By Don Kaye
Special to MSN Movies

Read more: Best Scary Movies

I've seen a ton of horror films in my time, and almost nothing has creeped me out more than the sight of a gray-skinned, withered old man, half his head caved in, drifting slowly across an elevator toward actress Lee Sin-je in the Hong Kong horror film, "The Eye." A few other moments -- all from movies made in Japan or other Asian nations -- have achieved nearly the same effect: the vengeful ghost Sadako, one crazed eye peering from a curtain of dark hair, crawling out of a TV screen in "Ringu," or a little dead boy named Toshio making a horrible mewling sound like a cat being strangled in "Ju-on." They are images that stay with you; images Hollywood noticed and is increasingly trying to replicate.

Not only has Hollywood recently remade many of its most popular homegrown horror movies but it's also cannibalized a number of films from Asia, particularly Japan, where a wave of such movies that started in the late '90s became known as J-horror.  "Pulse" is based on a 2001 Japanese picture also known as "Kairo," while "Grudge 2" is the sixth overall entry -- and second American one -- in a series either known by that name or "Ju-on" in its native land.

The whole phenomenon was jump-started by 1998's "Ringu," which was re-imagined here in 2002 as the massive box-office hit, "The Ring." The original movie began popping up on bootleg videos in the United States, a beautifully eerie bit of accidental marketing for a movie about a curse passed through a bootleg video. Initially hard to find except in local Chinatown stores or through shady mail-order outlets, J-horror films quickly attained a cult status as films too frightening for mainstream audiences. The supernatural and macabre has played a significant role in Japanese cinema almost since the cameras started rolling, but the success of "Ringu" and its ilk spread to other countries, with Hong Kong ("Dumplings"), Thailand ("Shutter") and especially South Korea ("Tell Me Something," "A Tale of Two Sisters," "Sorum") revving up their own shockers.

"Ringu" eventually caught Hollywood's attention, but the difference between Asian horror cinema and America's output remains as vast as the Pacific Ocean. American films rely on quick shock cuts, stuttering edits, loud musical stings and brutal, visceral gore. Asian genre flicks, on the other hand, go for long, slow takes, dead (so to speak) silence, and a slow, torturous build-up of mood -- which makes the unexpected visual manifestations all the more skin-freezing. Some of the Asian output has translated successfully to the American versions, but the originals are worth seeking out, along with a few that have yet to get the Hollywood touch (or curse). One thing's for certain: Authentic fear is a universal language unto itself. Here are 10 essentials to get you -- and your pulse -- started.

"Jigoku" (1960)
Until "Jigoku," Japanese film had been a relatively horror-free experience. Well, that literally went up in flames with this descent into hell. It was one of the most expensive Japanese films of its time. A grim lecture on moral corruption, the film's final half follows its protagonist into the underworld and a succession of nightmarish, graphic images that are shocking even today. Perhaps the first truly modern Asian horror film, "Jigoku" is getting a long overdue release on U.S. DVD this fall.

"Evil Dead Trap" (1988)
Arguably the template for today's J-horror, "Evil Dead Trap" became a cult favorite in the States on bootleg video. Ironically, a VHS tape drives the plot here as it would in "Ringu" a decade later, except that this tape purports to show an actual murder. An ambitious reporter takes her crew to an abandoned factory in search of the tape's origins, and the gruesome fun begins. Offering up atmosphere so thick you could slash it with a chainsaw, "Evil Dead Trap" works hard to overcome its rather cloudy plot.

"Cure" (1997)
Released a year before "Ringu," director Kyoshi Kurosawa's creepy police procedural benefited from the latter film's success when it opened in select U.S. markets in 2000. Detective Takabe (the always excellent Koji Yakusho) tracks a series of seemingly random yet identical killings, all by different people, back to a sinister young man who claims to have no memory. The man's real purpose and Takabe's ultimate destiny are utterly frightening -- you'll never look at a cigarette lighter quite the same way.

"Ringu" (1998)
Now practically a cottage industry, "Ringu" was a novel and a TV miniseries before the movie changed the course of Japanese cinema and generated a shelf full of follow-ups. Fusing the country's traditional ghost story with modern technology (well, videotapes aren't exactly modern, but never mind), this tale of a vengeful spirit and her viruslike curse had fans worldwide nervously watching for dark-haired girls to climb out of their television sets. A horror classic -- with not a drop of blood or an onscreen death in sight.

"Whispering Corridors" (1998)
Just as "Ringu" re-animated J-horror, "Whispering Corridors" brought the South Korean kind (K-horror) back from oblivion. Set in a girls' high school, Park Ki-Yong's directorial debut attacked the repressive nature of the Korean educational system while also weaving a conventional, if unsettling, ghost story. As the first film of its type to arrive after years of government censorship, it opened the floodgates for many more to come. Now if only the same would happen in North Korea ...

"Ju-on" ("The Grudge") (2000)
It started with a cheap, straight-to-video flick that inadvertently got a rep as the scariest movie ever made. The minimalist approach of the original "Ju-on" made it thoroughly unnerving, but not as unnerving as the fact that writer/director Takashi Shimizu has now told basically the same story six times, including three Japanese sequels, the first U.S. "Grudge" and "Grudge 2." With a seventh installment on the way in Japan, Shimizu will have yet another chance to outscare even himself.

"Audition" (2000)
Director Takashi Miike makes a new movie every 10 minutes or so (we're not kidding), but his "Audition" is one of a kind. Miike eschews his usual manic pace for the languid, bittersweet tale of a middle-aged widower who tries to find a new young bride for himself by unscrupulously hosting casting calls. But his choice isn't quite what he expected, "Audition"'s tone suddenly changes, and the movie's final 15 minutes are almost unbearable to watch. "Audition" did make it to limited U.S. screens, but that ending almost guarantees a remake ain't happening any time soon. We hope.

"Uzumaki" (2000)
This bizarre fantasy is based on a series of Japanese manga (comic books). The residents of a small town are slowly driven insane or physically transformed by spirals ... yes, spirals. A girl's hair twists into a malevolent entity; a young boy gets gruesomely wrapped around the tire of a car; and another transforms into a human snail -- those are just some of the manifestations as the entire town is possessed. Curl up with a loved one to watch this hallucinatory mix of comic art and H.P. Lovecraft-type cosmic horror.

"Kairo" ("Pulse") (2001)
"Kairo" is one of the most chilling films of the last 15 years. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's meditation on alienation, loneliness and despair shows what really happens when we spend too much time alone on the Internet: the dead start using it to depopulate the world of the living. As slow as a dial-up connection, "Kairo" nevertheless manages a sustained tone of dread that will haunt you long afterward.

"The Eye" (2002)
If that now legendary elevator sequence doesn't give you serious goosebumps, you might as well be dead. Danny and Oxide Pang wrote and directed this Hong Kong gem, the chilling and ultimately poignant tale of a blind woman whose cornea transplant allows her to see dead people. HK cinema's formidable response to the new wave of J-horror, "The Eye" has been in development as a U.S. remake for a while, with Jessica Alba currently attached to star. Do yourself a favor and keep an eye out for the original.

Are you a fan of Asian horror? What is your favorite title? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com

Don Kaye is a freelance writer who lives in New York. He has been a horror fan ever since he sent himself to bed at the age of seven because he was too scared to keep watching "The Mummy's Hand."