When I started this article, I planned on doing a 20-year retrospective on the horror of the year, which is a shame because while I can’t in good faith say that 2002 was an absolute wasteland for horror, it certainly wasn’t a golden age.
The Disappointing Domestic Horror Scene of 2002
There was Halloween: Resurrection, a film that was so bad, it retroactively ruined one of the best films in the franchise with H2O. Signs represented the beginning of Shyamalan’s fall from grace. And these were accompanied by a slew of cheap sequels, including American Psycho II, Wishmaster 4, Cube 2, and a sixth Hellraiser film that went straight-to-DVD, all capitalizing on a big name while delivering…nothing.
Hidden Gems in 2002 Horror Films
So, what were we gifted with exactly? Cabin Fever comes to mind, as Eli Roth made a name for himself with one of his splatter-iest films to date. 28 Days Later brought us high-speed, rage-infested zombies terrorizing London. Dog Soldiers, a personal favorite of mine, came out as a fresh-faced werewolf action-horror but wouldn’t get its due until much later. In terms of widespread releases, all in all, the chaff outweighed the wheat in 2002.
That is, domestically.
The Rise of The Ring and American Horror Remakes
2002 saw the release of The Ring, everyone’s favorite example of an American remake done right. The reminder of Sadako and the immense impact Gore Verbinski’s film had on the horror landscape of the mid-to-late 2000s led me down the foreign trail. I found that a surprising number of instant horror film classics were released in 2002, all sharing one trait in particular: they were Asian horror.
Hong Kong Horror Hits: Inner Senses and The Eye
The year was certainly a success on the Hong Kong horror front, particularly in the ghost subgenre. Both released in 2002, Inner Senses and The Eye are great instances of the classic sense of mystery that can be evoked as victims of ghosts try to find the tragic origins of their hauntings. I personally enjoy The Eye more of the two, due to its clever premise and a great performance from Lee Sinje as our lead character, Mun.
Ju-On: The Grudge and the Power of Onryō Spirits
Like The Eye, another star that received the American remake treatment was born that year: Ju-On: The Grudge. While Ringu and its subsequent remake introduced non-Japanese audiences to the Japanese style of ghosts known as onryō, this is the first film that fully utilized the sheer terror of these vengeful spirits. The opening and closing scenes of the film are shocking and embody what makes the concept of the story so terrifying: it’s an utterly hopeless, no-win game. With Takashi Shimizu’s excellent directing and writing, it’s easy to feel hopeless as he pens a chilling story for the Saeki family that now terrorizes their former residence.
Dark Water: A J-Horror Masterpiece of Atmosphere
While Ju-On is an all-time great, what astounded me was finding out that my favorite J-Horror, Dark Water, was released the same year as my favorite K-Horror, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Like Ringu, Dark Water is based on a Koji Suzuki story. It’s a slow burn that follows mother, Yoshimi, as she struggles to settle into a new apartment with her daughter, Ikuko, in the wake of brutal divorce proceedings. Alongside her deteriorating sense of emotional and mental stability, her deteriorating apartment begins sprouting an uncomfortable number of new water stains and leaks. Through signs of a young girl’s disappearance, however, Yoshimi discovers there might be more wrong than just the failings of her building’s super.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance: K-Horror’s Class Struggle
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has the benefit of being part of Park Chan-wook’s incredible filmography, which should be the only stamp of approval you need. Like his prior film, Anarchists, and future film, Parasite, Sympathy is a film heavily rooted in class struggle and the human capacity for both enduring and committing cruelty. I think this is a film best enjoyed if you go in blind, but be warned, it rides the line between horror and thriller, in the same way I Saw The Devil does for some people.
The Unforgettable Soundtrack of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
The soundtrack for this movie is genuinely one of my favorites of all time. UhUhBoo Project captured the energy of this film perfectly. It’s soulful and sorrowful, apparent from the opening notes of “Story for Broadcast” which immediately stings you with a sensation that everything is about to go terribly wrong.
Why 2002 Was the Peak of Asian Horror
This film alone makes me hard-pressed to believe that 2002 is not the best year for Asian horror to date, so if you seek out any film on the list, make it Dark Water. Regardless of what you choose to watch, here’s to a bountiful foreign market in even the driest of domestic film years.