A Selection of J-Horror Movies for Every Horror Fan Type

The ever-so amazing Kira has a list of her essential J-Horror movies here for you to pick from and  I previously mentioned the movies you can find on Amazon streaming and Netflix here.

And as I mentioned before, J-Horror is my favorite horror. I think K-Horror (Korean) and C-Horror (Chinese) are really spectacular as well, but J-Horror was kinda my first and you always have special feelings for your first.

And previously, our wonderful Erica mentioned how she has trouble with gore movies, so it got me thinking–I used to hate gore too, but now I can stomach it pretty well for no real apparent reason. I suppose I’ve been desensitized to it or something.

This is from Battle Royale, a J-Horror movie, btw

So I wanted to make a list of J-Horror movies for every type of horror fan: the Gore fans, the slow-burners, the Psychological (aka no gore), historical/old school fans, and the occult.

For Slow-Burner Fans:

Dark Waters is for you!

This movie is a slow burner for sure. It’s about a woman who moves into a haunted apartment with her young child, and all the chaos this creates. (This is also acceptable for gore-free fans, as there’s pretty much none.)

For Psychological Horror Fans:

Pulse aka Kairo.

This one has been mentioned before on our blog, because it’s just that good. It’s a psychological thriller (also good for the gore free folks, as people disappear into shadows and don’t get eaten/torn apart) about how we should be more mindful of how technology can controls us.

For Occult Fans:

Teke Teke

Teke Teke is a legend in Japan that every region has–generally with some variation depending on the region/city/town you live in. It’s about a legless lady that can sneak up on you realllllly fast and then ding, dong, you’re done.

The Slit-Mouth Woman:

She’s like Teke Teke, another local legend–every region has a different retelling of her. Some say she wears all red, some say white.

For Historical Fans:

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaiden (aka The Ghost of Yotsuya), this is a 1959 J-Horror adaption of one of the most popular ghost stories in Japan.

For Gore Fans:

Audition is for you!

Warning: Seriously though this is for people who can handle gore. It seems slow and like gore-free at first but it is NOT GORE FREE and most likely should not be watched alone. Though I watched it alone … but I was smart enough to do that during the day. Had I watched it alone at night my life would be over probably from stress/fear. 

Over Your Dead Body (Kuime)

This is a fun one if you watched the old, classic Tokaido Yotsuya Kaiden! The main couple are in a play that is doing a retelling of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaiden but the one of them ends up cheating on the other off stage (give you one guess whether it’s the guy or the girl!). As the affair turns twisted, this movies gore goes wiiiilllld.

And there you have it! J-horror movies for all sorts of horror fans.

You should be warned that for the most part none of these are particularly easy to find in a *cough* legal *cough* way State side. You can find the old classic ones on Hulu.com though! At least you used to be able to, that’s how I watched them. The others I recommend checking out Shudder.com — you can for sure find Audition there.

Otherwise, Google is your friend and generally speaking you would be surprised to find how much good J-Horror you can find streaming on YouTube.com.