[EliotNess]

"i think what they are getting at is that evil never goes away, (after seen about 20 different horror flicks from japan or japanese originated ex: pulse and dark water) that evil is all around and wont leave us alone no matter if we have anything to do with it or not."

That's it I think--there's a lot of themes of revenge and justice that ground the scary in the real...it's not just random ghost stuff, it's punishment, it's morality, and I think that really connects (and is sometimes lost in the translations). I'm thinking of The Grudge, obviously, and Shutter--there's that mystery revelation element that makes the horror more tense, where you find out WHY this is happening...some of the American horrors, there is no why, it's just random, and that's harder to grasp and it doesn't get under your skin and in your head the way these movies often can.