There is no denying that Martin Scorsese stands with some of the finest filmmakers that Hollywood has to offer. With films like The Wolf of Wall Street and Gangs of New York, the Oscar-winning director has been ruling over the hearts of film fanatics since time immemorial. However, despite having uncountable projects to his name, Martin Scorsese has barely touched the Horror genre with his films.
Sure, he has touched the subject a few times with Shutter Island, Cape Fear, and Bringing Out the Dead, but Martin Scorsese has never made a full-blown horror movie. Now this doesn’t mean that the filmmaker is not into the genre. In fact, there is one film out there that was so full of dread that it became one of Martin Scorsese’s favorites in the genre.
Martin Scorsese’s Favorite Horror Film Was Made in Japan
All the way back in 1997, Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa released a psychological horror film that managed to send chills down the spine of Martin Scorsese. During Scorsese’s employment days at DirectTV, the filmmaker penned down a review for what he calls Kurosawa’s “most terrifying movie.”
“This is one of the very best films by the extremely talented Kiyoshi Kurosawa…He’s an absolute master of light, framing and pacing, and he has so much control over all three that there are moments in his movies when the slightest gesture in the corner of the frame will send a shiver down your spine. Kurosawa doesn’t exactly work in the horror genre. Rather, his films are filled with a strange dread. In many of them, something has arrived, no one knows exactly what or how or for what purpose: Reality is untouched except for a small, unsettling detail or two, which mutates into violence and irrationality.”
Continuing, Scorsese called Kurosawa a “real student of cinema” and stated,
“Along with Pulse, which is about ghosts on the Internet, Cure is his most terrifying movie…There are startling images and moments in this picture that will haunt you for a long time to come, and I suppose I should say that it’s not for the faint of heart. But be brave, because it’s worth it. Kurosawa is a major filmmaker.”
Kurosawa’s Cure focuses on the investigation of identical murders where an ‘X’ is carved into the victim’s neck, every time. And if anyone has had the guts of watching the film late at night, they can say with certainty that Scorsese was absolutely on point in his review.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Talks about the Success of Cure
While speaking at the Doha Film Institute, Kurosawa opened up about the sudden success of Cure which helped him achieve international fame. He revealed that while growing up, he was a fan of American horror films which led to him wanting to make a film in the genre. Kurosawa stated,
“I watched a lot of American horror movies growing up, and I had wanted to make a movie in that genre for some years. Then the growth in popularity of genre films made it easier for me to get the project financed and produced. So, circumstance was the key factor to the success of Cure, and it has continued to play an important role in my career ever since.”
On Rotten Tomatoes, Cure flaunts an incredible score of 94% with the critical consensus calling it downright “mesmerizing.” Even in Japan, the film was met with critical acclaim and Kurosawa was praised for his direction.
Cure is available to rent/buy on Prime Video.
