hideo nakata
Born July 19, 1961 in Okayama, Japan.
Starting out his academic life as an engineer, Hideo Nakata changed his major to Journalism and then ventured into film as an assistant director at a film studio throughout most of the 1970s and 1980s in hopes of becoming a film director. He gained experience working on various pinku-eiga films, otherwise known as pink films, which encompass everything from dramas to action-filled exploitation films but are best known for their softcore romance pornography. He stayed with the film company until its demise in 1993. Nakata's first venture into the horror genre came in 1992 when he directed three episodes for a television series titled (translated) True Fear Stories.
Nakata broke onto the American horror scene with his Japanese masterpiece Ringu (1998) and Dark Water (2002) introducing North American audiences to an entirely new genre: J-Horror. Japanese Horror traces all the way back to folkloric tales and ghost stories inspired by shinto beliefs and Ringu is credited with bursting the Japanese ghost seeking revenge onto the North American screens spawning American remakes and forever changing the cultural face of horror films. The popular movie tells the story of a young female reporter who, with the help of her spiritually astute husband, uncover the story of a video tape that kills all those who watch it within seven days. The film masterfully explores issues around broken family dynamics, the fast and far reach of video and technology as well as revisiting the ancient folklore of the ghost seeking revenge and giving the ghost a ruthless Western spin, in terms of motivation. After branching out to different genres, Nakata returned to horror in 2002 with Dark Water. Again, Nakata displays his skill as a storyteller by scaring audiences where fear begins: in the mind. His psychological horror films leave the viewer holding their breath in suspense of what will happen next as Nakata carefully lays down each piece of the plot's puzzle all while mixing contemporary urban legends with traditional mythology.
Harper, Jim. Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film. Noir Publishing: London: 2008, p.113-136
Starting out his academic life as an engineer, Hideo Nakata changed his major to Journalism and then ventured into film as an assistant director at a film studio throughout most of the 1970s and 1980s in hopes of becoming a film director. He gained experience working on various pinku-eiga films, otherwise known as pink films, which encompass everything from dramas to action-filled exploitation films but are best known for their softcore romance pornography. He stayed with the film company until its demise in 1993. Nakata's first venture into the horror genre came in 1992 when he directed three episodes for a television series titled (translated) True Fear Stories.
Nakata broke onto the American horror scene with his Japanese masterpiece Ringu (1998) and Dark Water (2002) introducing North American audiences to an entirely new genre: J-Horror. Japanese Horror traces all the way back to folkloric tales and ghost stories inspired by shinto beliefs and Ringu is credited with bursting the Japanese ghost seeking revenge onto the North American screens spawning American remakes and forever changing the cultural face of horror films. The popular movie tells the story of a young female reporter who, with the help of her spiritually astute husband, uncover the story of a video tape that kills all those who watch it within seven days. The film masterfully explores issues around broken family dynamics, the fast and far reach of video and technology as well as revisiting the ancient folklore of the ghost seeking revenge and giving the ghost a ruthless Western spin, in terms of motivation. After branching out to different genres, Nakata returned to horror in 2002 with Dark Water. Again, Nakata displays his skill as a storyteller by scaring audiences where fear begins: in the mind. His psychological horror films leave the viewer holding their breath in suspense of what will happen next as Nakata carefully lays down each piece of the plot's puzzle all while mixing contemporary urban legends with traditional mythology.
Harper, Jim. Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film. Noir Publishing: London: 2008, p.113-136