During the early Aughties, Hollywood went international for its scary movies. Instead of making more sequels, a few studios produced adaptations of J-Horror films. The films became popular and starred actresses as the victims of supernatural horror creations that lurked on unmarked videotapes and leaky apartment ceilings. Eventually the original Japanese versions of the remakes arrived in America on home video. It turns out that there were a lot of horror movies made in Japan during this era that didn’t get the American makeover. J-Horror Rising boxes up seven movies that didn’t get remade and Americanized.
Shikoku (1999 – 101 minutes) opens with a young girl Shikoku growing up in a country village. It’s a pastoral life except that on occasion her Shinto priest family has her get possessed by other dead children for the sake of grieving parents. Her best friend Hinako had moved to Tokyo. Years later, the grown-up Hinako (Tales From Earthsea‘s Yui Natsukawa) returns home only to discover Shikoku has died. The girl’s mother has gone mad with grief. Hinako swears she can see the ghost of her old friend. Will Shikoku be coming back from the other side like she did for the other kids? This is a great rural nightmare that mixes the scenic with the supernatural. Inugami (2001 – 106 minutes) might be the only horror film that opens with a demonstration on how to make rice paper by hand. Miki (Ponyo‘s Yuki Amami) has perfected the craft at her family’s compound. Arriving in the village is Akira (Atsuro Watabe) to be the new schoolteacher. You can tell trouble is about to happen since as he rides his motorcycle into the remote community, a nasty gust of wind blows over Miki’s work. Akira finds himself attracted to the papermaker. He gets warned that her family has an issue involving the curse of Inugami. He brushes aside such things as pure nonsense until bad stuff starts happening in the village. The film mixes the pure joy of the countryside with the nightmares that come from being in the countryside.
Isola: Multiple Personality Girl (2000 – 94 minutes) opens with an earthquake hitting Kobe. A young woman arrives in town to help with the recovery effort. She can read minds which immediately overwhelms her when she enters a gym where survivors are living. She normally takes medication to control this. As if the gym isn’t bad enough for her, she encounters a young girl Isola who as the title explains has Multiple Personalities. As she hears the voices in the little girl’s head, the psychic discovers one of the is extremely dangerous. Can she handle it? St. John’s Wort (2001 – 85 minutes) is about a working vacation that goes completely off the rails. A game designer Nami has been doing backgrounds for the company’s upcoming horror program that will be called St. John’s Wart. To do a little research, she and a producer go visit a decrepit mansion. They intend on videotaping the creepy elements in the place to adapt for the game. As they snoop around the decaying place, they find themselves trapped in a nightmarish game that includes messed up baby dolls. The movie feels like a horror video game as it bounces between recording media and resolutions.
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007 – 91 minutes) is probably the closest to what people expect in an American horror movie. Little kids at school are spreading the rumor that the Slit-Mouthed Woman has returned to town. This nightmarish woman supposed had her cheeks cut so her mouth opens extra wide. She asks her victims, “Am I pretty?” She kidnaps children and does unspeakable things to her. While the grownups treat this as an urban myth that they spread during their school years, a few kids go to the playground where it is rumored that Slit-Mouthed Woman will be arriving at a certain time. They learn that this urban myth is real. The town goes nuts with the supernatural child abductor loose. One person does know the true origins of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, but can he stop her? It’s a great scary movie and easy to see why it wasn’t adapted to a Hollywood film. Cutting up kids with an enormous pair of scissors would be too much for the MPAA. Persona (2000 – 90 minutes) is another J-Horror based in a school. After being bullied in high school Danda shows up in class wearing a mask. When a bully pushes him around, his reaction is different. Like anything that looks cool in school, his classmates also begin to wear masks. This spreads to other schools in the area. Each mask is a bit different so they’re not turning into clones. The horror kicks in when masked students begin to assume the persona of their masks. Many of them begin to get rather violent with their new identity.
Noroi: The Curse (2005 – 115 minutes) is about the last videotape released by noted paranormal researcher Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki). He’d written tons of books and hosted numerous videos over the years. While he was making this video, his house burned down, and he vanished. His cameraman completed the video about the last things they were investigating. This includes a woman and son who hear they hear crying babies in their house. The disappearance of a psychic girl who an older psychic claims was abducted by ectoplasmic worms. An actress who might be possessed by a demon. Finally, there’s the discovery of Kobayashi’s videocamera that survived the fiery night. What’s on the tape? Director Kōji Shiraishi really takes us into an experience that seems like a real videotape exploring the supernatural.
J-Horror Rising is a fantastic collection for people who enjoyed the major titles that were adapted for Hollywood films and want to see more. The seven films are rather different from each other. We go from high school trauma to countryside creeps. The locations can be a peaceful rural graveyard or an earthquake damaged city. No land is off limit. You sense that no matter where you go, Japan is a haunted nation. J-Horror Rising will keep your weekend spooky.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamphoric for Shikoku, High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all seven films
Original lossless 5.1 and lossless stereo sound options for Shikoku, Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John’s Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman and Noroi: The Curse, and original lossless stereo audio for Persona
Optional English subtitles for each film
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Eugene Thacker, Jasper Sharp, Anton Bitel, Amber T., Mark Player, Jim Harper and Sarah Appleton
Double-sided foldout poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Conlon
Limited Edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Conlon
DISC ONE: SHIKOKU / ISOLA: MULTIPLE PERSONALITY GIRL
Audio Commentary on Shikoku by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes talks about the importance of the film being released with the second Ring film. He gets into the cast and crew.
Audio Commentary on Isola: Multiple Personality Girl by critics and Japanese cinema experts Jasper Sharp and Amber T. They relate the film to the actual disaster. There’s talk of how at this point J-Horror were looking to be a bit experimental to stand out from the wave.
The Aftermath (23:53) lets Tom Mes discusses J-Horror at the turn of the millennium. His talk puts the films in this collection in context to how they related to the genre. This was a time when the theatrical window was contracting while the video market was still healthy. The release of The Ring makes horror aimed at a younger audience including women becomes a major market.
Something in the Water (22:54) is a new interview with Shikoku director Shunichi Nagasaki. Has him talk about the difficulty of describing his film without giving away the surprise elements. He gets into the significance of the location that attracts pilgrims.
Archive interviews with director Shunichi Nagasaki (3:47) and actors Chiaki Kuriyama (2:15) and Yui Natsukawa (3:34) on Shikoku are from the original theatrical release.
Archive interview with actors Yoshino Kimura (1:44) and Yu Kurosawa (1:32) on Isola: Multiple Personality Girl. They talk about their approach to the characters.
On-set footage of the filming of Isola (2:45) has the time of purple hair.
On-set footage of the filming of Shikoku (3:27) has the cast near water.
Trailer Gallery for Shikoku includes Theatrical Trailer for double bill with Ring 2 (1:25) and two TV Spots (0:56).
Theatrical Trailer for Ring 0 and Isola Double Bill (1:15) promises a great reason to see two movies in an evening.
Image gallery for Shikoku has 12 images of press photos and a DVD cover.
Image Gallery for Isola has 43 images of the poster, press photos,
DISC TWO: INUGAMI / ST. JOHN’S WORT
Audio Commentary on Inugami by Japanese cinema expert Jonathan Clements. He explains why the opening titles are in English. He talks about his own experience of making rice paper. The paper is a work of art so that want to do something noble on it. He talks about the aerial shots.
Audio Commentary on St. John’s Wort by Japanese cinema expert Amber T. She tells us to strap in as the film gets right to the gothic tropes. She gets into how the actual game works and how it was adapted to the movie. This was a game that was made for people who didn’t usually play games.
Dog Days (29:50) is an interview with Inugami director Masato Harada. He gets into what inspired him when making the film. We heard about Masako Bando’s book.
Inugami Image Gallery has 22 images of posters and press photos.
The Making of St. John’s Wort (21:51) is an archival featurette from the set.
Archive interviews with St. John’s Wort actors Megumi Okina (17:39), Koichiro Saito (19:50), Reiko Matsuo (4:24) and Koji Okura (4:56) has them talk about their experience with the videogame and being in a horror film.
Archive On-set Introduction by Megumi Okina (0:44) has the actress talking about the film showing at Toho cinemas.
Trailer Gallery includes Inugami and St. John’s Wort’s TV Spot (0:22), two TV spots for St. John’s Wort (0:39) and St John’s Wort Trailer (0:37) that promise a ghastly time.
St. John’s Wart Image Gallery has 14 images of the poster and press photos.
DISC THREE: CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN / PERSONA
Audio Commentary on Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman by Japanese folklore expert Zack Davisson. He gets into how the urban myth evolved. “City Talk” is what they’re called in Japan. He relates this back to Yoki folklore. He points out that the question asked by this character doesn’t matter since there is no right answer. You will be killed.
Why So Serious? (18:40) is a new interview with Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman director Koji Shiraishi. He gets into the urban legend that scares kids to this day. He realized that nobody had made a movie about her. He did sense that the legend was so old that people might laugh at her being in a movie. He had to make it horrifying. He related the story to a real nightmare when someone got into an elementary school and killed students. He did have to tone it down a bit for the investors and producers.
Weapon of Choice (16:56) is a video essay on Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman by Japanese horror specialist Lindsay Nelson. She gets into the work of Koji Shiraishi and his urban legend horror films. We learn about the history of the Slit-Mouthed Woman over the years.
Confessions of a Mask (17:12) is a recent interview with Persona director Takashi Komatsu. The film is a mystery about bullying in high school. He wanted to explore the mob mentality. He got into film because his father shot 8mm home movies.
Craved Image Gallery includes 17 production stills and 18 Behind the Scenes photos.
Persona Image Gallery has 7 press photos and a poster.
DISC FOUR: NOROI: THE CURSE
Brand new audio commentary by film critic Julian Singleton has him dig into the J-Horror that really got under his skin. He likes the complex nature of the film with the urban legends and caught on tape ghost stories. He compares it to the old Leonard Nimoy In Search of… series.
Director’s POV (25:38) is a brand new video interview with Noroi: The Curse director Koji Shiraishi. He talks about how the film was received in Japan. There were lots of documentaries about ghosts and paranormal going straight to video so he used the format for his horror film. He admits this is fictional even with “real” footage.
The Man in the Shadows (17:48) is an interview with Taka Ichise. He got started in the business in 1984 after being a film student. He didn’t start out in horror, but has found himself making more of them over the years. He saw more movies from Hong Kong and America when growing up. His film Peacock King was a co-production with Hong Kong. He struck gold as the producer of Ring. He found the property when the book wasn’t a bestseller. He talks about reviving the double feature in Japan with J-Horror.
Changing Perspective (21:56) is a video essay on Noroi: The Curse by Japanese horror specialist Lindsay Nelson. She talks about how the film came out at the tale end of the J-Horror peak. Nelson talks about the found footage is the roots of J-Horror because of straight to video projects.
Ectoplasmic Worms (20:32) is a new video essay on Japanese cosmic horror by Japanese cinema expert Amber T. She places Koji Shiraishi as one of the great directors in the genre. She talks about how long it took for Noroi: The Curse took to arrive in the West. The bad bootleg transfer made the film look even more real.
How to Protect Yourself Against Curses (13:35) is how you do need to worry about curses in your life. We learn about the various curses that can crop up in your life in this faux-news segment.
Urgent report! Pursuing the Truth about Kagutaba!! TV Special (38:11) is another entertaining faux special that includes a fishing segment.
Deleted Scenes includes 13 snipped moments for an extra hour of viewing.
Trailers and TV spots contains the Teaser Trailer (0:40), Theatrical Trailer (1:43) and three TV Spots (1:02) that promise that the world will know the truth.
Image gallery includes 9 images of posters and press photos.
Arrow Video presents J-Horror Rising: Limited Edition. Directors include Masato Harada, Shunichi Nagasaki, Toshiyuki Mizutani, Ten Shimoyama, Kôji Shiraishi. Starring Yûki Amami, Atsuro Watabe, Chiharu Kawai, Chiyaki Kuriyama. Boxset Contents: 7 movies on 4 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: October 29, 2024.
