J-Horror Rising: Limited Edition Collection Review

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

J-Horror Rising brings together seven titles from the genre that some viewers in the West may not be as familiar with as they are with some of the breakthrough titles of the genre such as Ring (AKA Ringu) or Ju-on: The Grudge. The seven films are spread across four discs, with the final film, Noroi: The Curse getting its own disc.

The first film, Shikoku, a woman returns from Tokyo to her rural childhood home where she is now treated as an outsider for moving away to the big city. Things are strange from go, as her childhood friend had drowned and is apparently haunting the village. The second film, Isola: Multi Personality Girl ties the Kobe Earthquake of 1995 to a girl with a split personality, allowing a malevolent intruder into the schoolgirl’s mind, and a local volunteer worker who notices and tries to help. In Inugami a teacher in a small village is drawn to a middle-age papermaker whose family it is said guards over a group of evil canine spirits. There is significant hostility toward the teacher for trying to start a relationship with her and also between the villagers and the family, which eventually leads to tragic consequences. In St. John’s Wort a horror-themed videogame designer is confronted with trauma when she has to gather visual materials from the creepy gothic mansion she has inherited from her estranged artist father. The film itself is shot in the aesthetic of a horror adventure videogame, with oversaturated colors and weird, often disconnected edits.

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman is a horror based on an urban legend about a creepy woman in a face mask on the city streets and even in people’s homes who reveals her face to be disfigured and kidnaps children. Persona has the high fashion school kids of Japan picking up the trend of wearing porcelain facemasks, which spurs on a wave of juvenile crime. Finally, the collection closes with the mockumentary Noroi: The Curse, following a paranormal investigator who researching a demon from folklore and is stunned by the horrors he finds.

What we see in each of these films is not only a varied and interesting potpourri of themes, but as the Japanese have always done when it comes to horror, a reliance on atmosphere and psychological terror rather than violence and gore. Shikoku and Inugami are the standouts from the collection for the most cohesive storytelling, the excellent acting, and wonderful to watch from a visual perspective, with St. John’s Wort being the most unique of the bunch given its video novel look and unnatural colors.

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The Video

The films in this J-Horror Rising collection have all been mastered from the best possible elements, according to Arrow Video, which also means that they do not always look the best. St. John’s Wort, for instance, which was shot to look oversaturated and on digital video looks like what it is and no amount of scaling to 1080p can rescue it or create more resolution. The best looking film in the set happens to be the first one, Shikoku, which has a good, organic appearance and decent amount of detail and shadow nuance. Inugami also looks strong, but some of the other films, like the mockumentary Noroi: The Curse, look quite rough, but that is due to the source more than the transfer.

The Audio

Each film has a Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a Japanese LPCM 2.0 Stereo mix other than Persona which only has LPCM 2.0 stereo. The 5.1 mixes each sound less discrete than they do full of a lot of reverb in the surrounds, but they are spacious and dynamic.

The Supplements

This J-Horror Rising collection is packed with bonus features, with audio commentaries and a number of archival interviews with cast and crew for each film, plus the collector’s booklet with writing on the films, double-sided foldout poster, and limited edition packaging.

Limited Edition Contents:

• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Eugene Thacker, Jasper Sharp, Anton Bitel, Amber T., Mark Player, Jim Harper and Sarah

Appleton

• Double-sided foldout poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Conlon
• Limited Edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Conlon

Disc 1:

Shikoku

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Tom Mes
• The Aftermath (1080p; 00:23:52) – Tom Mes discusses J-Horror at the turn of the millennium.
• Something in the Water (1080p; 00:22:54) – Director Shunichi Nagasaki discusses the making of Shikoku.
• Archive Interview with Shunichi Nagasaki (1080i; 00:03:47)
• Archive Interview with Chiaki Kuriyama (1080i; 00:02:15)
• Archive Interview with Yui Natsukawa (1080i; 00:03:34)
• On the Set of Shikoku (1080i; 00:03:27) – On-set footage of the filming of Shikoku.
• Trailers and TV Spots:
  • Original Theatrical Trailer for Ring 2 and Shikoku Double Bill (1080p; 00:01:25)
  • Shikoku TV Spot 1 (1080i; 00:00:18)
  • Shikoku TV Spot 2 (1080i; 00:00:38)
• Image Gallery (1080p)

Isola – Multiple Personality Girl

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Jasper Sharp and Amber T
• Archive Interview with Yoshino Kimura (1080i; 00:01:44)
• Archive Interview with Yu Kurosawa (1080i; 00:01:32)
• Behind the Scenes of Isola – On-set footage of Isola – Multiple Personality Girl (1080i; 00:02:45)
• Original Theatrical Trailer for Ring 0 and Isola Double Bill (1080p; 00:01:14)
• Image Gallery (1080p)

Disc 2:

Inugami

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Jonathan Clements
• Dog Days (1080p; 00:29:50) – An interview with director Masato Harada
• Image Gallery (1080p)

St. John’s Wort

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Amber T.
• The Making of St. John’s Wort (1080i; 00:21:51) – Behind the scenes footage during the making of St. John’s Wort.
• Archive On-set Introduction by Megumi Okina (1080i; 00:00:44)
• Archive Interviews:
  • Archive Interview with Megumi Okina (1080i; 00:17:39)
  • Archive Interview with Koichiro Saito (1080i; 00:19:50)
  • Archive Interview with Reiko Matsuo (1080i; 00:04:24)
  • Archive Interview with Koji Okura (1080i; 00:04:56)
• Trailers and TV Spots:
  • Inugami and St. John’s Wort TV Spot (1080p; 00:00:22)
  • St. John’s Wort TV Spot 1 (1080p; 00:00:11)
  • St. John’s Wort TV Spot 2 (1080p; 00:00:28)
  • St. John’s Wort Trailer (1080p; 00:00:37)
• Image Gallery (1080p)

Disc 3:

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Zack Davidson
• Why So Serious? (1080p; 00:18:39) – Director Koji Shiraishi discusses the making of Carved
• Weapon of Choice (1080p; 00:16:56) – Scholar and J-Horror specialist Lindsay Nelson discusses Carved.
• Image Galleries (1080p)

Persona

Bonus Features:

• Confessions of a Mask (1080p; 00:17:12) – Director Takashi Komatsu discusses the making of Persona
• Image Gallery (1080p)

Disc 4:

Noroi: The Curse

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Julisn Singleton
• Interviews:
  • Director’s POV (1080p; 00:25:37) – Director Koji Shiraishi discusses Noroi.
  • The Man in the Shadows (1080p; 00:17:48) – Interview with the producer of Noroi and J-Horror maestro Taka Ichise.
  • Changing Perspective (1080p; 00:21:55) – Scholar Lindsay Nelson discusses Noroi and the mockumentary approach of Koji Shiraishi.
  • Ectoplasmic Worms (1080p; 00:20:31) – Critic Amber T. on Noroi and cosmic horror.
• Bonus Footage:
  • How to Protect Yourself Against Curses (1080i; 00:13:35)
  • Urgent Report! Pursuing the Truth about Kagutaba!! TV Special (1080i; 00:38:11)
• Deleted Scenes #1-#13 (1080i)
• Trailers and TV Spots:
  • Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:00:39)
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:01:43)
  • TV Spot A (1080p; 00:00:29)
  • TV Spot B (1080p; 00:00:15)
  • TV Spot C (1080p; 00:00:15)
• Image Gallery (1080p)

The Final Assessment

Japanese horror fans can relish this excellent collection that gathers some of the lesser known, lesser championed genre films from the heyday of the J-Horror boom. If you have watched Ring or Ju-on: The Grudge one too many times and are looking for something different, then this is the collection for you from Arrow Video.

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J-Horror Rising [Limited Edition] is out on Blu-ray October 29, 2024 from Arrow Video

Purchase J-Horror Rising [Limited Edition] on Amazon.com

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• Studios & Distributors: Arrow Video
• Directors: Nagasaki Shunichi | Mizutani Toshiyuki | Shimoyama Ten | Shiraishi Kôji | Komatsu Takashi | Harada Masato
• Run Time: 679 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 | 1.78:1 (St. John’s Wort)
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1 | LPCM 2.0 Stereo (St. John’s Wort)
• Secondary Audio: Japanese LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH
• Street Date: 29 October 2024