If you love pre-Ringu Japanese horror, Imprint Films are putting out a massive six-disc Blu-ray Hardbox limited to 1,500 copies (priced at AUD $179.95, arriving in Australia on 28 October 2026 with overseas retailers listing 11 November 2026). Titled The Origins of J-Horror (1989–2023), it gathers five obscure direct-to-video and late-night TV titles making their worldwide Blu-ray debuts alongside Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp’s 2023 feature-length documentary The J-Horror Virus.
Most people jump straight into Ringu or Ju-On: The Grudge when talking about Japanese horror, so having the low-fi stuff that came just before the international boom all in one box is great – especially Hideo Nakata’s 1996 movie Don’t Look Up (Joyūrei), which he made two years before Ringu. The full lineup across the first five discs includes:
- Jaganrei: Psychic Vision (1989)
- Scary True Stories: Ten Haunting Tales from the Japanese Underground (1991)
- A Haunted School (1996)
- Don’t Look Up (1996)
- Kokkuri (1997)
Imprint have also sourced them from the best surviving elements without trying to scrub away their rough 80s and 90s video look, and the sixth disc pairs The J-Horror Virus with a 100-page hardcover booklet featuring new essays from Erica Schultz, Camille Zaurin, Tom Mes, Amber T, and Sarah Appleton.
More Asian horror movie news.
- Erica – Japanese Psychological Horror Gets DVD Release in October
- Iwaiyama Gets Deluxe Blu-ray and DVD Release in Japan This November
- The Eye 1 & 2 Get a 4K UHD and Blu-ray Release from Carlotta Films
- The Sacred & The Cursed: Severin Brings Four Joko Anwar Horror Films Together in Huge Blu-ray Collection
- Incomplete Chairs: Kenichi Ugana’s Gory Japanese Horror Gets a DVD Release
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