Kiri Kiri Kiri Kiri

The essay discussing women in horror films today made me really intrigued on what the writer’s perspective would be on the recent wave of Japanese horror films. Before the new type of gore and torture based horror films (Thanks to Saw and Eli Roth) the main influence of horror films in the early part of the decade were those like Ring and Dark Water which often feature female protagonists who are mothers, which often offers an easy vulnerability when they deal with supernatural forces. One could also see that not as an vulnerability but a determined altruism. I think the remake of The Omen tried to take from this style even moreso than from the original film. Another very different kind of Japanese horror film that I was really mulling over during the presentation though was Takashi Miike’s Audition, a 1999 film that acts as a “romantic dramedy” (what a cruddy word) until the final 35 minutes or so. The basic premise is a guy who lost his wife years ago ends up holding an audition to find a new romantic interest. He thinks he has found a perfect match in a shy ex-ballet dancer, but things turn progressively odder until a wretching climax. I don’t wish to give any more a way, but it definitely makes me ponder the issues of gender identity in Asian horror a bit more.
Also: