sPIRITUAL LEVELS!!

bY mARK kERMODE

"The supernatual has a unique quality in japanese horror films, yet US remakes of them still clean up. As Walter Salles' version of Hideo Nakatas' Dark water' is released, Mark Kermode considers what survives in translation, and what it is about these haunting filma that just can't be homogenised for western."

"the supernatural is such a large part of the japanese culture, in a way they don't question it the way we question it. it's much more a part of their world, not something that they visit every now and then as we do"

"walking along a body of water, you sense ghosts being born" it was said in the interview, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

wATCHING dARK wATER!!!

last night i watched Dark water, a Japanese horror film which is said to be one of the best representations of haunting spirits and a mothers unwaning love for their child. it however was not as good as i thought it was going to be. i'v read many articles who drop the name 'dark water' whenever they talk about contrasts in western and eastern views from audiences, however i think this example has simply been taken as a given. when you talk about j-horror you HAVE to say something about this movie. however, there are many other films which are just as good, maybe even better and also fit the criterea for a spine chilling movie, that doesn't get the same attention. however, i may be being too harsh.....
i enjoyed the film, and i think there were spine tingling moments. i also reeeeeeeaaaaly liked how the idea of a mother protects her child above even her own life was beautiful. (after the film i went and told my mother that i loved her so much and then gave her a huge hug).
i want to now watch the western re-make of the film. i do not know how i can link it in with my research. or, perhaps i can show that western audiences who enjoy the j-horror genre are looking for more than just blood and gore and sudden shocks that are within western horrors. by compairing the western re-makes and some western horrors to japanese horrors, i can see what is different and possibly this could answer the question of 'what are western audiences who are fans of j-horror looking for when they watch the movies??'