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Globally, fear has been showcased differently around the world, but Japanese horror stands out. At the heart of this genre lies Junji Ito, a visionary artist who has taken this genre to a whole new level. Traditionally, the horror genre relies on the typical jump scare, but Ito-Sensei has his own ideology.

A panel from Uzumaki. Credits: Viz Media

The manga artist believes in showcasing fear with cultural beliefs and psychological terror sewn perfectly with grotesque imagery that would petrify one with fear. To put it simply, the artist is the Eiichiro Oda of this genre, as his works are renowned among fans of this genre because he can really make you feel unsettled.

As a result, at the end of each work, fans would be compelled to think about the madness they had just read. With meticulous attention to detail and the obsession of taking fear to a whole new level.

Quick Links Junji Ito Manga Works Junji Ito In Anime, Movies, And Video Games

Junji Ito is a man who needs no introduction. Often considered the godfather of horror manga, Ito is responsible for some of the most terrifying manga ever created, writing stories that have given countless readers nightmares. Over the years, Ito has branched out into other mediums, including movies, video games, and anime. However, working out where to start with Ito's massive catalog can be difficult, especially as his stories have a complex release history in America.

Ito burst onto the scene in 1987 when he submitted a story to Monthly Halloween, a shjo magazine focused on horror stories. This story, called Tomie, received lots of praise. It also earned an honorable mention in the Kazuo Umezu Prize, drawing many eyes to the then-new mangaka. After this success, Ito continued to write stories for Monthly Halloween and other...

In Stuart Baird's 2002 film "Star Trek: Nemesis," Tom Hardy plays Shinzon, a human clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), grown in a lab by the dastardly spies in the Romulan Empire. When their clone plot didn't quite turn out the way that they wanted, the Romulans disavowed Shinzon's existence and sent him as a young boy to be enslaved in a Reman mine. The Remans were a cousin species of the Romulans that had been enslaved for many generations. Shinzon would grow up among the goblin-looking Remans, sharing their plight. Perhaps possessed of Picard's knack for leadership, Shizon would eventually lead a Reman uprising against the Romulans. "Nemesis" was the first time Trekkies ever caught a glimpse of the Remans. Shinzon's massive warship, the Scimitar, would be staffed entirely by Reman officers.

Most notably, Shinzon's unnamed right-hand man, a Reman Voiceroy, would be played by Ron Perlman, an...

Tom Hardy's first major film gag was playing one of the many faceless soldiers in Ridley Scott's overwrought war thriller "Black Hawk Down" in 2001. The actor was only about 24 at the time and had just come off of the acclaimed HBO WWII miniseries "Band of Brothers." His second feature was also a war drama called "Deserter," a low-profile project that was released in 2002. Casting directors seemed to like the way Hardy looked in uniform.

Also in 2002, however, Hardy was offered a higher-profile role -- and a very challenging one -- when he was cast as Shinzon in Stuard Baird's "Star Trek: Nemesis." Shinzon was a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) who had been raised in a Reman mining colony, and who would rise up against his Roluman oppressors and attempt to take control of the Romulan Star Empire. Shinzon was essentially a younger, more aggressive version of Picard,...

Peter Kelley, an actor and singer on Broadway who spent nearly two decades as an agent at William Morris, where he repped the likes of Denzel Washington, Gregory Peck, Farrah Fawcett, Joan Crawford and Héctor Elizondo, has died. He was 97.

Kelley died Feb. 28 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Suffolk, Virginia, his daughter Sara Blessington told The Hollywood Reporter.

Kelley began in show business as a singer at the Boston Latin Quarter, then acted in regional theaters throughout New England. His first New York performance was as a singing Seabee and Lt. Cable in the original Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, which starred Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza and opened in 1949.

He returned to Broadway in 1952 to play Chick Miller in Joshua Logan’s Wish You Were Here and to appear alongside Bette Davis in Two’s Company, then managed theater companies in and around...

“Flee” multi-awarded Danish writer/director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, most recently nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize, is set to take up the animated format and displacement theme with the project under the working title “Dane” (“Dansker”), spear-headed by Danish production outfit Ja Film (“Lego Elves”).

The animation feature project is based on “The Dane Trilogy” (“Dansker Trilogien”) comic books by rising Danish talent Halfdan Pisket, winner of the 2019 series prize at the Angoulême international comics fest.

Consisting of the books “Deserter,” “Cockroach” and “Dane,” published locally between 2014-2016, the trilogy about identity and integration, draws on the life-experience of Pisket’s father. Forced to leave his native Turkey after deserting the army, the main character James struggles to integrate in Denmark and turns to the criminal world. His family will be key to his survival.

“I personally read ‘The Dane Trilogy’ a couple of years back and was immediately...

Gabin Rivoire’s documentary “Laurent Garnier: Off the Record,” which explores the origins and rise of techno music through the eyes of one of its pioneers, is set to world premiere on May 7 in front of a live audience at the Cph:dox festival in Copenhagen. Anton, which is handling world sales, has released its first official trailer exclusively to Variety. Garnier, one of the world’s leading DJs and a well-respected music producer, talks to Variety from his home in France, which is still in lockdown, preventing him from traveling to the premiere, about how the film evolved, his love of techno, and how the pandemic caused him to stop listening to techno music for the first time in more than 30 years.

Garnier had been approached a few times by people wanting to make a documentary about his life, but wanted to “open the doors and work in trust” with a filmmaker,...

Exclusive: Three-time Oscar winner Ang Lee has been lauded with the Légion d’honneur (The Legion of Honor), France’s highest order of merit.

The Taiwanese born-American filmmaker was honored for his global contribution to culture and received the honor from the French Ambassador to Taiwan at a private ceremony.

“This order is the highest civil and military order of the French republic and is awarded not only for artists but for people who have made significant achievements in many different fields. In the case of Mr. Ang Lee we are talking about his global contribution to the world of culture. The decoration has been awarded by our former President along with the diploma that comes with it,“ said David Kibler, Head of Cultural Affairs at the French Office in Taipei.

Previous filmmaker honorees include Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Redford.

Lee was previously awarded...

Indian actor Soumitra Chatterjee, best known internationally for his long association with Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, died on Sunday in Kolkata after contracting coronavirus. He was 85.

Chatterjee was born in Calcutta in 1935. While at university he developed an interest in theater and was subsequently mentored by Sisir Bhaduri, a doyen in the field. He pursued an acting career in cinema while working as an announcer with All India Radio.

Chatterjee’s film debut, “The World of Apu,” (1959) was the third part of Ray’s celebrated Apu Trilogy that began with Cannes-winner “Pather Panchali” in 1955 and continued with Venice-winner “Aparajito” in 1956. The film began a fruitful association with Ray over the years that included “The Goddess” (1960), “Three Daughters” (1961), “The Expedition” (1962), “Charulata” (1964), “Days and Nights in the Forest” (1970), “Distant Thunder” (1973), “The Golden Fortress” (1974), “The Elephant God” (1979), “The Home and the World” (1984) and “Branches of the Tree” (1990).

Chatterjee also worked with the other greats of Bengali-language cinema,...

Olivia de Havilland, one of the last remaining actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, two-time Academy Award winner and star of “Gone With the Wind,” has died. She was 104.

Her publicist Lisa Goldberg confirmed the news to Variety, saying de Havilland died from natural causes on Sunday at her residence in Paris.

De Havilland’s former lawyer Suzelle M. Smith said, “Last night, the world lost an international treasure, and I lost a dear friend and beloved client. She died peacefully in Paris.”

Numerous Hollywood figures paid tribute to de Havilland upon the news of her death. SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris extended her sympathies, saying, “Olivia de Havilland was not only beautiful and talented, she was a courageous visionary and an inspiration to generations. She was a marvel and a legend. Rest in peace.”

The striking brunette won best actress Oscars for “The Heiress” and “To Each His Own” in the late 1940s,...

The Very Eye of Night is a series of columns on non-binary and female avant-garde film and video artists. The title refers to Maya Deren’s last completed film. Anthology Film Archives in New York presents a five-program retrospective of Carole Roussopoulos’s videos from November 7–9, 2017. The screenings will be introduced by Nicole Fernández Ferrer, director of the Simone de Beauvoir Audiovisual Center.Carole Roussopoulos, 1970. Photo by Guy Le Querrec.Jean-Luc Godard wrote a letter to Carole Roussopoulos in 1979 for Cahiers du cinéma in which he reflected on the motivations behind making films, and inquired: “Sometimes I wonder what has happened to all you have filmed in the four corners of France and the world… And I wonder why people in cinema want to film others with so much frenzy.” As Nicole Brenez recalls, the Swiss filmmaker responded to him: “to privilege the approach of those without a voice.” Carole Roussopoulos...

Harvey Weinstein could be stripped of his Cbe, an honorary title that stands for Commander of the Order of the British Empire, following the mounting allegations of sexual assault levied against the producer.

The British government’s Honors Forfeiture Committee is actively considering removing the honor, according to the BBC. While only the forfeiture committee can rule on stripping the title, the final decision must be approved by the Queen.

Weinstein received the title, which is one step down from a knighthood, from Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 for his contribution to the British film industry.

Related Video: George Clooney Slams...

In another blow to Harvey Weinstein after he was ejected from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, France's president said Sunday he was working to rescind Weinstein's prestigious Legion of Honor award.

Dozens of women have made allegations of sexual harassment and assault against the movie mogul in recent days, some dating back decades. Weinstein denies non-consensual sexual activity.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took the almost-unprecedented step Saturday of revoking Weinstein's membership. It said it did so "to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in...

Harvey Weinstein's crumbling rep is now an international affair -- France plans to strip him of an honor they hand out to stand-up guys ... which their Prez says he ain't anymore. Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France was moving to revoke Weinstein's Legion of Honor -- the highest French order of merit that can be bestowed for military or civil acts. Weinstein got the distinction in March 2012. As we reported ... Weinstein just got expelled...

Donald Malarkey, a World War II veteran portrayed by Scott Grimes in the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, has died, reported the Associated Press. He was 96.

Malarkey died on Saturday in Salem, Oregon, of age-related causes, his son-in-law told the AP.

As a paratrooper, Malarkey was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroics on D-Day in 1944, according to the AP. He parachuted behind enemy lines at Normandy, destroying German artillery.

He was a member of the Easy Company — the Army company profiled in the 2001 American war drama — with whom he fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

After serving in the war,...

I annoyed Jerry Lewis once by asking him about The Day the Clown Cried, a movie he starred in and directed in 1972, and then refused to release. "It's awful," said Lewis of the Holocaust drama in which he starred as a circus clown who entertains Jewish children as he leads them to their deaths in Nazi gas chambers. Why not show it and let the world decide? "I'm ashamed of it," Lewis told me flatly. When I pressed him, he flashed a look that could be subtitled "End of Discussion.

American entertainment icon Jerry Lewis passed away earlier this morning at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was 91-years old. Lewis started off a zany slapstick comedian before leading his "Jerry's Kids" telethons to raise a lot of money for muscular dystrophy research. Lewis and his annual telethons raised a whooping $2.6 billion dollars for muscular dystrophy research over the years and brought an incredible amount of awareness to the disease.

Lewis' death was confirmed by Las Vegas Review Journal columnist John Katsilometes' Twitter account this morning. Lewis died peacefully at 9:15 Am at his home in Las Vegas, surrounded by his family. The entertainer had many health ailments over the years including open-heart surgery in 1983, a surgery for prostate cancer in 1992, and a heart attack in 2006. Lewis also went to treatment in 2003 for prescription drugs and suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease that he took Prednisone for,...

Jerry Lewis, an actor and auteur who was one of the most influential forces in American comedy, died Sunday morning at his Las Vegas. He was 91.

"Legendary entertainer Jerry Lewis passed away peacefully today of natural causes at 91 at his home with family by his side," his family said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal writer John Katsilometes. No cause of death was announced.

In a career that spanned vaudeville, radio, television, film and philanthropy, Lewis established the persona of a manic, juvenile jokester, which belied darker, more self-lacerating elements below the surface,...

Arnold Schwarzenegger was awarded one of France’s highest awards on Friday, the Legion d’Honneur.

The star received the honor in recognition of his efforts in environmental work and was presented the award by French President François Hollande. The ceremony took place at the Élysée Palace in Paris, where Schwarzenegger officially became a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

“Thank you, President @fhollande, for making me a Commander of the order of the Legion of Honor for my environmental work,” Schwarzenegger posted on his Twitter account, along with a picture capturing the special moment.

Thank you, President @fhollande, for...

Takeshi Kitano has taken home laurels from film festivals the world over. As of next week, he can lay claim to an even higher honor: France’s Legion of Honor, which the Japanese actor, director and comedian will receive at a ceremony in Paris next week for his contributions to contemporary arts.

Read More: ‘Boiling Point’ Exclusive Poster: Film Movement Classics Re-Releases Early Beat Takeshi Movie

Jack Lang, France’s former culture minister, said in a statement that the “Violent Cop,” “Sonatine” and “Outrage” director “comfortably went beyond the limits of art genres and transformed the rules of performing arts, television, film and literature.” Kitano will receive the rank of Officier, the L’ordre National de la Légion d’honneur’s fourth-highest honor.

Read More: Tokyo Film Festival: U.S. Indie Scoops Top Prize; Tim Burton And Takeshi Kitano Honored

“I am very surprised that I will be given such an honor,...

Starring Tom Hardy (Inception, Warrior, The Dark Knight Rises), Deserter is a tension-packed war thriller set during Algeria’s bloody fight for independence. It comes to DVD on 23rd January and to mark it’s release, we have 3 copies to give away!

Based on a true story, a young Englishman, Simon Murray (Paul Fox), joins the French Foreign Legion. His idealistic illusions are soon shattered when he encounters his fellow recruits, including Dupont (Hardy), who have all volunteered to escape a past far less innocent than his own.

After a sadistic training regime, the fully-fledged Legionnaires set out to do battle and face deadly fire fights, ambushes and danger at every turn. But soon, a change of allegiance threatens to tear loyalties apart and turn comrade against comrade. As Murray and Dupont now stand on opposite sides, who will become the hero and who will be the deserter?

To be...

All Eyes have been on Tom Hardy for his role as masked brute Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, released in cinemas in July.

More recently, all ears have also turned towards the British actor. Reports claim his voice has been enhanced following complaints that it was too muffled in the trailer for Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film.

Warner Bros is denying there has been any tampering with the original audio and, while that debate rumbles on, you can get another look at Hardy in upcoming DVD release Deserter.

Released on January 23, it's described as "a tension-packed war thriller set during Algeria's bloody fight for independence."

Based on a true story, it sees young Englishman Simon Murray (Paul Fox) join the French Foreign Legion.

His idealistic illusions are soon shattered when he encounters his fellow recruits, including Dupont (Hardy), who have all volunteered to escape a past...