yinasian vs western horror
March 20th 2008 03:49
i've always found it a lil' funny. that western-styled ghost stories don't freak me out as much as asian ghost stories. perhaps it's the culture and that flashing-neon-light fact that i am after all asian and grew up in a society that, for all it's metropolitan modernization, has still got its feet trapped in the tangles of tradition.
i got freaked out by nightmare on elm street because of the graphics. but it definitely wasn't one of those things that stuck for long. to be honest, after watching a really old malay flick called pontianak which basically means female vampire, that one had me cowering under the sheets, triple-checking the locks on my windows and me praying till sleep claimed me.
the thais and the japanese know how to write and make ghost stories. just consider THE RING, SHUTTER, ALONE, CHAKUSHIN ARI, UZUMAKI. they don't require high-tech equipment and much use of the blue screen. i don't know if it's in the cinematography, the director's take and execution or just the screenplay in itself that makes it for what it is - trueblue spinechilling ghostly horror.
a theory i came up with is because everyone is so accustomed to the fact that the western part of the world is so modernized. any trace of history, the creepy kind, seem lost amidst mobile phones, internet connection and the speeeeeeedy evolution of technology and civilization. but when you consider japan and thailand. you think of all the dark alleyways and the derelict houses. the creepy woods and that stale chillness of the night. in japan where they have the hills and the mountains, so far away from everything else.
perhaps it's the folklore that plays such a great part in keeping the horror stories real. the shrines and the supernatural and their superstitious beliefs. when i think about it... all hollywood is able to come up with is mostly vampires, werewolves and zombies. maybe spirits in haunted houses or those trapped still on earth because they've still got something that needs to be done. but there's no prevailing history that seems to tie everything together.
this is all speculation, a thought but it'd be interesting to know if anyone thought and felt the same way i did. but it doesn't mean i don't enjoy a good english horror flick that doesn't require my eyes to keep flitting over to the subtitles, after all, i'm still a huge fan of zombies and the undead.
resident evil all the way!!!
i got freaked out by nightmare on elm street because of the graphics. but it definitely wasn't one of those things that stuck for long. to be honest, after watching a really old malay flick called pontianak which basically means female vampire, that one had me cowering under the sheets, triple-checking the locks on my windows and me praying till sleep claimed me.
the thais and the japanese know how to write and make ghost stories. just consider THE RING, SHUTTER, ALONE, CHAKUSHIN ARI, UZUMAKI. they don't require high-tech equipment and much use of the blue screen. i don't know if it's in the cinematography, the director's take and execution or just the screenplay in itself that makes it for what it is - trueblue spinechilling ghostly horror.
a theory i came up with is because everyone is so accustomed to the fact that the western part of the world is so modernized. any trace of history, the creepy kind, seem lost amidst mobile phones, internet connection and the speeeeeeedy evolution of technology and civilization. but when you consider japan and thailand. you think of all the dark alleyways and the derelict houses. the creepy woods and that stale chillness of the night. in japan where they have the hills and the mountains, so far away from everything else.
perhaps it's the folklore that plays such a great part in keeping the horror stories real. the shrines and the supernatural and their superstitious beliefs. when i think about it... all hollywood is able to come up with is mostly vampires, werewolves and zombies. maybe spirits in haunted houses or those trapped still on earth because they've still got something that needs to be done. but there's no prevailing history that seems to tie everything together.
this is all speculation, a thought but it'd be interesting to know if anyone thought and felt the same way i did. but it doesn't mean i don't enjoy a good english horror flick that doesn't require my eyes to keep flitting over to the subtitles, after all, i'm still a huge fan of zombies and the undead.
resident evil all the way!!!
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I found Gothica creepy but it did seem to follow the Asian style in.
Alien was a total freakout at the time.
Yet there is something missing from the modern world where GCI splatter takes dominance over everything.
Comment by yin
Couch Pumpkin