Editorials
Arrow Video Presents the Remastering of a J-Horror Classic: Reflecting On ‘Audition’
Nearing the 20th anniversary of its debut at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Takashi Miike’s Audition has long been regarded as one of the most unsettling films ever made. Audition has been renowned as a tremendous work of Japanese Horror, offering a shocking delivery of terror. It is a divisive work as well, with critics speaking to its contrasting themes.
With Audition’s anniversary in mind, Arrow Video this week released a special 2K restoration of the film; this version comes packaged with a small booklet and lots of features. Including a variety of different interviews and commentary, there’s also a special feature entitled Damaged Romance, with Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns discussing Miike’s career and sharing an insightful critique of Audition.
Adapted from Ryu Murakami’s novel of the same name, Audition follows Shigeharu Aoyama, a middle-aged widower. His son encourages him to get back out into dating, inspiring Aoyama and a film producer friend of his to arrange a fake audition for the former to find a potential wife. Aoyama is immediately attracted to Asami Yamazaki, a quiet woman who grew up loving ballet, but has lost her ability to dance. The two begin seeing each other, but what starts as romance soon evolves into a world of nightmares.
The twist comes in the form of revealing who Asami is; the viewer learns of her abusive past, and how she has grown to torture and kill those who hurt her. At first, Asami appears as a gentle woman; it’s as the narrative progresses we learn more of her backstory and mentality. Visually, Miike provides context through surreal sequences that interrupt the linear narrative; these transitions are jarring and offer a psychological horror element. There will be moments where we re-watch an interaction between Asami and Aoyama we saw earlier, but this time the dialogue will be different; or, Aoyama may be in a nightmare where he sees Asami, but in the blink of an eye, she has shifted form to look like someone else. Through this mix of cuts and flashbacks, we have context regarding Asami’s past and Aoyama’s state of mind.
When Asami and Aoyama begin seeing each other, she requests that he love no one else but her; when she breaks into his home one night, seeing a photo of his late wife and learning of his son, she loses it and renders him immobile (drugging a drink of his). Her attack on him leads to a graphic segment of dismemberment and torture, as Asami prods Aoyama with needles and cuts off one of his feet with wire.
Other than Audition being known for its disturbing violence, it is also a film of much debate regarding its themes. Given the two primary ways one can read the narrative, there is a mix of opinions between whether or not Audition is a feminist or misogynistic film.
As shared by Rayns in Damaged Romance, Japanese culture has a history of depicting women in hypersexual pornographic roles, often with violence directed towards them, or as the overtly domesticated wife. In staging a fake audition, Aoyama and his friend treat women as objects to be judged based on Aoyama’s desires. It is a manipulating act, serving to only drive what Aoyama wants to find in his ideal wife. It is worth noting the age range of early 20s to 30s for the women, given that Aoyama is well into middle age.
Speaking to the feminist ideas within Audition, one can see Asami as rebelling against sexism and misogyny. Rather than submit to the needs of a man and his control and desires, she is acting against cultural norms, fighting back at anyone who has harmed her. In this manner Audition has some feminist elements to it: the problem, however, is that this view is weak when given the stronger evidence for Audition’s more misogynistic point of view.
On the opposite end, Audition can also be read as an exploration into the fear some men have of women being in control. One can find evidence of this in the surreal sequences, which represent Aoyama’s fears of Asami having sexual power over him. Considering the context of patriarchy in Japan, Aoyama is a figure that would assume control over a relationship. The dream sequences provide context to the concerns Aoyama has coming into a new relationship with a younger, attractive woman (and if that is too much for him to handle).
Because we experience the film through Aoyama’s point of view, it takes away from the film’s feminist angle, cutting away at the significance of Asami’s fight against misogyny. Rather than presenting a powerful story about a woman rebelling against patriarchal ideals, the narrative cares more about addressing a man’s fear of not being in power. To further complicate things, the ending adds another layer of complex ideas; when Asami is left “defeated” by Aoyama’s son, Aoyama is left crippled and severely wounded (physically and mentally). In wounding Aoyama, has Asami succeeded? In her attack, has she driven home the message to him that women are also powerful and not just objects for use?
In its dual ideology and blending of both psychological and body horror, Audition is a significant work of Japanese Horror. For years Audition has been applauded for its use of surreal terror and graphic violence. For fans of Audition, this special release is a must-buy, especially given all commentary that speaks to its thematic ideas. In all its anxiety-provoking tension, Audition is a nightmare-inducing experience, and an essential work of cult cinema.
We’re now officially in the back half of 2026 now that July is here, but what a year it’s been for horror so far. The sequels and reboots are still holding strong at the box office with films like Scream 7 and Scary Movie, but it’s also been a year where new voices are shattering records in unexpected ways.
Markiplier eschewed conventional production and distribution channels with his feature adaptation of Iron Lung, for example. We’re also still in the midst of Backrooms and Obsession-mania, with the former back in theaters with bonus footage and the latter extending its box office reign. Liminal horror has exploded, and low-budget indie horror is seeing just as much, and sometimes even more, success as big studio-backed fare.
All of which to say that 2026 has been a hell of a year so far for the genre, and it’s only getting warmed up. Still on the way are Evil Dead Burn, Insidious: Out of the Further, Resident Evil, Clayface, Whalefall, and Werwulf, just to name a few.
Also catch up with the Best Horror Books and Best Horror Games of the year so far.
Here are the ten best horror movies of the year (so far).
10) Chime
Horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with one of his most haunting yet, though one that’d likely be higher on this list if it were more accessible. The 45-minute feature was initially produced and distributed as an NFT before receiving a theatrical run earlier this year, with no plans to distribute digitally or on home media. It spins a somewhat cryptic tale, introducing a culinary teacher, Takuji Matsuoka (Mutsuo Yoshioka, Never After Dark), whose classroom becomes disrupted by a strange sound that leads to violence. It’s a quiet but haunting unraveling, one that leaves no aspect of Matsuoka’s life untouched, in true Kiyoshi Kurosawa style. That it defies any easy explanation also ensures Chime embeds itself under your skin.
9) Send Help
Sam Raimi’s splatstick return to form is a delightfully deranged two-hander that doubles as infectious catharsis for anyone who’s ever had a bad boss. Rachel McAdams (Doctor Strange) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) face off when their characters are shipwrecked on an island, prompting a bid for survival in more ways than one. While O’Brien often matches her, It’s McAdams who shines as she deftly handles everything that Raimi, working from a script by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason), throws at her. Send Help is full of vibrant personality, packed with all of Raimi’s signatures, making for one of the most entertaining films of the year.
8) Mārama
New Zealand filmmaker Taratoa Stappard’s gothic tale begins in familiar fashion, with Mary Stevens (Ariāna Osborne) arriving in Yorkshire upon invitation to learn more about her parents, only to find the remote manor haunted. Just when Stappard’s period horror story feels doomed to succumb to familiar gothic trappings and jump scares, though, its true horror emerges. The more Mary uncovers about her heritage and her Māori culture, the clearer it becomes that this grim home is built on violence and exploitation. Stappard’s vision comes into its own when it leaves behind its gothic influences and embraces its Māori identity; few scenes are as powerful as when Osborne’s Mary performs a haka in response to her vile oppressors, heralding in a righteous bloodbath.
7) Touch Me
Writer/Director Addison Heimann draws from retro Japanese horror, exploitation cinema, and perhaps even hentai for his campy, psychosexual sophomore feature. A toxic friendship plagued by trauma, codependency, and addiction gets tested to the extreme when Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), a hip-hop-loving, tracksuit-sporting alien, gets between them. Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris have an easy rapport and play off each other well as directionless, depressed Millennial besties prone to ignoring their problems until they become insurmountable. But it’s Pucci’s inspired, childlike take on the chicken nugget-loving extraterrestrial with tentacled secrets of his own that steals the show. Heimann has a lot on his mind with his sophomore feature and neatly condenses it all into a quirky, eccentric psychosexual camp odyssey that leans heavily into humor.
6) Backrooms
Director Kane Parsons translates the vast liminal labyrinth of his web series to the big screen in his feature debut, one that instills existential dread with its atmospheric horror and narrative. The ‘ 90s-set horror movie introduces a protagonist with a serious chip on his shoulder over life’s many disappointments, who then discovers his furniture store harbors a hidden door that leads to an endless labyrinth. It’s not just the incredible production design that instills a disorienting sense of doom and terror, but the lead characters’ palpable and profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Parsons exudes impressive confidence and control as he methodically entrusts his quiet worldbuilding and talented leads to carry the dramatic weight. While Backrooms does deflate by the film’s cryptic, cliffhanger-y end, it’s arguably the most effective and scariest yet at capturing the uncanny valley of generative AI.
5) Leviticus
Writer/Director Adrian Chiarella uses an It Follows-like supernatural entity that relentlessly stalks its prey as a launchpad to immerse audiences in the horror of constantly living in fear for simply existing. A conversion therapy ritual among a deeply conservative community plunges a pair of erstwhile lovers into a nightmarish bid for survival when it summons a force that takes the shape of those whom the afflicted desires most. Chiarella refines the horror mechanics and metaphor with much sharper precision, ensuring that the scares and emotional gravity of the young couple’s terrifying predicament reach their intended impact. It’s the central layered performances by Joe Bird (Talk to Me) and Stacy Clausen (Thrash) that clinch emotional investment in their heartbreaking plight, ensuring that the social horror cuts deep.
4) Redux Redux
The McManus Brothers, writer/director duo Matthew and Kevin McManus (The Block Island Sound), dials up the intensity of a classic revenge story by setting it within a multiverse, where Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) seeks to snuff out every single iteration of her daughter’s murderer, Neville (Jeremy Holm). The more she stalks and slays every world’s Neville, the more she risks losing her humanity entirely. Through a narrative foil in Mia (Stella Marcus), Redux Redux smartly bypasses repetition as it explores the moral complexities and vulnerabilities of Irene’s extremely violent quest. Holm becomes utterly terrifying in the climax, ensuring that no matter whether Irene loses herself to vengeance for good or not, it’s justified if it means ridding the world of this sick maniac.
3) 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Director Nia DaCosta takes the reins in the second entry in writer Alex Garland and original director Danny Boyle’s trilogy, picking up from the previous conclusion that saw Spike (Alfie Williams) fleeing from the infected straight into the welcoming arms of Sir Jimmy Crystal (Sinners’ Jack O’Connell). From here, DaCosta presents a stark contrast between humanity’s best and worst. The former sees the tender studies of Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) make poignant strides toward humankind’s future, while the latter unleashes more pain and bloodshed courtesy of the Jimmies. The dual paths of light and dark collide in one epic conclusion, an inspired confrontation between good and evil on a stunning set piece of heavy metal insanity. Yet it’s DaCosta’s handling of both extremes that impresses most, teeing up one epic conclusion to this trilogy.
2) Obsession
Sketch comedian turned horror filmmaker Curry Barker (Milk & Serial) wrings blood-curdling terror from a classic Monkey’s Paw wish fulfillment scenario in a way that no one could have ever anticipated. To say that it’s taken the box office by storm would be a massive understatement; Obsession is the top horror movie of the year in terms of gross. It’s not hard to see why, either. While Monkey’s Paw scenarios often yield predictable outcomes, and this outcome is practically telegraphed from the start, Barker manages to surprise with the journey itself. And it’s one insane journey paved with blood-soaked violence and no shortage of nightmare fuel. What truly sets it apart, though, is leads Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette as the central pair undone by one vicious wish. Expect to see a lot more from breakout Navarette.
1) Hokum
A surly, traumatized writer must break free from his self-imposed shackles of guilt when confronted by a wicked witch haunting a quaint Irish inn in the latest by writer/director Damian McCarthy (Oddity). Adam Scott’s Ohm makes for an atypical but rewarding protagonist, and his complicated emotional journey gives way to a deeply moving story of a man so thoroughly broken by personal trauma that he constantly dwells in darkness. In true McCarthy style, expect the creepy as hell witch to dole out some supernatural retribution for crimes committed, but never in the way you’d expect. The filmmaker has a way of making whimsy pure nightmare fuel; Hokum distorts a kids’ show into eerie, uncanny valley-induced terror in its torment of Ohm. Channeling Stephen King, this creeper plays like a traditional campfire tale in mood and style, infusing genuine scares with a sense of magic and heart.
You must be logged in to post a comment.