The Cinematheque

“Japanese horror has always set the bar high when it comes to making your skin crawl.”

Anne Billson, The Guardian

Let’s see. Dead-eyed, pallid-skinned ghoul children? Manic visions of transhumanism run amok? Slow-burn chills that one-eighty into stomach-turning gore? Gonzo, goofy, ghost-story psychedelia? Yep, boxes are checked for The Cinematheque’s J‑horror primer this Halloween, featuring five benchmark blood-curdlers from the land of high-art horror, Japan. Four of the films arrive in optic-frying new restorations, with a digitally refurbished Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) receiving its North American theatrical debut. There’ll be nightmare fuel aplenty, dear scream seekers! As if 2020 wasn’t already scary enough…