It's no secret that the Japanese do horror brilliantly, and many western films are adaptations of their petrifying Japanese counterparts. Ghost stories are an ancient tradition in Japan, and these urban legends take cinematic form quite often, resulting in some Japanese movies too scary to watch alone.
Some of these movies draw direct inspiration from supernatural legends, while others use them as base material to build a more compelling and terrifying tale around them. With the presence of ghosts known as yūrei, demons called yōkai, and disturbed female spirits called onryō, these films are a rollercoaster ride of chills and myths.
Carved (2007)
An old tale about Kuchisake-onna, the gruesome spirit of a young woman with her mouth carved from one ear to another inspired Carved, a movie where a school teacher discovers that the vengeful Kuchisake-onna is behind the many child abductions and killings where he lives.
The legend goes that the slit-mouthed figure was originally a very beautiful woman who was married to a vicious and jealous man. When he suspected that she was having an affair, he cut her mouth from side to side. Now, her spirit walks around targeting children and asking them if she looks pretty or not, to which there is no right answer.
The Ring (2002)
An urban legend that dates back to the 18th century, the unfortunate story of Banchō Sarayashiki is said to form the foundation of The Ring and all its adaptations. In the movie, Sadako or Samara, depending on whether viewers are watching the Japanese or Hollywood version, is known to have the power of "nensha," or projecting images onto minds and things, which gets her thrown down a well. The Ring is full of hidden details that build the dread viewers feel in the movie.
The story of Banchō Sarayashiki is about a Japanese maid named Okiku, who was punished for either breaking or misplacing a plate or foiling someone's plans, by being thrown down a well, where her ghost resides and haunts people, just like The Ring's Samara.
Hanako Of The Toilet (1998)
This movie by Yukihiko Tsutsumi depicts Hanako, the spirit living in a high school toilet, as cruel and vengeance-seeking, just like she was in the legend.
There are several takes on how Hanako-San ended up being a spirit in a school washroom, some of which include her death by suicide due to bullying, being killed by an abusive parent, or raids during the Second World War. In the movie, Hanako-San lures high school kids into her bathroom, and tortures and kills them. She is known to be a bloody and gory sight.
The Grudge (2004)
A The Grudge borrows from the age-old myth of Kayako, a woman who led a difficult and lonely childhood, but married her husband and had a child who were her entire universe.
One day, in a jealous rage, her husband killed her brutally in front of their son and left her to die in their attic, and drowned his son Toshiro in the bathtub. Her death left behind a grudge, and the onryō of Kayako is said to haunt people ever since.
School Mystery (1995)
Again inspired by the story of Hanako-san in her red dress, this paints the spirit in a different light. Mizuno, a transfer student, moves to a new elementary school and uses the last stall of the girl's bathroom, one that the other schoolgirls stay away from because of Hanako-San.
As a child serial killer rampages through their town, the kids increasingly believe that Mizuno is Hanako-San herself. However, Mizuno and another girl are cornered by the actual killer, and Hanako-San's benevolent spirit shields them and helps catch the killer. Known as one of the best Japanese horror movies of the '90s, it's a must-watch.
Teketeke (2009)
Legend says that one day, a young Japanese girl fell on some railways tracks, which resulted in her getting cut in half and the birth of an onryō. It is not clear whether she died by suicide or if it was accidental, but the spirit, called "Teketeke" for the noise she made while moving was vengeful and started cutting her victims in half.
In Teketeke by Koji Shiraishi, Kana finds the spirit which killed her best friend and then realizes that she only has three days to save herself before she is attacked by Teketeke, in a premise similar to The Ring.
Kwaidan (1964)
This anthology of movies drew from the legend of the Yuki-Onna, a snowy pale yūrei who is known to roam the wintry areas of Japan. Yuki-Onna is known to be supernaturally gorgeous, which draws people to her.
In the movie, a woodcutter and his son get trapped in a snowstorm, where they're greeted by a ghost who sucks the life out of the elderly father. Seeing the son's youth, she spares him on the condition that he won't tell anybody about the night. The young man keeps his promise steadfastly, even as he meets his wife the next year. One night he tells his wife about Yuki-Onna, and she surprisingly transforms into the ghost herself. Angry, she doesn't kill, but takes away their children.
Gozu (2003)
The Cow Head man, or Gozu, found its way into a movie in a sort of indirect manner. Legend has it that a Japanese village experiencing an intense famine had a visitor one day, a man with a cow's head. Ravenous, they devoured the Gozu.
The film retains this part of the legend. The story of Gozu is supposed to be so scary that when one listens to it, they may die. While the story has been lost here, it gets interpreted into surrealist horror movies like Gozu.
Sadako Vs. Kayako (2016)
A creepy mashup of the Banchō Sarayashiki and Kayako legends, this movie pitches the two creepy ghosts against one another to see who is more powerful.
In Sadako vs. Kayako, a woman named Natsumi ends up watching Sadako's cursed video, and to keep herself from being killed by the vicious ghost, she calls upon Kayako, who is also haunting the house, and makes them fight it out to save herself. This horror movie is scary and entertaining too.
Howling Village (2019)
Takashi Shimizu's Howling Village depicted a village from which people can never make it out alive. Called the Inunaki village, Yuma, his girlfriend, and girlfriend's sister, Kanae, decide to go into the village to uncover why people don't return from it.
The urban legend also speaks of the Inunaki village, a lawless place where murder, cannibalism, and incest were prevalent. The villagers all died due to these practices and their own madness, which inspired the movie.
