Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes

The Ring (2002)-Hollywood's remake of the Japanese cult success Ringu (1998)-marked the beginning of a significant trend in the late 1990s and early 2000s of American adaptations of Asian horror films. This book explores this complex process of adaptation, paying particular attention to the various transformations that occur when texts cross cultural boundaries. Through close readings of a range of Japanese horror films and their Hollywood remakes, this study addresses the social, cultural, aesthetic and generic features of each national cinema's approach to and representation of horror, within the subgenre of the ghost story, tracing convergences and divergences in the films' narrative trajectories, aesthetic style, thematic focus and ideological content. In comparing contemporary Japanese horror films with their American adaptations, this book advances existing studies of both the Japanese and American cinematic traditions, by: - illustrating the ways in which each tradition responds to developments in its social, cultural and ideological milieu; and, - examining Japanese horror films and their American remakes through a lens that highlights cross-cultural exchange and bilateral influence. The book will be of interest to scholars of film, media, and cultural studies.

Associate Professor Valerie Wee teaches film and media studies in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore.

Introduction: The Horror, The Horror... 1.Haunting Specters: A History of Seeing Ghosts in Japanese and American Horror Films 2. Hollywood and Japan, Comparing Supernatural Constructions: Cultural Ideologies, Social Anxieties, and Aesthetic Tendencies 3.Terrifying Images: Visual Aesthetics and Ways of Seeing in Ringu and The Ring 4."Oh, Mother!": Single Mothers and Abandoned Daughters in Honoguarai mizu no soko kara and Dark Water 5. "Father Knows Best?" Patriarchal Anxieties and Familial Dysfunction in Ju-On and The Grudge 6. The End of the World as We Know It: Apocalyptic Visions in Kairo and Pulse 7. (Post-)Modern Anxieties, Techno-Horror, and Technophobia in Chakushin Ari and One Missed Call 8. Conclusion