I was looking for a good horror movie to watch, and I decided on this because it got some pretty good reviews and looked fairly interesting. Also, I've never seen any sort of Asian horror before, but I like the few horror classics I've seen (Halloween, Scream, etc.). What I got was way beyond your average horror flick with subtitles.<br /><br />I'm in my fourth year of studying Japanese, so I'm fortunate enough to have a decent understanding of the language and culture, and it helped immensely to know at least a bit of the rapidly changing state of Japan's culture from its proud, individualistic roots to today's insulated, tech-centered society. All Japanese are also known for being very polite, but with this comes a sort of isolation with avoidance of almost any physical contact. All three of these traits are explored in the movie; though loneliness and alienation are an element of American society as well, they are not nearly as ingrained in our culture as they are in that of the Japanese.<br /><br />And if this doesn't sound like a horror film, don't worry, because Kurosawa is fortunately a skilled enough director to weave this into the slow-developing but immensely appropriate horror device unique to this movie. I don't even understand it fully after having watched it, but if you can't suspend your disbelief, why the hell are you watching a horror movie? What counts is that it is really creepy, suitably convoluted, and it serves the film's message of loneliness perfectly - the combination of all three make it gut-wrenching to see some of the things that happen.<br /><br />If this piques your interest, don't hesitate to see it, and it's best to watch it at night by yourself, or at least with a friend who also wants to concentrate on it, because it has a profoundly atmospheric, desolate, and almost dreamlike mood that shouldn't be broken by side conversation. Don't see it under any conditions without a brain ready to think, and if you're familiar with Japanese culture you get brownie points for being able to understand many of the movie's subtleties that would fly over the heads of American viewers.