“Asia” as Regional Signifier and Transnational Genre-Branding: The Asian Horror Omnibus Movies Three and Three … Extremes

Abstract

The Ring (2002), The Ring Two (2005), Dark Water (2005), The Grudge (2004), The Grudge 2 (2006), Shutter (2008), The Eye (2008), and One Missed Call (2008) are all recent Hollywood remakes of Asian horror movies. Some of these titles have enjoyed critical and commercial success, as in the case of the first entry in this trend, The Ring (which achieved good box-office takings both inside and outside the US),¹ and The Grudge.² Others have proved to be major disappointments to fans of the original movies. Indeed, faced in summer 2008 with a string of remade Asian horror movies (Shutter, The Eye, and One Missed Call), the nightmarish destiny of Hollywood remakes appeared to many to have come true. Here were movies which not only failed to match the originals, but completely ruined their essence.

The international currency of “Asian horror” as a popular sub-genre has grown sharply over the past decade and often before Asian critics and scholars have had an opportunity to debate and agree certain ideas concerning its generic conventions. It is certainly true that numerous Asian countries have long and prolific traditions of cinematic horror. However, it is only recently that the traditions of specific countries have been brought together under the rubric of “Asia.” In these circumstances, Asian horror—a new generic term conjoining the regional signifier “Asia” and the generic label “horror”—has been returned to Asian critics and audiences with a haunting question: what is Asian horror?