When
Sat 12 Jul – Sun 3 Aug 2025
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Discover why the genre of Japanese horror has captivated popular culture for decades.
Tales of the macabre and uncanny have a rich tradition within Japanese folklore and storytelling. It’s no surprise then that the Japanese film industry has produced some of the most iconic and lasting tales of spine-tingling terror.
What’s exciting about how the horror genre mutates within Japanese cinema is in its embrace of the classical and folkloric stories seen in films such as Ugetsu(1953) and the polar opposite mash-up of cyberpunk and body horror in Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and the ultraviolent ‘Hunger Games’ spectacle that is Battle Royale (2000). While the explorations of urban alienation and haunted technology in Pulse (2001) pick up where Ring (1998) left off.
In this returning spotlight on Japanese Horror, we further explore the enduring legacy of the genre and its exciting mutations that make these films an endlessly thrilling and terrifying watch.
– Spiro Economopoulos, Guest Curator
Program Passes
See more films in this program for less
Full $48, Concession $42, ACMI Member $39
6-Session Pass
Full $90, Concession $78, Member $72
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