80 All-Japanese Horror Movies: World of Terror

By Steve Hutchison

This book contains 80 descriptions of horror films reviewed and ranked by critic Steve Hutchison. Each description includes five ratings (stars, story, creativity, acting, quality), a synopsis and a review. All movies were produced exclusively by Japan. How many have you seen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hutchison
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778870774

Steve Hutchison

Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

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INTRODUCTION

This book contains 80 descriptions of horror films reviewed and ranked by critic Steve Hutchison. Each description includes five ratings (stars, story, creativity, acting, quality), a synopsis and a review. All movies were produced exclusively by Japan. How many have you seen?

One Cut of the Dead

2017

Things go sour for a director, his crew, and his cast while shooting a zombie film, as the undead actually rise from the grave.

This film will require all your attention. Every detail matters. The first 37 minutes were shot with one camera, in one take, and that, in itself, considering the rhythm and special effects involved, is something to witness. Some filmmakers have attempted this in the past, but rarely with such accuracy. The first act is absolutely bonkers. It is incessant. It is a frantic masterpiece.

And then, there’s everything else. The second act will remain unspoiled, and the third one is nothing but twists. This is, simply put, one of the best and most creative horror films in history. One Cut of the Dead is a movie about people making a movie, and that doesn’t even begin to describe what awaits. The actors are sublime, but the first act only reveals a glimpse of their potential.

The thing is, the whole crew’s working miracles. The cameramen are giving all they have, which is an understatement considering what you’re signing up for. They’re extremely agile, precise, and only surpassed by the actors’ calculated yet vivid performances. One question resurfaces every five minutes: what the fuck are we watching? Answers will come. Better enjoy the ride till everything adds up!

Battle Royale

2000

The Japanese government secludes ninth-graders on a deserted island and forces them to kill each other.

Battle Royale’s premise is ludicrous but memorable for the same reasons. It is a troubling drama interlaced with heartbreaking romance. At the core is an all-out war that can’t end well. The film is tense from the first scenes in and foreshadows shocking events: students; friends and enemies, are forced to kill each other using randomly assigned weapons.

Two wild cards are thrown in the mix: a returning contestant and a psychopathic volunteer. They are battle-ready and they steal the show, casting a shadow on lesser characters. The weaker moments are highly philosophical and often anticlimactic, which might rub some viewers the wrong way. Fortunately, the action scenes compensate for the few weaker ones.

The island is gorgeous and filmed just right. It is made of beautiful plateaus, mountains and shores that would feel dreamy in a different film. The sadistic game’s design makes good use of the environment and we get a good sense of geography. There are many characters for the script to manage so the pacing gets wobbly, but Battle Royale mostly keeps us biting our nails at the edge of our seats.

Gantz: O

2016

A teenager is resurrected by a computer and forced to fight in a war against aliens.

Gantz: O is a 3-D Japanese science fiction anime based on the manga series Gantz, known for its gore and originality, about a posthumous survival game where resurrected humans hunt down aliens. Words can hardly describe how imaginative this story is. It takes a while to wrap your head around, though. Gantz: O almost feels like it was made for a future generation of movie-goers.

Creature design is one of the most memorable facets of Gantz: O. The monsters were meant to scare and create uneasiness as much as they were built to kill. This story takes place in a near future, and, while much happens in the foreground, cutting-edge architecture and props make this story all the more exotic. We get little exposition time, and no pacing issues.

So, really, the only thing missing, here, is a reason to care for the protagonists. Attempts at humanizing them are made, in vain. The romance doesn’t gel, either. What you’re really signing up for is incessant action with martial arts and cool, futuristic weapons. What’s more, Gantz: O is structured like a video game: leveling-up, increasingly stronger weapons, and an incremental scope.

Destroy All Monsters

1968

Giant monsters escape a human controlled tropical island and wreak havoc in major cities around the world.

Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gorasaurus, Angilus and a bunch of others escape a technologically controlled island in yet another over-the-top crossroad of Japan’s classic kaijus. First, you imagine an epic battle royal, but then the film sucker punches you into something completely different, though just as cool. It turns out the monsters escape and pick their favorite major city. Destruction ensues.

Those franchises and their spin-offs have, at times, been cuter than horrific, and fans of all franchises find a common ground in these versus films. This is one of the