Film visually communicates the idea of culture, leaving interpretation open to an impressionable audience. Though a genre's recognizable iconography can transcend boundaries, understanding a film's intended message still requires a certain amount of foreknowledge. J-Horror, the common term for Japanese horror among fans, is a sub- genre of Horror that has been catapulted into Hollywood's limelight due to adaptations such as The Ring (2002). Based upon a novel, Ringu, by Koji Suzuki and Nakata Hideo's 1998 cinematic creation of the same name, Gore Verbinski adapted the terrifying plot for Western audiences in his 2002 counterpart.

With the cross-cultural transition, certain aspects of the premise and characters were changed. I posit these differences are more than artistic reinterpretation, and are culturally significant. However, while certain facets of fear are culturally specific, the horror film serves as a universalizing tool of communication, surpassing cultural boundaries.