Vengeful ghosts returning from beyond the grave, young women with supernatural abilities, investigative narratives, a terror of technology, and an ominous aura of urban alienation and isolation mark the wave of horror and mystery films that emerged in Japan at the turn of the millennium, collectively labelled as "J-Horror". Remastered from the best available elements and packed with a host of contemporary and archival extras, J-Horror Rising presents seven of the genre's most distinctive titles.
In the ghostly pastoral horror of Shikoku, a young woman returns after many years to her rural birthplace, only to find her best friend from childhood has died by drowning when just sixteen. The dead girl's mother, the local Shintoist priest, has embarked on the region's famous pilgrimage — but why is she walking backwards? The aftermath of the devasting Kobe Earthquake of 1995 creates fissures in the already fractured mind of a high-school girl in Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, allowing an unwelcome intruder to set up home in her head and leaving a volunteer worker with psychic powers to determine which of her personas is the fake one. Shikoku also provides the mystical backdrop to Inugami, as a teacher from Tokyo finds himself drawn to a local papermaker, only to find himself the subject of some hostility from her extended family, who have long ties to the region and are rumoured to be the descendants of the guardians of ancient evil canine spirits.
Megumi Okina (Ju-On: The Grudge) plays the art designer for a horror-themed videogame in the innovative St. John's Wort, who is forced to confront her childhood traumas when her colleagues ask her to gather visual materials from the creepy gothic mansion she has inherited from her estranged artist father. Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman features the titular predatory murderess drawn from urban legend, where it turns out home isn't the safest place for her potential child victims in this disturbing supernatural horror. A new craze for wearing ceramic masks sweeps the students of a high school, unleashing a wave of anonymous juvenile delinquency amongst the literal fashion-victims of Persona, which boasts early appearances from Battle Royale stars Tatsuya Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama. Last but not least, the chilling Noroi: The Curse adopts a pseudo-documentary format as an investigative reporter into paranormal phenomena is forced to confront horrors beyond his wildest imagination after learning about an ancient folkloric demon.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all seven films
- Original lossless 5.1 and lossless stereo sound options for Shikoku, Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John's Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman and Noroi: The Curse, and original lossless stereo audio for Persona
- Optional English subtitles for each film
- Reversible sleeves and slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Dare Creative
DISC ONE — SHIKOKU / ISOLA: MULTIPLE PERSONALITY GIRL
- Audio commentary on Shikoku by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
- Audio commentary on Isola: Multiple Personality Girl by critics and Japanese cinema experts Jasper Sharp and Amber T.
- The Aftermath, Tom Mes discusses J-Horror at the turn of the millennium
- Something in the Water, an interview with Shikoku director Shunichi Nagasaki
- Archive interviews with director Shunichi Nagasaki and actors Chiaki Kuriyama and Yui Natsukawa on Shikoku
- Archive interview with actors Yoshino Kimura and Yu Kurosawa on Isola: Multiple Personality Girl
- On-set footage of the filming of Shikoku
- Original trailers and TV spots for both films
- Image galleries
DISC TWO — INUGAMI / ST. JOHN'S WORT
- Audio commentary on Inugami by Japanese cinema expert Jonathan Clements
- Audio commentary on St. John's Wort by Japanese cinema expert Amber T.
- Dog Days, a video interview with Inugami director Masato Harada
- The Making of St. John's Wort, archival featurette
- Archive interviews with St. John's Wort actors Megumi Okina, Koichiro Saito, Reiko Matsuo and Koji Okura
- On-set behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of St. John's Wort
- Original trailers and TV spots for St. John's Wort
- Image galleries for both films
DISC THREE — CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN / PERSONA
- Audio commentary on Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman by Japanese folklore expert Zack Davisson
- Why So Serious?, an interview with Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman director Koji Shiraishi
- Weapon of Choice, a video essay on Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman by Japanese horror specialist Lindsay Nelson
- Confessions ...
