10 Outrageous Asian Splatter Films You Need To See

Want to see something so outrageous that no major American studio would dare touch it? Then check out the more extreme horror films coming out of Asia.

When you think of Asian cinema, you probably think of all those twee, rather ordinary ghost stories that were popular in the early 2000s. They were all pretty much the same: a young woman came into possession of an object haunted by a vengeful spirit, typically a longhaired female ghost, that used her as an emissary to wreak havoc in the physical world.

In Ringu, the object was a videocassette, and it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce which objects were being haunted in the films Mirrors, Cello, Phone and The Red Shoes. Most hilariously awful was The Wig, about a hairpiece that caused the wearer to become possessed. Platinum Dunes is planning a remake called Hell Toupee.

Those looking for bikini-clad ninja androids, genetically-enhanced gangsters, flesh-eating ghouls and chainsaw-wielding mad scientists, however, need look no further than the films of Yoshihiro Nishimura, Noburu Iguchi and Tak Sakaguchi, to name a few. In these plot-light, violence-heavy pictures, you’ll encounter the kind of excesses that have redefined Asian cinema. No longhaired ghosts here, just in-your-face violence and gore.

The following 10 films are a perfect introduction to the genre, though easily offended viewers should look away now.  

Known in the US as Attack Girls Swim Team Vs The Undead, all Undead Pool requests is that you get on its wavelength, enjoy it for what it is and admire the cast in their swimsuits. Director Koji Kowano knows this, so his camera lingers on every curve, erect nipple and pert behind as his actors swim, sunbathe, shower and fight off a zombie horde.

At an all-girl school in Japan, a virus turns students and teachers into flesh-eating monsters with an unnatural fear of chlorinated water, meaning that only the swim team is unaffected. Fortunately, two swimsuit-clad lesbians are around to save the day, and when they’re not battling chainsaw-wielding zombies, they’re exploring each other in the shower.

With its porno production values, cheap effects and emphasis on female nudity, Attack Girls has even less ambition than Zombie Strippers, but it’s better-paced and, in true Japanese style, so disarmingly gonzo it’s difficult not to be entertained.