Haptic gaze in Asian female ghost films, Ringu (1998) and Juon (2002)

Abstract

Female ghosts’ gaze in Asian horror films is foregrounded because it is used like a weapon to kill people, while in Hollywood horror films, monsters or killers’ gazes moves objects to kill people. In Asian female ghost horror films, he victims always make eye contact with female ghosts, and they go mad or die following that contact. female ghosts’ gaze in Asian horror films is haptic. The female ghost’s gaze touches characters’ eyes and kills these characters (who see ghosts which are not real) in the film narrative, sending a bone-deep chill through the viewer. In Hollywood horror films, characters are killed by a lethal weapon or objects that causes bodily harm because female protagonist’s gaze moves objects, while in Asian horror films, female ghosts’ gaze kill people without any external wounds. Gazes are foregrounded, and their power is maximized in Asian horror films. In Ringu, Sadako’s gaze is haptic, striking the victims’ and the viewers’ eyes, and engendering fear from both characters and audience. The close-up of Sadako’s eye is actually for projective haptic gaze as touch, implying that it is intended to shock the character (Ryuji) and the viewer. What is interesting in Juon is the similarity between the female ghost‘s assaultive gaze and the living character’s reactive gaze. While in Hollywood horror films, the assaultive gaze and the reactive gaze do not mirror each other in such a fashion, in Juon, gazes between female ghosts and living characters are similar, mimicking each other A female ghost’s gaze is haptic, touching the eyes of characters and viewers, and engendering a somatic response from them.