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This chapter examines the “Asia Extreme” label of London-based Tartan Films and its relation with recent East Asian horror films. It examines Tartan's marketing strategies and its aspiration to expand to global markets including the U.S. It focuses on its horror titles, not only because they have become the most prominent and leading examples of the label, but also because the rise of Asia Extreme has coincided with the phenomenal success of “Asian horror” with branches such as “J-horror” and “K-horror,” which have been celebrated as producing the most original and innovative horror movies of the last decade. It examines the critical reception of the most “notorious” Asia Extreme titles —Audition, The Isle, and Oldboy in the UK and the US to understand the different discourses through which the Asia Extreme films are evaluated and mediated.

This introduction to Hong Kong Horror Cinema introduces Hong Kong horror from a variety of perspectives, charting the history and development of the genre and citing key films and filmmakers; it puts Hong Kong horror in the context of East Asian horror more broadly, discussing some of the cultural specificities of Hong Kong horror that differentiate it from the popular and historical horror cycles from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China; it provides a brief overview of horror studies within the field of academic theory, and suggests ways in which Hong Kong horror films can contribute new perspectives to these well-rehearsed arguments. A brief survey of literature covers the major related works from the fields of Hong Kong cinema and horror film history, and in doing so, makes a case for the importance, timeliness and originality of this anthology. The introduction also includes a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Hong Kong Horror Cinema, explaining the division of chapters into sections and drawing pertinent connections between the varied studies that follow.

This chapter details how the mid-1990s saw a substantial increase in the number of horror films being produced in Asian countries, and in particular Japan and Korea. At the same time, globalisation and the introduction of worldwide distribution channels meant that such films became much more accessible to western audiences, with the surprise success of Hideo Nakata's Ringu (1998) bringing Japanese horror into the mainstream of western cinema. Often used to describe genre films from across Asia, so-called 'J-Horror' is now a recognised sub-genre in the west, with a number of scholarly books dedicated to its analysis. Although many of the more recent films feature modern trappings and a preoccupation with technology, they draw heavily from Japan's long tradition of folklore and ghost stories, while stylistically referencing the aesthetics of traditional Japanese theatre. The chapter considers Masaki Kobayashi's Kaidan (Kwaidan, 1964). It traces the evolution of Japan's unique national film industry and examines how cultural differences can affect genre production and consumption.

This chapter explores the legacy of Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on: The Grudge (2002). The film's theatrical distribution in January of 2003 brought unexpected success in Japan and sparked a fury of activity that garnered momentum around the globe. Some Western critics were lukewarm about the nonlinear timeline of Ju-on: The Grudge, or even downright hostile. Despite its detractors, the film's domestic popularity resulted in Ju-on: The Grudge 2, released on the heels of its predecessor later the same year, while an American remake produced by Sam Raimi hit screens in 2004. This quick succession of titles in the franchise raised the profile of Ju-on's mythology and created recognisable icons of horror in Kayako and Toshio Saeki, ghosts who quickly joined the ranks of celebrated villains like Sadako, Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger and company. Together with Ringu's Sadako, Kayako provided a veritable cinematic template for the contemporary Japanese ghost. The international success of the Ju-on franchise resulted not only in wider recognition of J-horror, but raised the profiles of other Asian films in the horror genre, including popular titles from South Korea (K-horror), Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.