Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto • 1989 • Japan
Starring Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka
An ordinary Japanese salaryman undergoes a shocking metamorphosis in Shinya Tsukamoto’s legendary fusion of body horror and cyberpunk expressionism. A strange man known only as the “metal fetishist” (played by the director)—who is driven by an insane compulsion to pierce his body with scrap metal—is hit and possibly killed by an office worker (Tomoro Taguchi) out for a drive with his girlfriend (Kei Fujiwara). Soon, the salaryman realizes that he is being overtaken by some kind of disease that is turning his body into scrap metal, and that his nemesis is not in fact dead but is somehow masterminding his rage and frustration-fueled transformation.
Up Next in Japanese Horror
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Ring
Directed by Hideo Nakata • 1998 • Japan
Starring Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Miki NakataniThe film that launched the craze for J-horror in the West, director Hideo Nakata’s international sensation melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of techn...
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Ju-On: The Grudge
Directed by Takashi Shimizu • 2002 • Japan
Starring Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Takashi MatsuyamaA cursed house—where years earlier a woman, her son, and cat were murdered—has some seriously spooky surprises in store for all who pass through its door. When social worker Rika (Megumi Okina) is sen...
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Ju-On: The Grudge 2
Directed by Takashi Shimizu • 2003 • Japan
Starring Noriko Sakai, Shingo Katsurayama, Chiharu NiiyamaTakashi Shimizu’s sequel to his international hit delivers more of the indelibly creepy atmosphere and tension-enhancing nonlinear style that made the original a J-horror sensation. Here, the cu...
