I actually liked Dark Water, or at least towards the end when the horrible girl was revealed in the lift (haven't seen the American remake).

I think the stark fact is that Westerners cannot engage with Asian characters as much as they would like to, whether viewers pretend to or not. The acting is difficult to grade too because of the language barrier. And sometimes you simply can't be arsed to read - the constant lowering of the eyes away from the action onscreen can make subtitled films a bit of a chore.

The Japs can do 'scary' very well, mind - but the renaissance of their classic films through the worldwide DVD revolution together with their latest rather tired stuff is wearing a bit thin, and I'm not sure if more creepy-haired girls and ghostly kids can save it.

Tadanobu Asano can

what i really liked about the film was the growing sense of helplessness and frustration the mother was dealing with .. trying to be a mother, a provider, balancing the job and her independence - and screwing up (being late for school)

it effectively set her up for everything else that was happening at the apartment ..

i have to say i was completely engaged in this case ... japanese or not ..

now - to be truly bossy - i'd recommend the chit chat over the last few pages be removed and the thread locked (except, perhaps, to allow a few more blurbs to fill out the few films that are not discussed) - then i'll be truly happy

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Chit chat?

We were briefly discussing the rise and imminent fall of Asian horror cinema in the West.

'Top Film Charts' are always going to generate discussion about their content.

But yes, lock the thread before it degenerates into the usual anal-sex discourse.

:cool:

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Whether or not you participated, I'd still like imput on the list. I think it turned out to be a great compilation by a group of people very knowledgable about horror. I know there are some blurbs missing (one of the mods has kindly agreed to attatch the blurbs for me now that it's stickied) but I'm still extremely pleased as it stands. I think there were a total of 28 participants. I know some of you have asked about writing missing blurbs. I'm now that we're stickied & ready to go, just send me your requests and I'll tell you if someone is already on it or not.

I'll do Opera and I Spit on Your Grave :cool:

Should I PM them to you or something?

Great list. I've only seen about half the movies, though I've heard about all of them, heh.