10 Best Japanese Ghost Movies

Be ready to be scared with this list of the 10 best Japanese ghost movies. In the last ten years there has been a slew of American remakes of Japanese ghost movies, and while these remakes are usually pretty good, they don’t always stand up to the horror of the originals. The ten best Japanese horror movies are a mix of folklore, and social commentary to weave sinister stories that will scare the crap out of you and make an interesting comments on how their directors see the world.

1. Apartment 1303 (2007)

The tag line for this one of the ten best Japanese ghost stories was “Some rentals are too good to be true”, which turns out to be a more than accurate assessment of the haunted apartment that drives it’s occupants to commit suicide.


Picture is (C) copyright to 3G Communications

2. Curse, Death and Spirit (1992)

A three part trilogy of short films, this one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies has more than enough supernatural fear to go around. It has tales of haunted dolls, ghosts that start out friendly but then suddenly get evil as they want more, and pretty young girls trapped inside of haunted hotels. This one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies has something for everyone.


Picture is (C) copyright to Palisades Tartan

3. Cursed (2004)

This movies makes the list of the ten best Japanese ghost movies because it is contemporary, campy and creepy as hell. When evil spirits take up residence inside of a convenience store, it’s up to the employees and a few intuitive patrons to figure out who or what is killing the people to shop there.


Picture is (C) copyright to Geneon Entertainment

4. Dark Water (2002)

Don’t let the sub par American remake deter you from this one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies. After a nasty divorce a woman and her young daughter move into an apartment that is inhabited by the spirit of a long forgotten dead girl.


Picture is (C) copyright to Toho Company

5. School for Ghosts (1995)

Starring some of the cutest child actors in Japan, this one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies is a fun and creepy look at what happens when a group of kids explore a wing of their school that is rumored to be haunted.



6. Ghost System (2002)

Ghosts collide with technology in this one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies. After getting a letter from a friend she thought had died as a kid, a young woman is lured to a facility where a mad man is trying to destroy the barrier between the living and the dead.


Picture is (C) copyright to Fuji Television Network

7. Ju-On (2002)

Most of us may know this one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies by the title of the American remake “The Grudge”. While the American version of this movie was decent it doesn’t compare to the creepy horror that was created in the original version.


Picture is (C) copyright to Toei

8. Pulse (2001)

Another one of the ten best Japanese ghost movies that blends contemporary living with creepy ghosts; this one of the ten best Japanese ghost stories looks at a series a suicides caused by a web cam that promises the living a look at the realm of the dead.


Picture is (C) copyright to Toho Company

9. One Missed Call (2003)

One of the few movies to make our list of the ten best Japanese ghost stories to stick with a more traditional horror story line. But despite it’s formulaic approach to horror getting a call that lets you hear your own murder is still creepy.


Picture is (C) copyright to Toho Company

10. Ringu (1998)

This one of the ten best Japanese ghost stories may be singularly responsible for the surge of American remakes of Japanese ghost movies. By now most of us know the story of the story of the video tape that will kill you seven days after seeing it. And if you don’t go check it out.


Picture is (C) copyright to Toho Company

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