Biography

July 27, 1972 · Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan

As of 2013, he had directed 4 movies of the "Ju-on" series. He also directed the first 2 films of "The Grudge" series and served as a producer on the third.

Directed the American remake of his movie Ju-on: The Grudge (2002).

His film director is Steven Spielberg.

When I watch American horror films, what I'm going for is something we can't find in Japan. Bride of Chucky or Freddy vs. Jason. I love those two, and I really like Ronnie Yu's taste, because it's almost funny that I can laugh. Recently, all these horror movies are using those old horror heroes, they're starting to go for something funny, and I really like that movement. I actually couldn't watch any horror movies when I was little, and finally, I was able to see them when I was in junior high, and around that time, those Freddy type and Jason type [movies] were there. Since that was the first type of horror films that I got into, I really enjoy it still.

I do really like making horror movies because it's interesting, because you have all these tricks to play on, it's very much fun, but I do want to go for something different, maybe I can do different types of horror, including all these suspense or thriller type things, but the film that I really want to shoot now is a comedy.

The rating issue is always difficult, because it's never the same. The response they give me is always different, and every time, it is different.

It's not that I dislike those CGI FX, but the thing is that if it's a horror film, as soon as they figure out that it's a CGI, it's not going to be scary any more and when we see those things with CGI and it's like fancy and big, it's interesting, but at the same time, as soon as they find out that it can be real, not CGI, the level of scare comes down to half of it, and that's just not something I like as a style. If people are not going to be scared of those CGI, I'd rather just do it practically, and if we can maintain the level of the scare I want to go for, I'd rather just do it practically.