Flowers From Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film [Paperback]

For the past ten years, J-Horror has become synonymous with atmospheric chills (and shoddy Hollywood remakes), so an anthology is long overdue. However, so is an appointment at the proof readers for Jim Harper.

On the plus side, the book doesn't make the schoolboy error of thinking Japanese horror began with Ring and evolved from there through your Grudges and Dark Waters, but and does make sure to name check Kwaiden and Onibaba in the first chapter on the history of the Japanese horror film, but that's all they get. The fact this chapter is illustrated with numerous pictures from Kwaidan, and the title page has a still from Onibaba, makes their scant coverage that more noticeable.

In the book, the Japanese horror cycle begins in the 1980s, around the time of Evil Dead Trap, the notorious Guinea Pig cycle of films, and Tetsuo, and continued from there. But, in another massive omission, Tetsuo isn't covered other than one name check and considered to be sci-fi, which is erroneous as you can get - apart from maybe having Ichi the Killer represented on the cover and, again, skipped over far too quickly in the book.

Indeed, my first major problem does stem from the images picked more for look than relevance: as well as the aforementioned Kwaidan, there's plenty of stills and poster art for The Grudge 2 (that's the remake, not Ju-on: The Grudge 2), whilst the poster for Parasite Eve is included yet the film doesn't get a single mention.

Harper redeems himself with the volume of films covered within the various chapters, some you will know, some you may know, and some you probably won't, which is good for those looking for films to add to their collection (Kakashi and Eko Eko Azarak/Wizard of Darkness spring to mind), but at some points he really should have been reined in. For example, after the entry for Versus, we have a mini filmography for everything Ryuhei Kitamura has done since, which is highly irrelevant to the book.

Harper really needed a proof reader, or a better proof reader, before this went to print as well, as there's so many errors involved. There's the occasional typo, and on a few occasions the italics key has been left on, but a real stickler is how every time an actor or actress is mentioned, it always has a film their best known for in brackets - and at one point the same actress was referred to in this way within two pages of the same chapter.

Naturally, Hideo Nakata and Takashi Shimizu have their dedicated chapters, focusing mainly on the Ring and Grudge films respectively, yet the introduction states that Takashi Miike won't get this treatment, even if Audition, Ichi the Killer and MPD: Psycho are featured in the book, even though he's tied with three J-horror films apiece with Nakata and Shimizu. True, Miike's filmography features far more genres, but Nakata's has far more than Ring and Dark Water on it, too.

Flowers From Hell, then, works on one hand but fails on another. It works as a good jumping-off point for those looking to fill the gaps in the J-Horror market at present - and there are a lot of films that aren't available in the UK - but in doing so there are so many gaps in the book itself.

The book works as an introduction to the genre, but the sections of Tom Mes' (excellent) Agitator devoted to Audition and Ichi the Killer blow this whole book out of the water. But, if you're an avid collector, it does serve a purpose as a buyer's guide.

There is undoubtedly of plethora of well-intentioned books published in the last few years attempting to encompass and explicate the rise, prominence and development of Japanese horror films. Lord knows I've read far more than my fair share of them. I've reviewed a few here on SaruDama.com but the vast majority are still stacked in the corner of my room somewhere.

In my experience and if truth be told, seldom have I sat down to read a book on Japanese film genre and found it a page turner. By far and away, most of them, including the widely touted ones, amounted to reading an encyclopedia (ZZzzz..) or the stodgy biography of some person I was once interested in but whose life now appeared as boring as hell. So there they are, stacked in the corner, a dusty monument to misplaced enthusiasm.

Despite that tragic history, I am rather energized and confident in bringing to your attention Jim Harper's Flowers From Hell: The modern Japanese film. This was in fact a very fun read, not only in terms of Harper's clear and readable writing style but also due to the rather impressive amount of content he covers. Regardless of one's degree of exposure to Japanese horror films, the search for souls who can tell us more never ceases. But no one is interested (for long) in disseminaters of static, disjointed facts. Undoubtedly, fans of the visual and emotional medium of film are cognitively attuned to a more coherent, narrative-like whole. I truly prefer such writers and find Harper among that group.

Wisely enough, even at first impression Flowers distinguishes itself by intentionally conveying the experience of Japanese film rather than a mere knowledge of it. The book's odd dimensions, glossy cover and sleek profile will rightfully cause organized book lovers to place this in their ART section alongside other similarly dimensioned and glossied volumes. And with its 33-page section of high-glossy color prints of stunning and shocking film posters, I can think of no better place.

Personally speaking, I truly enjoyed and recommend this book. It has earned a place on my bookshelf rather than atop the dusty pile of its boring competitors. If you are somewhat new to Japanese Horror and don't want to kill your fervor by picking up a long-winded, say-nothing resource, I strongly encourage you to choose this. And for you pickled zombie veterans, I thoroughly believe Harper's writing style and depth of investigation will be a gherkin-mover.

Flowers From Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film