oh, so the independent movies are 'hollywood' as well, are they?

I said "USUALLY"...and don't be ridiculous...Independent films, while predominantly lacking monetary support, are often endowed with more independent ideas and creativity than the big budget productions currently being offered by Hollywood...Too often, the most talented go unnoticed for the simple lack of fiduciary worth, if the playing field was equaled and money was less a factor than talent, we could truly enjoy an endless supply of innovative masterpieces...

well, the whole argument is moot, as I would prefer independent US movies to the Asian movies anyways. Independent US movies tend to leave in the scenes that explain wtf is going on

To go back to an earlier comment

YES I keep up-to-date with the japanese horror market and 8 out of 10 movies are fucking brilliant.

It sounds to me like you are one of these people that will not allow yourself to broaden your horizons. You probably say japanese films aren't better cos you dont like subtitles.

The FACT is that over the last 5 or 10 years the japanese market has produced pure classics that hollywood would never begin to think of and over the last 5 or 10 years Hollywood, america, england and everywhere else has managed only to produce 2nd rate unimaginative films or simply remade classics from the past.

At this moment in time I think that Takashi Miike or Hideo Nakata needs to teach Wes Craven how to make a horror movie.

LOL!!!! Oh, excuse me for a second, I have to catch my breath. Okay, I'm back. In case you haven't noticed, most of the time if I'm talking about a horror movie in a positive light, it's Japanese. Kaïro, Audition, Chaos, Cure, Uzumaki, Battle Royale, Seven Samurai, Ran, all great movies. Okay, Chaos wasn't that great, and Uzumaki raped the end of the manga, but the point remains valid. Implying that I don't want to broaden my movie horizons and that I don't like subtitles is really funny. My horizons are very broad.
Look, I love Japanese movies, foreign movies in general, as much as the next pretentious asshole. But insulting someone over a preference, something that happens a LOT on this board, is just dumb. And saying that every single country in the world produces movies that are second rate compared to Japan makes you look horribly ignorant, and to extend that to the last 5 to 10 years is worse. I mean, do you live in Japan or something? Do you watch 10 out of the 10 horror movies that come out in Japan? Yes, some great movies have come out of Japan. I'm not arguing with you there, but they've come out with their fair share of bad movies as well, probably more than just 2 out of every 10 movies to come out.

By the way, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is way better than Takashi Miike

I really cannot wait until this "OMG ITS JAPANESE SO ITS AWESOME" fad is over.

Re-read the original question. Over the last five years I think that the best Asian horror films are much better than the best horror films from the US or anywhere else. That doesn't mean that there are no crappy Asian horror films.



You may have to wait for them to stop making good movies. Don't hold your breath.

I do hope that the US rises to the challenge and makes more good horror.

Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures is producing Ju-On with the original director Shimizu. It begins filming in Jan-so I guess now. I actually hope all of these fall through. Release the originals instead of remaking them. I would love to see Battle Royale on the big screen.

And of course there are horrible Asian movies but let's just talk about horror.

Hollywood horror I've seen in the last few years. They, Darkness Falls, Chainsaw remake, Gothika, Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn-I can't even remember some of the other crap but man-barely any decent horror. The Ring had some general creepiness but it was a remake of an Asian horror movie. The Others was creepy but it was from a Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar. Hollywood hasn't made a decent, original horror flick in years.

Asian horror I've seen recently. Man-I love it.(I know some of these movies came out a few years back but I've just seen them) Audition, The Eye, Three( Memories is awesome. Perfect), Dark Water, Ju-On, A Tale of Two Sisters, Battle Royale was a blast and even a bad horror flick like Shiver is still better than most of the crap in hollywood.

It's no fad. Asians do better horror than North America.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ what he said

The americans do a few major things wrong imho,

1, they concentrate on the teen audience, hence they are thrillers not true horror
2, they get teen starlets to star in them so the said teens will flock hoping to get a flash of tit
3, and this is what really puts the final nail in the coffin for me, they have screenings then change the film according to audience feedback

would any of those asian films you mentioned ever have made the screen if the 1,2,3 lets make money rules had been followed?
It's a shame because the USA have all the money and they talk in English, shame they couldn't make a scary film for shit (unless you count peewee herman, shiver)
I am sure eventualy it will change, people are quickly tiring of the formularic rubbish and once the takings start to drop maybe a proper director etc will get an unrestrained chance.

Fingers crossed,
Bub

Not talking about their movies, I'm talking about all the people who will automatically say anything out of Japan is good, and compare it movies that are totally different from it. I swear, the asian horror fans are worse than the anime freaks sometimes.

Yes, I would like to see the originals make the big screen, too, but they won't. And there's a very good reason for it; nobody would go to see them. Damn, that money hungry hollywood strikes again.

And again, we seem to be generalizing the American movies. You mentioned They, Darkness Falls, Chainsaw remake, Gothika, Cabin Fever, and Wrong Turn. All Hollywood movies. Well, wait, the Hollywood ones are bad...Hollywood is in America, so logically ALL the American ones are just like the Hollywood ones.

There are horrible Asian horror movies.



Yes, it's a fad. Asia produces good horror movies, some great ones. But Asians are just as capable of making bad movies of any kind as anybody in any country.

And as for the poll, why is there no "I like them both" option?

True. . .