The Circulation of Post-Millennial Extreme Cinema

Abstract

Extreme cinema is an international trend which encompasses a wide range of cinematic genres: thrillers, dramatic narratives, so-called “art films,” and horror films. In the context of Asian extreme films, we find an especially highly-dynamic crisscrossing of influences. There is an assumption in the Western imagination that the Asian diaspora is unidirectional insofar as Asian populations gravitate toward the beacons of Western civilization. Trends in post-millennial extreme cinema however disrupt this particular diasporic narrative. This article argues that post-millennial extreme films are not simply a bidirectional flow, but rather a complex circulation of themes, aesthetic motifs, and filmmakers.