Asian Horror: The West vs The East

The Best Asian Horror Films vs Their Western Remakes
Hollywood has tried to remake some of the great films over the years for American audiences. Here’s our top Asian horrors and the remakes you should avoid.

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Some of the all-time best horror movies have been remakes of even better Asian blockbusters. Some you will know, some you may not have seen and some you may never have heard of, but if you want something to really give you the heebie-jeebies, give these a go.

THE RING

Probably one of the most popular Japanese horror films to make a splash across the pond, Koji Suzuki’s brilliant novel is acclaimed around the globe. Gore Verbinski’s 2002 masterpiece became the highest grossing Asian inspired horror film of all time. A cursed video tape, a journalist looking for answers and the creepiest yoga instructor you’ve ever seen, THE RING is absolute gold!

If you’ve seen the Naomi Watts version, do yourself a favour and dig up the original to really blow your mind. Check out the trailer here, and judge for yourself which was better; Hollywood’s rip-off or the highest-grossing horror film in Japan. This was one remake that we believe actually made the story even better. Hollywood: 1, Asia: 0.

THE GRUDGE

Although obviously riding off THE RING’s coat tales, and with some problematic casting, this American version was still a hit. Why? Because not only did they stick to the original plan, but Director Takashi Shimizu was used for both. They also chose to keep the location as being in Japan which would have taken a lot away from the film.

The story is not so original; you move into a new house and the realtor never explained about the damp or the ghouls. But what makes this so good was just truly how scary the ghost is. Just. Move. Out! Although THE GRUDGE did go on to make a couple of sequels, it’s original, JU-ON, was still just as good and worth watching. If you’re going to remake a movie, it just goes to show you should take the director, too.

THE UNINVITED

So, now we enter the realm of Hollywood failing to recapture any essence of the original. Korean blockbuster, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is a haunting tale of a mentally deranged girl who returns from the nut house when her mother dies to find a new stepmom, whom she hates. Director Kim Jee-woon aced this compelling, gritty art-house film and it’s complete gold.

Hollywood made THE UNINVITED in 2009 and did their best to recapture the movie for American audiences. They failed. Don’t bother.

THE ECHO

A huge hit in the Philippines, the original, SIGAW, is about the main character who returns from serving time for manslaughter to live in his lonely mother’s old house, whom died while he was incarcerated. Add a bit of domestic violence, some great makeup and plenty of scares and you’ve got yourself one heck of a movie.

The remake brought back not just the original director, Yam Laranas, but also the original actress. The story sticks to the original and it does a pretty good job. It just never took off in the states. Both are worth a watch, just don’t expect too much and you won’t be too disappointed.

SHUTTER

The original Thai film was huge. It had all the ingredients for quality and was possibly the scariest Asian movie since THE RING. A photographer runs down a girl with his car who then proceeds to haunt him through his photos. It’s original, full of tension and definitely worth watching.

The one thing that Hollywood did right was to throw acclaimed Japanese director, Masayuki Ochiai into the mix. The remake of the same name is garbage, don’t waste your time.

ONE MISSED CALL

A terrible movie on both sides of the world, we have thrown it in here for two reasons; a) so you can avoid it like the plague, and b) because there’s few movies that hold a 0% on rotten tomatoes! Director Takashi Miike is super talented, so watch any of the other scores of films he did, just not this one.