I saw a 2002 Korean serial killer movie 'H'. It was alright. Nicely directed, produced, and acted, but it felt like an amalgamation of other popular serial killer movies, primarily Seven and Silence of the Lambs. It had a couple original ideas, but those ideas were placed in service of serial killer movie cliches. There are better South Korean Horror serial killer movies than this one, notably Chaser and Memories of Murder. Speaking of Memories of Murder, this movie has strong elements of that one as well. H did have some gory scenes at least. Outside of being fairly derivative, there isn't that much wrong with it, it is watchable. There just isn't much in the way of surprises, as I have seen this movie before within other movies.

A Tale of Two Sisters
 

I got around to watching A Tale of Two Sisters, a 2003 Korean horror film which had caught my attention for being on so many Asian horror move 'best-of" lists. While it wasn't a bad movie, I wouldn't include it among my favorite Asian horror films. The problem is it is derivative of other films. It is about twin teenage girls who move back into their childhood home where their cruel stepmother (is there any other kind of stepmother?) now lives. After the move, strange things begin to happen in the house. This is a nicely mounted production and not a low budget affair, it is well acted, scripted, and filmed. The direction and editing and not rushed, and it is well paced and confidently shot. The camera angles and color compositions reflect a very sure hand from the director Kim Jee-woon. I will have to grant that A Tale of Two Sisters did have a couple of scary moments. However there is a fairly derivative element which diminished the movie for me which I will discuss below the spoilers alert...
SPOILERS BELOW...
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This movie had an 'imaginary' character too many. It almost becomes the movie which Charlie Kaufman's 'Adaptation' parodies with the concept of 'The Three'. Ultimately it ended up feeling arbitrary and only tried to pull the rug out from under the audience simply for the sake of a surprise. This movie reduces the narrative trick of undermining the audience assumption about the solidity of a character, a la The Sixth Sense or The Fight Club, to a kind of banality. In the end this movie felt like it was built out of components from other successful movies and thus lacked originality. A Tale of Two Sisters is so slickly made that I can see how it gets away with that and ends up on so many 'best-of' lists, but for me this re-tread aspect reduces the movie to simply being passable. Take the typical long-haired women ghosts of Japanese horror and combine them with Fight Club style alter egos, and you have a Tale of Two Sisters. It's well-made, yes, but it is still just an imitation of other movies, and it can not escape this sense of being a 'second-hand' story.

Kuroyuri Danchi aka The Complex (2013)

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A Hideo Nakata J-horror. Though it was promoted as inspired by modern Swedish classic Let the Right One In but it actually offers quite a different story. The first half was good, the build-up was interesting but the end product is nothing new. Kinda sloppy at the end. Moreover, that kid-ghost wasn't much scary. But overall, a decent time-waster.

>>: B

THE QUIET FAMILY 1998

A horror-comedy about a dysfunctional family who pin all their hopes and dreams on a lodge they have recently purchased.

I was glad I happened upon it.

Not so much fan of Takashi Mike's version of this (The Happiness of the Katakuris) but yeah...loved this one. Cleverly plotted, a great thriller with awesome doze of humor.

The last seen Asian movie I've seen was Battle Royale and I own both films on blue ray which they came together that way. I didn't get so much for the second one but I did like however how they brought a few characters from the first one: that's the only thing that I liked about it.

Ab-Normal Beauty (2004) I didn't think much of this, it had a good score and cinematography but I didn't enjoy it much-found it a bit boring and when the horror came it lacked the impact it should have had.

ONIBABA (1963). Really creepy/atmospheric Japanese film about a mother/daughter-in-law trying to survive in a feudal Samurai war zone with a soldiers mask serving as a focal point. Some nudity and some spicy goings on as well::embarrassment::::big grin::. ****

Not necessarily horror but I recently watched The Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) and there's quite a bit of gore throughout. Oldboy is probably the best film of the series while Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is probably the goriest. The ending to which is absolutely brutal.