April - Keith - J•Horror

I remembered to document the process this time. 😎👍

I don’t mind being the guy grabbing the low hanging fruit on this topic. Sure, it’s cheating a bit to use the American remake of The Ring but, like most millennials, it was my introduction to Japanese Horror.

I saw The Ring when I was twelve and I had absolutely never experienced that level of visceral terror from a movie before. I was incapable of sitting on the couch with the cute girl who’d invited me over. Instead I was perched on a wicker chair in the corner, knees to my chest, watching through my hands. That first viewing of The Ring has never (and likely will never) be matched.

And I don’t mean to paint the experience in a positive light. For years afterward I avoided all the J-horror remakes that were fashionable at the time (much less the source materials). But at some point in my later teens I didn’t like that the idea of these films had a power over me. So I put on my self-therapy hat and proceeded to aquire and watch through more J-horror films than I can remember. In the course of watching and rewatching these movies, that unease wore away to a genuine fondness for them (the Ju-on films in particular became a comfort watch).

It wasn’t until I was nearing 30 that my wife pointed out that my favorite film genre is obviously horror. That didn’t seem right to me. She noted that every time we pull up a streaming service that’s the first genre I browse through without fail. And if it’s my turn to pick a movie, it’s usually something in the horror mold. All my favorite movies? Horror. I had never really self-identified as a horror person. I guess she was right.

So thanks to The Ring for setting the stage.