What is the best Japanese horror movie of all time?

From cursed videotapes to lurking ghosts in the walls — J-horror redefined fear for a generation. Which one still haunts you?

Ringu

Hideo Nakata's 1998 landmark horror about a cursed videotape that kills its viewer seven days after watching.

1/10

Ju-On: The Grudge

Takashi Shimizu's 2002 haunted house horror featuring the iconic ghostly pale child Toshio and the deadly curse.

2/10

Audition

Takashi Miike's 1999 slow-burn horror that transforms from a romantic drama into one of cinema's most disturbing experiences.

3/10

Pulse (Kairo)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 existential horror exploring loneliness and death through internet-connected ghosts.

4/10

Dark Water

Hideo Nakata's 2002 atmospheric ghost story about a mother and daughter haunted by a flooded apartment above them.

5/10

Noroi: The Curse

Kōji Shiraishi's 2005 found-footage masterpiece following a documentary filmmaker investigating supernatural occurrences.

6/10

One Cut of the Dead

Shin'ichirō Ueda's 2017 brilliantly structured zombie comedy that starts as a bad zombie film and becomes something extraordinary.

7/10

Cure

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1997 crime-horror hybrid about a detective investigating a series of murders linked to a mysterious hypnotist.

8/10

House (Hausu)

Nobuhiko Obayashi's 1977 psychedelic horror comedy — one of the most unique films ever made, featuring a man-eating piano.

9/10

Sweet Home

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1989 haunted house horror film that directly inspired the Resident Evil video game franchise.

10/10