J Horror Genre

Japanese horror also known as J-Horror is a unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments. The focus is mainly on psychological horror and tension building particularly with ghosts and poltergeists. The themes mainly revolve around Yokai and precognition. As seen in the more popular J-Horror in the west, The Ring, The Grudge, and One missed call. Yokai translated literally means demon, spirit or monster. It is a class of preternatural, meaning supernatural but have rational explanations as yet unknown (such as the Loch Ness monster) who are creatures in Japanese folklore. The origins of these creatures and the inspiration for the movies can be traced back to ghost story classics, known as Kaidan, told in Japan during the Edo and Meiji period. Due to the success of The Ring in western theatres, it bought about the knowledge of Yurei, which had always existed in Japan for centuries. Yurei are Japanese ghosts bound to the physical world through strong emotions that do not allow them to pass on. This is displayed in The Ring, The Grudge, and One missed call, whereby the ghost is bound by desire for vengeance these are called Onryo. Onryo have a traditional appearance and follow a set of rules; they are often female, although there are male Onryo, and wear white clothing which is the traditional funeral garment, they have long black hair tied in with the tradition of growing it and keeping it pinned up only letting it down in death. All of these characteristics are found in The Ring’s Sadako and The Grudge’s Kayako. The Ring was directed by Hideo Nakata on a budget of $1.2 million, although it is unknown how much it made, the American remake directed by Gore Verbinski, made with a budget of $48 million, made a worldwide profit of $249,348,933. Ju-on The Grudge was directed by Takashi Shimizu made $3m worldwide, the American version directed by Takashi Shimizu again had a budget of $10m and made $187,281,115 worldwide. Due to the success of these movies, it seems that the western audience have fully embraced J-Horror.

Horror Genre

Horror films are made to frighten and awaken their hidden fears. There are different sub-genres within a horror film which could trigger their hidden fears for example; slasher, j-horror, supernatural, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. The sub genre I am going to go into detail about is Teen Horror. Teen horrors are made to scare teenage girls so the would want a hug from their boyfriend, they also have a predictable storyline, these storylines always out a teen in trouble that only a teenager would get into for example if a group of teens go on a road trip and their car brakes down, they would go and find help but they would come across an abandoned shelter which we then know something horrifying is going to happen but these teens have no clue as most of the teens in horror movies are jocks or the ‘cool’ kids (jocks are thought of as dumb and know nothing apart from sports). Furthermore parents would never understand never understand what kind of trouble the teenager has got into resulting in either them dying or the teen. The characters themselves are almost always in jeopardy because they did something stupid, irresponsible or wrong (broke curfew, smoked pot, used their parents' car without permission, explored the old mine shaft with warning signs posted, had sex).
Teen movies are about the action and thrills. Typical cast include a jock and his girl, a nerd and a misfit. The misfit often comes out as the hero or heroine who everyone always ignores. Teen horrors are often set in ordinary places where teens usually hang out like in a high school, also the events occur on special occasions like prom night for example. - Andy. Luc