In the late 1990s, fans of Asian cinema witnessed a renaissance of films in the horror genre. Directors such as Nakata Hideo, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Miike Takashi, and Shimizu Takashi from Japan, Kim Ji-woon, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Kim Ki-duk, and Kim Dong-bin from South Korea, Herman Yau, Fruit Chan, and the Pang Brothers from Hong Kong, Songyos Sugmakanan and Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand, Kelvin Tong from Singapore, and Yam Laranas from the Philippines contributed in distinctive ways to the new Asian Horror that emerged in the late 90s and enjoyed critical and box-office success for over a decade.

The fact that over a dozen Hollywood remakes of Asian horror films have been released since 2002— including remakes of The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, Pulse, One Missed Call, The Eye, A Tale of Two Sisters, Shutter, and Oldboy—is striking evidence that Asian Horror has finally received the recognition it deserves as a movement that may be as significant to global cinema as the French New Wave was in the late 1950s and early 60s. By investigating the styles, techniques, and conventions associated with Asian horror cinema, this seminar endeavors to help students become more critical viewers of the genre as opposed to merely passive consumers of popular culture.