Flowers from Hell

by Jim Harper

Over the past decade, Japan has become a key player on the contemporary horror scene, producing some of the most influential and critically respected genre movies of recent years and helping to spark off the worldwide interest in Asian horror. Whether it's the subtle chills of Ring, the graphic brutality of Audition or the zombie-fuelled mayhem of Versus, Japanese horror has had a major impact throughout the world, leading to high profile remakes and sending its most talented directors to Hollywood. Flowers from Hell is the most in-depth look at the vibrant and challenging world of modern Japanese horror so far, covering the best directors, the most important films and the most popular themes of the past 25 years. From its origins in the mid-80s to the multi-million dollar franchises of today, Flowers from Hell traces the evolution of this consistently inventive and influential horror phenomenon. * Films featured * The Ring series *Audition *Battle Royale *Juon/The Grudge * Evil Dead Trap *Curse *Pulse plus over 200 other captivating titles including the controversial soft core Pink cinema genre

Genres: Film, Japan, Horror, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2008

Reviews

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

A freeze-frame a sudden shift into negative black and white, and it's all over.

This book looks at the development of Japanese horror films, and is so exhaustive in its scope that no matter how much you might think you know about the genre, you'll soon realise how much you don't. In that respect, it's very impressive.

On the other hand, whilst the author's seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge enables him to cover a huge number of films, at times the coverage of each film is a little too brief. It's great to read about so many films that i would otherwise never heard of, but i'm left wanting more than a brief synopsis of each. That would be pretty much impossible, i suppose, without writing thousands of pages...so perhaps i'm being a tad harsh. Still, for me, the book was far more interesting when looking more closely at the films i knew; there's a detailed analysis of Ring, for example.

Despite this, its a worthwhile read for those who have an interest in the genre and want to find out more about the dozens (hundreds) of films that haven't found themselves under the same kind of media attention as Battle Royale, Ring et al. As an overview of the entire genre, it's the best i've come across.

[J.A.A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly didn't really enjoy this book. The author covered too much of what didn't interest me, and too little of what did. Not necessarily the author's fault. If you are looking for a rundown of Japanese horror that briefly covers A LOT of movies throughout Japanese history, this might be the book for you. For me, it felt like reading a Wikipedia page .

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, too many plot summaries tho

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good introduction to the major genres of Japanese horror cinema and their historical genesis, marred only by the author's brief assertion that the American film Silent Hill was in any way a great horror movie.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun read, but I was hoping for a bit more detail on the cross pollination between western and eastern horror styles. The commentary is there, but more space is given to plot summaries of variously delightfully gruesome films.