie, but a jiu-jitsu movie: and it is, as the zombie apocalypse- brought about by an increasingly problematic waste disposal system- leads to a couple of slacker warehouse workers taking out zombies. This is mostly ineffectual and pretty funny. Not appropriate for younger audiences (more for the roughness of the factory workers’ language and crudity than for any violence), this is still an underrated and little-seen zombie movie. Currently not streaming in the U.S, you’ll have to do some homework to watch it. Sorry not sorry.
My next recommendation, “One Cut of the Dead” (2017) is maybe one of the best things to come out of Japan in the last few years- at least in horror. Upon starting this, you may say “Josh, why am I watching this? It’s not very good”. And that’s okay- stick with it, and after 20 minutes you will really start to understand- this is a joyful movie, heartwarming, even. I don’t say it lightly, and I really recommend going in blind and knowing little about the plot- it makes it that much better. Ahh! I can’t say any more. Just watch.
There’s lots of ridiculous fake blood- so be warned- but it’s not serious, obviously fake, and the blood is played in an over-the-top way. If that helps. Maybe it does. It was remade in France as “One Cut” a couple of years ago- but I don’t know of the quality. “One Cut of the Dead” can be rented on Apple, Amazon, streamed on Shudder or apparently for free on Hoopla! (I don’t know what that is).
But if zombies aren’t your thing, and you like black and white ghost movies, then my other recs would be Onibaba (1964) and Ugetsu (1953). Both are brooding, melancholic, and haunting. Nobody does ghost movies like Japan- and these two, set during the feudal period of Japan, portray themes of guilt, intrigue, and a quiet psychological horror like few modern movies are capable of doing. Onibaba and Ugetsu both stream on HBO Max, with Ugetsu additionally found on the app Kanopy (a free U.S-based service that you use by signing up with your library card, and I cannot recommend enough- the UI may be a pain, but the library of films makes Netflix look like chump change).
I hope this tiny article encourages someone to watch at least one movie this Halloween time- if so, then I have continued my good work of spreading the gospel of horror to the ersatz-normal masses... Please let me know if you’ve seen any of these!
Happy watching.
—JS