20 Reasons Horror Might Be The Greatest Genre Ever

6. Nippon Nightmares

22.02.20136 No country (bar the Italians) has done so much to make the horror film genre great as Japan. Their devotion to and development of all sorts of subgenres has been truly spectacular. Some have been highly salubrious - like the Guinea Pig series and some have been sublimely terrifying ghost stories like Ju on and The Grudge. One thing the Japanese have is inventiveness in abundance which they are not afraid to mix with bloody mayhem. Take Battle Royale for example. When you first watched it and grasped the concept of what was going to happen, didn't you think "what a bloody cool concept?". Don't the Japanese have a style and ultra-coolness that us Westerners wish we had? (Hence all the remakes). There is so much I could discuss about Japanese horror, but to sum it up, its innovation and style are part of what makes horror a great genre.
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!