Sight and Sound Magazine Article - Dark Waters - links to Japanese myth and The Ring

Sight and Sound Magazine Article - Dark Waters - links to Japanese myth and The Ring

(Page 32) 'no sense of closure or conclusion, no banishment or laying to rest of the undead'. The undead is similar to the Japanese ghosts, Onryo, who died a traumatic death and seek revenge. 'Japanese horror movies end with a suggestion that the spirit still remains at large'. This is similar to the ending of The Ring where the curse of the videotape/Samara is still at large. 'The Japanese don't regard spirits only as enemies, but as beings that co-exist with this world of ours'. This is a belief that many Japanese have of Onryo today. Films that involve water are designed to keep the horror fluid instead of the solid for that is traditionally seen in Western horrors.

(Page 36) 'The soul of a person, the souls of ancestors and the mysterious invisible powers which are perhaps closer to gods'. Japanese horror can be traced back to different beliefs to that of Western culture. 'Japanese ghosts are supposed to appear wherever the water exists...strong connection between water and the supernatural'.