Almost a decade ago, long before "torture porn" was a successful horror subgenre, director Hideo Nakata unleashed "Ring." Not unlike the fatal images in the movie itself, "Ring" spread its brand of almost bloodless, atmospheric terror across the globe; Nakata himself tackled tinsel town to direct Naomi Watts in "The Ring 2." Along with other franchises such as Takashi Shimizu's "Ju-on (The Grudge)," the term J-horror became synonymous with scares. Now back making movies in Japan, Nakata tells The Japan Times about his latest film, "Kaidan," which combines his love of melodrama and period films with the horror his name is so strongly associated with.

There have been more than 10 adaptations of Encho Sanyutei's original story, including films by masters such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Nobuo Nakagawa. What made you want to make your own version?

Taka Ichise, the producer, offered me another project, and I somehow instantly came up with this idea. The story deals with a handsome but doomed young man who gets involved with five beautiful women, so basically I wanted to work with five beautiful actresses (laughs). Of course there are many other kaidan (ghost stories), but I chose this one because it's mainly a love story with some horror elements.