The 40 most popular japanese horror movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Vampire Princess Miyu
1988 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
Its central characters are a vampire girl named Miyu and her demonic companion Larva. Miyu is the daughter of both a human and a shinma (demon) and as such she was awakened as the guardian whose destiny is to hunt down all stray shinma and send them back to the darkness.


Nun in Rope Hell
1984 · 1h 9m
country: Japan
A woman gets caught by the wife of her lover which results in a stabbing. Feeling guilty she runs away and joins a nunnery. But she soon discovers that several nuns and a well known author have turned the place into their own personal S&M playground.


Door
1988 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
Yasuko, a housewife, lives in an urban high-rise apartment with her husband Satoru and her son Takuto. Annoyed by spam calls and door-to-door salesmen, Yasuko slams the door on a salesman’s hand when he tries to squeeze a flyer through the apartment's chained front door. He leaves, but the next day, her nightmare starts.


Godzilla Minus One
2023 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.


Ice Cream Man
2026 · 1h 26m
country: United States
An idyllic summer town descends into madness when an ice cream man serves kids sweet delights with horrifying results.


Exit 8
2025 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
A man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?


Resident Evil: Death Island
2023 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
In San Francisco, Jill Valentine is dealing with a zombie outbreak and a new T-Virus, Leon Kennedy is on the trail of a kidnapped DARPA scientist, and Claire Redfield is investigating a monstrous fish that is killing whales in the bay. Joined by Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers, they discover the trail of clues from their separate cases all converge on the same location, Alcatraz Island, where a new evil has taken residence and awaits their arrival.


Shin Godzilla
2016 · 2h
country: Japan
When a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and tears through the city, the government scrambles to save its citizens. A rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side - the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.


Resident Evil: Degeneration
2008 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield must battle a rogue warrior seeking revenge after unleashing the deadly G-Virus, whilst a mutated monster goes on a rampage.


Cloud
2024 · 2h 4m
country: Japan
Ryōsuke Yoshii, an ordinary reseller, carelessly earns grudges by people and becomes entangled in a life-threatening struggle.


Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead 5
2014 · 1h 22m
country: Japan
Convinced of the final outcome, a team of scientists travels back in time to stop the spread of a virus turning men into zombified rapists through society and causes them to finally uncover the source of the deadly disease which causes them to attempt to stop it before it happens again.


Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead
2012 · 1h 13m
country: Japan
After a nuclear attack in Tokyo, the female population is attacked by infected males who have become sex-crazed zombies, hungry for human flesh. Officeworker Momoko and nurse Nozomi seek shelter in a Shinto Shrine, where they meet housewife Kanae and school girl Tamae. With no choices left to them, the group of girls decides to take a stand and arm themselves with assault rifles and explosives to fight off hordes of horny zombies. What is the secret to killing the zombies for good?


Resident Evil: Vendetta
2017 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
When a fearless enemy out for revenge unleashes a brutal and deadly new virus, BSAA captain Chris Redfield enlists the help of Agent Leon S. Kennedy and Professor Rebecca Chambers to bring down the death merchant and save New York City.


Monster Island
2025 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
In the Pacific, 1944, a Japanese soldier and a British prisoner of war are stranded on a deserted island, hunted by a deadly creature. Two mortal enemies must come together to survive the unknown.


Midori
1992 · 55m
country: Japan
After losing her parents, young flower selling Midori is put up by a fairground group. She is abused and forced to slavery, until the arrival of an enigmatic magician of short stature, who gives her hope for a better future.


Resident Evil: Damnation
2012 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
U.S. federal agent Leon S. Kennedy sneaks into the "East Slavic Republic" to verify rumors that Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs) are being used in the country's civil war, which the U.S. and Russia are making preparations to jointly intervene in. Right after his infiltration, the U.S. government orders him to leave immediately. Determined to uncover the truth, Leon ignores the order and enters the battlefield to end the chain of tragedies caused by the BOWs.


Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment
1985 · 43m
country: Japan
Masked thugs torture an innocent woman in increasingly brutal ways.


Dollhouse
2025 · 1h 50m
country: Japan
After losing their child, a mother finds solace in a life-sized ancient doll she finds on the market. When a new daughter enters the family's life, strange things begin to happen and no matter how hard the family tries to get rid of it, the doll always finds its way back.


Oxen Split Torturing
1976 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. The first, during a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with a young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as his personal slave to torment Iori. The second follows Sutezo who, forced to serve the barbarous master of a brothel in order to repay his debts, befriends a young girl. Together, they both escape and struggle to get by on scams and petty theft.


Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
2001 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Legendary dhampir D competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to track down Charlotte Elbourne, a young woman seemingly abducted by undead nobleman Meier Link.


The Dead Don't Die
2019 · 1h 44m
country: United States
In the sleepy town of Centerville, the lives of a number of interconnected characters are disrupted by the undead.


Cure
1997 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.


Attack on Titan II: End of the World
2015 · 1h 27m
country: Japan
Eren Yeager leaves to restore a break in the wall destroyed by a Titan. He comes under attack by the Titans and is cornered. Shikishima comes to his aid. The titans never stops attacking. Eren is now injured and tries to protect Armin, but is swallowed by a titan. A Titan with black hair appears and begins to expel the other titans.


Ju-on: The Grudge
2002 · 1h 32m
country: Japan
When a social worker is sent to check on a traumatized elderly woman whose family have moved in at the site of a notorious murder case, she unwittingly unleashes a cycle of terror that transmits via its victims.


Attack on Titan
2015 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
100 years ago, titans suddenly appeared on Earth. Soon, human civilization veered on collapse due to the titans. Humans then built a giant wall to defend themselves. Within the giant walls, humans lived in peace, but, 100 years later, the giant wall is broken.


Ring
1998 · 1h 36m
country: Japan
A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.


Godzilla
1954 · 1h 36m
country: Japan
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.


Infection
2004 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
Infection takes place in a dark, isolated hospital, where one doctors mistake has led to dire consequences for a patient. In a hospital death is just a breath away.


Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison
2011 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
After his capture for attempted assassination of the Raikage, leader of Kumogakure, as well as killing Jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, Naruto is imprisoned in Hōzukijou: A criminal containment facility known as the Blood Prison. Mui, the castle master, uses the ultimate imprisonment technique to steal power from the prisoners, which is when Naruto notices his life has been targeted. Thus begins the battle to uncover the truth behind the mysterious murders and prove Naruto's innocence.


Lucky Sky Diamond
1989 · 58m
country: Japan
At the clinic where her boyfriend Katayama, a young genius doctor, is the director, Yoko, a young girl who continues to suffer from eerie nightmares every day, is not getting better despite the care of her sister Sakurako and Katayama's treatment. Sakurako, the sister, is suspicious of Yoko's condition and confronts Katayama, who tells her that she suffers from a serious mental disorder and that the only way to cure it is to have brain surgery. Yoko, despite being persuaded by her sister and Katayama, agrees to the surgery, although she is skeptical...


Mai-chan's Daily Life
2014 · 1h 3m
country: Japan
Miyako starts a live-in maid job and quickly discovers that housecleaning is the least of her duties, as her employers use the maids in their twisted fantasies. Her co-worker Mai-chan, who can miraculously recover from any injury, becomes the focus of horrific, indulgent violence that Miyako is soon drawn into.


Ichi the Killer
2001 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.


Guinea Pig: Mermaid in the Manhole
1988 · 58m
country: Japan
An artist dealing with the grief of his wife leaving him finds solace in painting the squalor of the sewer. He discovers a trapped mermaid, whom he brings home to heal. Her condition worsens, and she asks the artist to paint her before she dies.
Angel of Darkness 3
Angel of Darkness 3
1996 · 1h 12m
country: Japan
Manami, the sole survivor of Angel of Darkness 2, is rushed to hospital where she slips into a deep sleep. A priest correctly suspects that the demon (now referred to as an Injuu) is inside Manami's body, but by the time he is able to confirm his theory, the creature has already moved on. As before, the tentacled beastie passes from host to host (by thrusting its slimy appendages into its victims' orifices), eventually ending up inside goody-goody schoolgirl Fumie, who does her best 'Linda Blair' impersonation for a while, before the priest inevitably turns up to save the day.


Bridal Doll
1979 · 1h 10m
country: Japan
At a park a listless young man becomes intrigued by a wandering woman in white as she exits an exhibit of torture at a wax museum. He is slowly drawn into her forbidden world of pain and discipline.


Vampire Hunter D
1985 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
In a far-future time ruled by the supernatural, a young girl requests the help of a vampire hunter to kill the vampire who has bitten her and thus prevent her from becoming a vampire herself.


Audition
2000 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
Seven years after the death of his wife, widower Shigeharu seeks advice on how to find a new wife from a colleague. Taking advantage of their position as a film company, they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu is enchanted by the quiet Asami. But soon things take a twisted turn as Asami isn’t what she seems to be.


Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
2023 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
Bullied by his boss, worked around the clock, he's nothing more than a corporate drone. All it takes is a zombie outbreak for him to finally feel alive!


Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King
2012 · 1h 16m
country: Japan
Guts, an immensely strong sword-for-hire, has little direction in his life, simply fighting one battle after the next. However, this all changes suddenly when he meets and is bested by Griffith, a beautiful and charismatic young man who leads the Band of the Hawk mercenary army. After Guts joins the Band and the relationship between the two men begins to blossom, Casca, the tough, lone swordswoman in the Band of the Hawk, struggles to accept Guts and the influence he has on the world around her. While the two men begin to fight together, Griffith continues to rise to power, all seemingly in order to reach his mysterious, prophesied goals. What lengths will Guts and Griffith go to in order to reach these goals, and where will fate take the two men?


Kwaidan
1965 · 3h 3m
country: Japan
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
Japanese cinema gave the world Kurosawa's samurai epics, Ozu's domestic dramas, Godzilla and the kaiju film, and the J-horror wave that Hollywood spent the 2000s remaking. It also sustains the most developed animation industry on earth.
Horror is cinema's most reliable laboratory — cheap to make, endlessly reinvented, and unusually good at smuggling in subtext. Every few years a national wave redefines it: Italian giallo, Japanese J-horror, the Korean thriller, American indie horror.