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By Willy Zhang
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Oct. 22, 2004 |
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U.S. companies hope to make a killing by revamping Asian horror flicks.
A girl slips into the shower, closing her eyes as hot streams of water pour over her. The camera lingers on her face as she slowly turns around and a hand emerges from the back of her head.
Takashi Shimizus The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as the aforementioned girl, will hit theaters today, hoping to replicate the success of the original Japanese film Ju-On.
After the box-office success of Gore Verbinskis The Ring in 2002, American film companies are churning out remakes of Asian horror films, according to Chris Paffendorf, associate international programmer of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Tom Cruises production company is currently in talks to remake Danny Pangs The Eye, Dreamworks will release a movie based on Jo-Woon Kims A Tale of Two Sisters and Wes Craven is doing his own take on Kiyoshi Kurosawas Pulse.
"They have a film noir feel that U.S. movies dont have."
Senior Zoe Roller |
Junior Paul Garza said he has enjoyed most of the Asian horror films he has seen, including Hideo Nakatas Dark Water, which depicts a single mothers slow deterioration after moving into a sinister apartment.
Dark Water was crazy-go-nuts scary as hell, Garza said. It was so psychologically effective.
Senior Zoe Roller said she likes the originality of Asian horror cinema. They have a film noir feel that U.S. movies dont have, Roller said.
Asian films are basically about a calm that's disrupted, and that sense of unease is what makes for a really disturbing psychological thriller with supernatural overtones, New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell said in an Oct. 2 interview on NPR.
American companies hope to convey this signature eerie psychological atmosphere in their remakes, according to Paffendorf.
Hollywood prefers to let others blaze a trail, then immediately copy the formula, he said. The U.S. horror market has been quite dry recently, with very few original ideas and plots; many of the biggest recent films were remakes of classic horror films, as well.
Hollywood prefers to let others blaze a trail, then immediately copy the formula, he said. The U.S. horror market has been quite dry recently, with very few original ideas and plots; many of the biggest recent films were remakes of classic horror films, as well.
"Hollywood prefers to let others blaze a trail, then immediately copy the formula."
Chris Paffendorf
SF Asian Film Festival
associate programer |
Asian horror movies also offer audiences escape from mindless mainstream splatter movies like Freddie vs. Jason, Wrong Turn and the Chucky series, according to Paffendorf.
There has been a backlash against violent films, and Asian horror films tend to emphasize atmosphere, Pallendorf said. The Asian horror films that are violent are not being remade in America.
Senior Annie Zhen said that some Asian films,do feature rather gruesome ways of killing off characters. For example, in the Japanese film The Spiral, a character falls inside a spiral staircase and cracks his skull, spilling out his brains. In Chan-Wook Parks psychological thriller Oldboy, the protagonist devours a live, squirming squid. Zhen said that she thought American audiences would be horrified and shocked by such gore.
Generally, though, Asian directors choose visuals that are moody, rather than shocking to create a tense atmosphere.
The ghostly figures, usually girls in white with faces hidden by their hair, are a staple in Asian ghost stories, Pallendorf said.
"Americans generally do not like subtitled films, or all-Asian casts."
Chris Paffendorf |
Instead of releasing the original Asian movies, the domestic film industry prefers remakes, since Americans generally do not like subtitled films, or all-Asian casts, Paffendorf said. Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are exceptions, but those are martial arts films, and many Americans associate Asians with martial arts.
Junior Mia Bennett agreed, adding that viewers are more likely to see films with movie stars they recognize.
However, not all remakes match up to the original, according to many viewers, as well as experts.
The remakes employ an American style of directing junior Gina Frossetto said. While it might be a good thing by mixing the styles together, it ruins the original plot of the movie, she added.
Paffendorf agreed. There are definitely Asian elements to the story, but the emphasis is on American values, he said.
Americans prefer films,with fewer loose ends, according to Paffendorf. The American version [of The Ring] over-explained every concept, while the Japanese version leaves a lot open, he said.
Washington High School junior Gabriel Dominguez agreed.
"American pop culture is more about action," Dominguez said. "Japanese horror movies take a more subtle way by focusing on story to chill the audience.
Although a string of remakes will be hitting theaters this fall, many students are reluctant to view them because they believe they wont compare to the originals.
Although a string of remakes will be hitting theaters this fall, many students are reluctant to view them because they believe they wont compare to the originals.
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