Need to know

Terracotta Far East Film Festival runs from June 6 -15, with individual ticketing for each film, as well as a festival pass for the first week that allows entry into all Current Asian Cinema and In Memory Of: Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui films.

Current Asian Cinema, In Memory Of, and The Terror Cotta Horror All Nighter are shown at Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester St London WC2H 7BP Tickets from 8.50/6.50 pounds for members of the Prince Charles Cinema

Spotlight on: Indonesia is shown at Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH

Tickets from 10/8 pounds

Website: www.terracottafestival.com

Horror flicks from the Far East

Asian horror movies have been around pretty much as long as Asians have been making films, but Far East spookiness only really hit the mainstream world circuit with the 1998 ghostly Japanese flick, The Ring.

Officially the scariest movie in Japan according to entertainment stats company Oricon, the story about a vengeful ghost and a video that kills its viewers revived horror moviemaking in Japan and kickstarted a string of US remakes of Japanese horror movies.

That same year, the Korean horror genre also exploded with Whispering Corridors, a movie about a schoolgirl's ghost amid a cynical commentary on Korean high schools.

Fast forward a few more years and South Korea had become an equally contentious powerhouse of Asian horror, with director Park Chan-wook turning out psychological thriller Oldboy (2003) about a released prisoner who has five days to hunt down his captor.

In comparison to the gore fests and slasher-strewn flicks of Hollywood horror, these films created their chills from atmosphere and plot, eschewing the cartoonish and bloody stereotypes that make up many Western horror movies.

K-horror, for example, often explores the anguish and suffering of its characters, building psychological terror with restrained, layered direction that often incites sympathy even for its sociopathic villains. See Sympathy of Lady Vengeance (2005), A Tale of Two Cities (2003) and Thirst (2009).

In J-horror, common themes are ghosts, poltergeists and possession by evil spirits, given a subtle and often literary treatment to build suspense that culminates in a shocking, twisted finale.

See: The Grudge (2004), Ringu 2 (1999) and Kairo (2001).

Catch some of the year's spookiest at Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter with six back-to-back movies from Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.

Our top three picks this year are below. Or hit www.terracottafestival.com for the full list and schedule.

COUNTDOWN by Nattawut POONPIRIYA, Thailand

Three rich kids throw a New Year's Eve party in New York City but when a drug dealer named Jesus turns up, a psychological game of violence and torture ensues.

BELENGGU by Upi, Indonesia

When a murder occurs in a small town, bartender Elang begins to suspect his nightmares about an axe-wielding giant rabbit and a blood-covered housewife hold the key to what really happened.

HENGE by HAJIME Ohata, Japan

A young woman is forced to confront her husband becoming a monster in front of her very eyes.

(China Daily 05/31/2013 page24)