i was just thinking to myself that "perfect blue" (dir. satoshi kon) is pretty much the only animated horror film i could think of. sure, the overfiend series is pretty horrifying, but it's essentially just fetish porn, and ninja scroll is pretty gory, but it's more of a martial arts/action piece.
can anyone else think of another animated film along the lines of "perfect blue"?
Animated horror?
Blood, and Vampire Hunter D would be my main picks for that.
I can't think of one off the top of my head other than the fantastic Perfect Blue [I love that creepy song they play]
A short anime horror is ''Blood: The Last Vampire" and is pretty good, but should have been at least doubled in time [just as I was starting to get into it, the damn thing finished.]
Other than that, I'd almost be tempted to direct you to TV series such as Hellsing, but whilst they have vampires and such, they aren't really that scary, and definitley aren't in the same class of 'good' as Perfect Blue in terms of thrills.
oh, i'd forgotten about "vampire hunter d". i almost mentioned "fist of the north star" simply because of the extreme gore, but then again it, like "ninja scroll" is more of a martial arts/action film...
Rumiko Takahashi's "mermaid" series. I think they just started a new series of this too if i'm not mistaken. I've seen Mermaid's forest and Mermaid's Scar, and they're both along the lines you're looking for I would say...they aren't overly fantastical or action oriented. They're perfect.
There is Boogiepop Phantom.
A number of years ago, 1949 to be exact, the animators at Disney Studios did an animated version of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." It can be found two ways. On a dvd with Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willow," where the title is "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad." And on a dvd by itself, where the title is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
And in the realm of what might have been. I know a number of years ago, there was some serious talk of doing an animated version of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." Why this was never done, I don't know.