With the current lack of new and creative Hollywood-made films, many people are looking elsewhere to watch something other than a remake, a sequel, or a comic-book movie. There are plenty of films out there, if you know where to look. Sometimes this requires an open mind, and a willingness to watch a foreign-made film.

One of the best ghost stories to come out in years is a film out of Asia called The Eye. Written and directed by Danny and Oxide Pang (The Messengers), The Eye is a brilliantly made horror film that garnered critical praise and international success.

Another example is the supernatural thriller, One Missed Call, by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer). Many avid horror fans already recognize Miike as being one of the best horror filmmakers of our generation. Yet, to everyone else he remains unknown.

A couple of months ago, the Korean-made monster movie, The Host, was released in the U.S. While the film was one of the most successful films to come out of Korea, and earned over 86 million dollars overseas, the film only took in around 2.2 million here in the U.S.

Unfortunately, many of these films are overlooked by American movie-watching audiences because the films are often subtitled, not dubbed. Recently, I spoke with an acquaintance of mine who told me that she was going to rent the movie Pan's Labyrinth, but decided against it when she discovered it was subtitled. Forget the fact that it was nominated for countless film awards, won two Oscars, and was a genuine masterpiece of cinematic achievement. She simply didn't feel like reading. And she wasn't the only one. She told me that the clerk at the rental store received a number of angry complaints from customers who rented Pan's Labyrinth without knowing it was subtitled.

Has our society and culture devolved to such an extent that it is considered a burden to read a few lines at the bottom of a screen? Does it truly take that much effort to read the dialogue, rather than listen to it?

Apparently it does, because some rental stores are now putting "warning" labels on their subtitled DVDs. In fact, one time I even had a clerk at the checkout counter tell me, "I just want to warn you, this movie is subtitled."

I find it both sad and amusing that many people feel that it takes "effort" to watch a subtitled movie. And it's a shame that so many great foreign films are being overlooked due to this blatant laziness. Consequently, many of these foreign-made films are never seen by the general movie-going audience, or are remade into an "Americanized" version. Case in point: Both hit movies The Ring and The Grudge were remade for U.S. release. Currently, The Eye and One Missed Call are in production.

I have two main problems with this outcome. First, a lot of great foreign filmmakers are being denied the recognition they deserve. Second, when a foreign film is remade for U.S. release, it inevitably loses some of its original savor and flair.

Eventually, my friend decided to rent Pan's Labyrinth (due in part to me ridiculing her) and, predictably, she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Perhaps the public's resistance to subtitles will eventually subside like it did with wide-screen and letterbox format. During the era of VHS, wide-screen and letterbox formats were rare and generally met with skepticism. These days, it's virtually the norm for DVDs to be in one of these formats. Perhaps if more people decided to put some "effort" into watching a movie with subtitles, they would eventually get used to it and be willing to watch more foreign films in the future.

I can only hope.

- The Horror Reporter