There are few Japanese movies that can chill down your spine, and some are way better than typical horror movies.

Here it comes the top 13 Japanese scariest movies 

 13.Kaidan Semushi Otoko (1965)

Kaidan Semushi Otoko

How can one expect a list of scary movies without ghosts? The first movie on the record has not 1 but 2 of them. The first results you see when you search for this movie are House of terrors, The Ghost of the Hunchback, which are the dubbed versions of the original Japanese film. 

The story revolves around an isolated cursed villa where the death of a mentally ill man occurs. Many people, including the dead man’s wife, arrive at the haunted villa and decide to stay there despite the hunchbacked caretaker’s warnings. Later they come to know about the curse on the people who enter the villa. One after the other, the relatives are dreadfully slaughtered by the ghost.

Do note that this movie is not available in the original Japanese version as it has never been aired before. But the Italian version House of terrors with English subs is open in YouTube

 

12.Haunted School (1995)

Haunted School

This film is the first of the famous series SCHOOL GHOST STORIES, which earned a distribution income of ¥1.5 billion ($14.5 million) in Japan.

 A teenage girl goes missing after she sets foot into an abandoned wing of an elementary school. In defiance of the rumors about the haunted school, the teenager’s older sister and friends enter the school to find her. They later discover that stories about ghosts are real. The special effects of the movie are so advanced that it felt imminent for that time.

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11.Kakashi (2001)

kakashi

The lead protagonist goes to an isolated village in pursuit of her strayed brother, where the locals ward her off about forthcoming “Kakashi Matsuri” (Scarecrow Festival).In a series of strange dreams, she comes to know that most people, including her brother, are living scarecrows. Though this movie seems invalid, the spooky environment makes up the movie worth watching.

 

10.Being Natural (2018)

Being Natural

                  An episode of experience represented realistically with little alteration in a dramatic, fictional, or journalistic work winds up unexpected findings of the horror genre. The climax is a complete delusive of the other movie, but the narration helps build up suspense. The film is lingering, but its relevance to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster makes it worth watching.

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9. Otogiriso (St John’s Wort) (2001)

Otogiriso St Johns Wort

 Nami, head of the art, designs visit an abandoned old villa with her ex-boyfriend Kohei to record the backdrop of a new video game, “St. John’s Wort”. Nami stumbles on many paintings that resemble her dead parents. 

The movie is undoubtedly unfledged, but the awful ambiance covers for it.

8.The Booth (2005)

the booth 1

Shogo (Ryuta Sato), an arrogant and self-centered host, had to temporarily shift his late-night call-in radio show to a restrained booth where its earlier host committed suicide several years ago. He encounters a series of unpleasant calls from a caller claiming Shogo “Liar” again and again. He is bewildered whether he is hallucinating, or the curse on the booth has unleashed again? The suspense and psychological aspects of this thriller are both nail-biting and edge of the seat.

7.Dark Water (2002)

Dark Water

On the verge of her divorce, Yoshimi Matsubara and her daughter are obligated to shift to a frayed apartment with a leaky ceiling. She peeps into a long-haired girl Mitsuko and a red bag. One day she comes across a flyer about the missing Mitsuko and later learns that the Mitsuko used to stay in her top floor and that she died after falling into a water tank. This movie is the right blend of drama and horror. There’s also an English remake of the film under the same name.

6.The Ring (1998)

The Ring

Reporter Reiko Asakawa investigates the death of a relative who died of a heart attack. The investigation reveals a cursed videotape that is rumored to kill the viewer within a week. The reporter unwittingly watches the disturbing clips of video with her son. Succumbed by the legend, Reiko begins to investigate the enigma. Surprisingly, the movie is a blockbuster in Hong Kong, where it emerged as the highest-grossing film of 1999. 

5.Guinea Pig (1985-1988)

Guinea Pig

A series of 6 films focused on tormenting, assassination, and evisceration. The first of the series Flower Of Flesh and Blood (1985) is severely condemned as this movie is allegedly accused of being inspirational to serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki. Rather than horror, this series seems to be an extremely violent genre. Do note that the intense violence in the series is not very pleasing to the eyes.

4.Sweet Home (1989)

Sweet Home

A film team decides to make a documentary on a famous artist Mamiya Ichiro. It visits his old home, where they run into supernatural incidents and haunted by his late wife. This movie is considered the first of its kind in the survival-Horror genre like Resident Evil, Evil Dead series.

3.Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfect Blue

Mima, an actor, turned pop star, is commended by all her fans but for one obsessed fan. She soon diagnosed psychosis as she fails to differentiate real life from her profession. Many people connected with her damaged esteem are murdered. Later Mima finds out that Rumi, her manager is the obsessed fan and transgressor guilty of all deeds.

 Despite being an animated movie, the movie has numerous psychological thriller elements.

2. Shiryô no Wana (Evil Dead Trap) (1988)

Shiryô no Wana

 A tv host and crew members visit a factory to investigate a snuff film sent to them. Amidst the investigation, the host and crew are abducted one after the other by the lunatic. The real culprit is someone to watch for. The movie received positive reviews from critics and has two sequels with the same name.

 

1.Noroi: The Curse (2005)

Noroi The Curse

 The movie is a found-footage like a documentary. A paranormal expert gets lost after researching about a legend the “kagubata,” his footage is retrieved and compiled.

Noroi: The Curse the best “documentary-style” horror films and received many positive reviews from critics. The movie is KōjiShiraishi’s first breakthrough best beyond any shade of doubt.

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