Eastern Beliefs

Eastern Beliefs is an umbrella term used to refer to various religions to emerge from the Asia and the East – Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto and assorted folk religions. No insult is intended to any followers by grouping these together by region.

Cinematic depictions of these widely differ depending on whether works are Western or made by Eastern filmmakers. Western filmmakers deal with cliche elements – exotic martial arts techniques, Himalayan monasteries where those steeped in yogic practices have gained advanced mental powers, occasionally artefacts of power from said countries.

Eastern filmmakers take a very different approach. Hong Kong Cinema and Wu Xia is afire with a wild melange of elements involving demons, deities, fairies, reincarnation, ghosts, the importance of luck, the use of written prayers as spells, and of course martial arts and swordfighting techniques that allow flamboyantly over-the-top fighting techniques. Similar elements of casually accepted ghosts, malevolent spirits and reincarnation play out in Thai fantastic cinema.

There is a body of ghost stories (kaidan eiga) that emerge from the Japanese tradition and often concern vengeful and wronged spirits. Imitators of these spread throughout Asia and there is a whole other topic for the horror cinema of the region with Asian Horror.