Welcome back to one more final entry in the history of ghost movies. This time we're going about it in a relatively different direction with this final write-up as this should end our series on a high note following what we talked about just the schools last time on the site.
So, it's been awhile since I've talked about this but I have mentioned the two stylings before and we're still not done here. Such is the nature of the genre here where we need to really talk so much about these films, yet the obvious question here is what exactly is left? We've looked at what I consider to be genre titles in the first part and five popular (and sometimes surprisingly active) locations in part two, so let's go back to the start of this with a look into the other stylings I claim are part of ghost movies.
What we've looked at with those two settings so far has been just that, the popular places to stick ghosts haunting places. As evidenced by those write-ups, there's plenty of films that detail the ghosts haunting those places but what about other locations? Surely there are other obscure locations that contain ghosts, but instead, we're going to do it a little differently for this last part with the factor here being just going by country annually. Doing it another way would just make for an endless and never-ending post, so it's going to be done that way just for this one specific part.
Revenge-
So, the first of our elected coverage for this write-up will be the 'Revenge' offshoot. This here is actually rather simple, in that the setup is driven entirely on the ghost being a person with a specific target. Usually based on the idea of seeking the guilty party or parties that are responsible for their death in the first place, these here typify this somewhat obscure part of the sub-genre.
Now, there's no need to go in-depth on the subject but it's entirely possible to see numerous examples of this throughout the world. Asian cinema is a goldmine of material here as there are a plethora of titles that fall in line with this format, although most of these come with caveats that should be mentioned first. Seeing as how the popular urban legends of Yotsuya Kaidan and Botan Dōrō are commonly featured throughout their cinematic history with adaptations of these stories carried out over time, I will take those into consideration in the future separately and will thus not be covered at this time.
Since the first adaptations of these ghost stories involved film versions of either of those stories, there would be a large gap in between releases as other titles came into prominence. Many of these were built upon the concept of the Onryō, a Japanese spirit that was believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, harming or killing enemies or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to redress the wrongs it received while alive then takes their spirits from their dying bodies. Now, we won't address all of these titles since most of these have never made it to America in any form and have thus eluded me, yet some of these include efforts like The Depths (Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi), The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond (Kaibyô Otama-ga-ike) or The Ghost of the One Eyed Man (Kaidan katame no otoko) just to name a few. However, easily the most famous entry is the superior chiller Black Cat Graveyard (Yabu no naka no kuroneko), as all of these efforts are about vengeful spirits enacting solely against their original killers. Many of these films would be remade numerous times over the years.
While many of these were being pumped out in Japan, South Korea also offered up a fair share of titles to include. Starting around the same time in regards to the Japanese cycle of films, their first efforts include efforts like Bride from the Grave (Mudeomeseo naon shinrang), Why the Cuckoo Cries (Dugyeonsae uneun sayeon), Lady Hong (Minyeo Honh Nang-ja) or A Sister’s Regret (Nunaui han) which offer a slightly different take on the style. These are slightly different from the Japanese take in that they're far more based on the drama of the situation rather than playing up the horror of the situation, taking plenty of melodramatic turns that offers a horrific outcome as the ghosts are otherwise basically the same in general look and feel. Granted, a vast majority of the titles haven't made it to America in format but it's still entirely possible to see where this format comes from.
The more modern interpretation of these films in Asian cinema isn't much different from their earlier efforts, with some obvious exceptions. The people are far more modern and contemporary, the main factors for revenge are given plenty of more appropriate connections as for why they're going out on their path of revenge. Now, that carries on for the films that emerge from the rest of the world, with some rather intriguing efforts coming from Italy (most notably Umberto Lenzi's The Hell’s Gate and the two Lucio Fulci efforts Sodoma’s Ghosts and the later Demonia), the Mexican The Man Who Came Back from the Dead and a few German films (Fearmakers as well as Gonger: Evil Never Forgets and it's sequel) which go alongside the numerous Asian efforts still being churned out. Since most of these would undoubtedly be unfamiliar to most audiences, a few US titles that appear throughout that time would include Ghost Story or The House Where Evil Dwells, although a more recent example of this is most certainly the polarizing Unfriended which undoubtedly ties all this into a more modern setting.
Righting Wrong-
The next entry we'll look at is the 'Righting Wrong' variant, and this might be one of the oddest groupings so it'll need some explanation. In this case, I'm referring to the storyline tactic where the ghost in question isn't necessarily maliciously searching for people to kill but rather attempting to get something done that can't be done in a ghostly state. Their actions force somebody else into action and explore what's going on with the ghost in their presence, which oftentimes forces them to right a wrong that was committed in the first place.
Due to the selectivity of the setup here and how specific the storylines have to be, it's not a super popular or prolific subgenre which has a lot of efforts. The first effort to really get noticed would've been Lady in White directed by Frank LaLoggia from his own novel. While not a huge hit, there's a fan-base for this effort which has kept it alive. The next big effort was the Kevin Bacon-led Stir of Echoes, which spawned a fine sequel several years later. In the interim, several other films cropped up here and there including Feardotcom, the Danish Midsummer as well as an American remake in the Daniel Myrick-directed Solstice, alongside several other remakes including Mirrors and The Uninvited.
Oddly, the biggest proponent of the genre would be the Lifetime Network which managed to churn out several films in this format over the years. Unexpectedly, their first foray was the Tiffany Thiessen effort Buried Secrets that detailed her struggling to find the cause for the ghost living on her father's farm while visiting him for the summer. Their next two efforts still stand among their best horror films to date with the stellar The Dead Will Tell as well as In Her Mother’s Footsteps, while the most recent effort was A Haunting at Silver Falls which is another rather engaging effort. Beyond that small serving of titles, other entries would include White Noise, They Wait and The Pact. Granted, this isn't the complete list of titles to be found here in the genre but it's enough to force an idea of what's appearing in the genre.
While these efforts were being carried out in the US, across the world in Asia a few other titles cropped up in several scattered countries. The original versions of Mirrors and The Uninvited, the South Korean efforts Into the Mirror and A Tale of Two Sisters respectively, were some of the first efforts to appear, as well as the Philippine The Echo/Sigaw which all appear as the only works outside the biggest proprietor of the style in Asia, Thailand. There are several Thai efforts of the style throughout their output. Starting with Seven Days in a Coffin, this sets the stage for a slew of films to emerge several years later in Cadaver/Sop, Dorm/Dek hor and The Spiritual World, while the biggest effort is certainly The Victim/Phii khon pen about a woman hired to be an actress in crime-scene recreations being caught up with the ghost of the woman she played in one of her most recent scenes. While a few other efforts popped up in the interim, that all these efforts appeared in a three-year span from one country is certainly suspicious and noteworthy nonetheless.
This final style is one that is the easiest to explain yet still might be the most controversial of these choices. Basically, it amounts to the ghost themselves acting like slasher film villains, targeting anyone and everyone without any rhyme or reason for their rampage. No one is targeted for a specific reason, it's just about a ghost going around killing people like a true slasher.
Now, to get an idea of what this genre is like, look no further than the explosion of so-called 'J-Horror' efforts that appeared as all the rage in the late 90s into the early 2000s. Essentially, efforts like Ju-On, Ringu and their sequels and remakes are right on target in terms of what to expect here, a ravenous ghost on a killing spree that acts like a slasher villain. Now, sure, there's more out there not only in Japan but also the other Asian countries offered variations on the style. Other Japanese efforts include Dead Waves/Shiryôha, One Missed Call/Chakusin ari, The Locker 1 and 2 and Hide and Go Kill 1 and 2, as well as the myriad of films based on the Kuchisake-onna legend which will be featured at a later time here as that does require more time than what will be done here..
Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia tackled the genre quite heavily with the Kuntilanak series of films as well as ripoffs including The Ghost of the Citrus Cemetery/Hantu jeruk purut, Genderuwo and The Legend of Sundel Bolong. As well, Thailand also offered up plenty of titles with Diecovery/Phee Suan Suph, Ghost of Mae Nak and the two My Ex films which are quite fun for the most part. Lastly, South Korea featured several big titles with efforts like Dead Friend/Ryeong, Cello, Arang and The Cat, to name just a few and setting up the Asian market quite proudly and prominently.
Now, outside of Asia, the genre doesn't feature much originality. Most of America's output is essentially remakes of many of these movies, including The Ring, The Eye and One Missed Call, among others. Again, this outpouring of work will be covered at a later time as we take a look at this scene and the films that emerged from the 'J-Horror' work making it to the US, Beyond these franchise efforts, there isn't much to work with as it's down to scattered efforts like Darkness Falls, Dark House and The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine as the only real films in this style to emerge outside of the Asian films and their remakes.
And with that, it brings us to a close in this long-awaited release that brings me back to working on this site. I promise it will continue on after that mini-hiatus with plenty of good stuff coming up in the near future. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time.
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