30 Best Japanese Horror Movies To Watch

Directed by legendary genre filmmaker Takashi Miike and based on the novel by Ryū Murakami, “Audition” is a frequent flier in J-horror listicles like this one. Chalk that up to its strange blend of horror and romantic drama.

Urged by his son to find a wife, a widower holds a fake audition to skip the soul-chewing, time-gobbling hassle of dating. The man becomes smitten with a mysterious former model, Asami, and they begin a whirlwind romance. Naturally, there’s something wrong with Asami, and we get a trickle of revelations about this, but not enough to learn the extent of Asami’s insanity — until it’s too late.

The film unfolds like an arthouse drama, lacking the usual musical cues, cinematographic style, and horror tropes. As such, “Audition” is a refreshing sucker punch that will make you delete Tinder. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Set in the ’70s, shot in the mid-to-late ’90s, reshot until 2009, and unreleased until 2012, Shinichi Fukazawa’s “Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell” is a must-see — primarily due to its reputation as “the Japanese Evil Dead.”

Fukazawa’s first film draws liberally from Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic “The Evil Dead” and the third Evil Dead film, 1992’s “Army of Darkness” — but it’s not a remake. There’s no Necronomicon, no Japanese translation of “Klaatu verata nikto,” and the evil spirits don’t have a cool name (Deadites). But the film has mostly one location, cackling demons, and pretty good low-budget practical effects. And the cherry on top? A denim-clad Japanese Bruce Campbell lookalike with a boomstick.

We wouldn’t call “Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder in Hell” a great film, but it’s a fun horror deep cut, gooey gorefest, and cultural curiosity. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

We thought Steve Miner’s “House” (1986) was the wackiest haunted house movie we’d seen. Leave it to Japan to have made an even stranger one nine years earlier.

In Nobuhiko Obayashi’s film, seven girls named for their traits or talents — Gorgeous, Mac, Fantasy, Sweet, Kung Fu, Prof, and Melody — visit one girl’s elderly aunt, a virtual stranger. Thanks to haunted house tropes, you know what happens next: Strange things are afoot at Auntie Karei’s big, scary house.

No spoilers, of course, but the girls remain oddly cheerful as the house’s spectral residents torment them in a series of trippy, gruesome, supernatural happenings made even trippier by clever, though not perfect, visual effects. Ultimately, Obayashi’s “House” is somewhat whimsical but not a horror comedy like Miner’s movie. Some scenes will haunt you as you lie awake at night. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

“Tetsuo: The Iron Man” isn’t as gory as the films it influenced (“Tokyo Gore Police,” “Meatball Machine,” “The Machine Girl,” for starters), but it’s still a body-horror splatterfest.

Shinya Tsukamoto shot “Tetsuo” in black and white, which somewhat mutes the gruesome practical effects (probably a good thing). The film is a fascinating, sickly slapstick assault on the senses. Sure, we’ve seen worse things — in full color — from the films inspired by “Tetsuo.” But the flesh, blood, maggot, and metal salad in “Tetsuo” was gnarly in 1989, and despite decades of desensitization, it remains so today.

It’s not only what Tsukamoto shows us that makes this film so disturbing. The film’s industrial/avant-garde soundtrack — tooth-torturing metal-on-metal sound effects with strange, sax-y tangents — paired with sped-up stop-motion mutations that’d make a Cronenberg cringe, makes “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” a 360-degree assault on the senses. Think “Mad God” meets “The Benny Hill Show” meets “Eraserhead,” probably with a dash of “Scanners,” ’cause “Tetsuo” might make your head pop. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

Satoshi Kon’s psychological horror/thriller (based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s 1991 novel “Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis”) is scary on two levels.

Mima, the pop star protagonist of “Perfect Blue,” lives a dream. She’s also someone’s cash cow — and, to countless strangers, a two-dimensional romantic/erotic fantasy. When Mima decides to leave the mega-popular J-pop trio she fronts to pursue acting, one fan gets pissed, and the threats and deaths start rolling in.

Kon shows us how all of this — plus increased exposure, pressure, and privacy invasions — affects Mima. Here, “Perfect Blue” becomes more than a psychological thriller. It’s also a commentary on the commodification and sexualization of young women in entertainment. And that makes “Perfect Blue” even more uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and terrifying. —Randy Harward, Senior Staff Writer

If you’re dipping your toes into Japanese horror, “Ringu” is the perfect gateway — and trust me, it’ll haunt your thoughts long after the credits roll. The 1998 Japanese film inspired the Hollywood remake “The Ring,” but don’t let the remake fool you — “Ringu” hits on a deeper, more chilling level.

The plot follows a cursed videotape that kills anyone who watches it within seven days, setting off a race against time for a journalist to uncover the sinister truth behind it. With a terrifying atmosphere that builds dread rather than relying on cheap jump scares, “Ringu” is a masterclass in slow-burn horror. And with a staggering 98% on Rotten Tomatoes compared with 71% for “The Ring,” well, I’ll let you decide which one truly reigns supreme. —Chantel Buchi, Senior Staff Writer

• “Battle Royale” (2000)
• “Confessions” (2010)
• “Creepy” (2016)
• “Dark Water” (2002)
• “Evil Dead Trap” (1986)
• “Evil Dead Trap 2: Hideki” (1992)
• “Ichi the Killer” (2001)
• “Jigoku” (1960)

• “Ju-on” (2002)
• “Kuroneko” (1968)
• “Kwaidan” (1964)
• “The Machine Girl” (2008)
• “Marebito” (2004)
• “Meatball Machine” (2006)
• “Meatball Machine: Kodoku” (2017)
• “Noroi: The Curse” (2005)

• “One Missed Call” (2003)
• “Onibaba” (1964)
• “Tag” (2015)
• “Tokyo Gore Police” (2008)
• “Tokyo Zombie” (2005)
• “Woman in the Dunes” (1964)
• “The World of Kanako” (2015)
• “Uzumaki” (2000)