Leofwine_draca
Following in the immensely successful footsteps of RING, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE is an influential, creepy and utterly disturbing low-key ghost story from Japan, successful enough to spawn both a sequel and an American remake. This is Japanese horror at its finest: shot on a minuscule budget, utilising real-life 'run down' locations, and with a cast of subtle actors and actresses fleshing out the roles. Director Takashi Shimizu seems to have cast only deeply attractive actresses in his movie, perhaps to keep the attention of his male audience, and this makes the slow-burning proceedings very easy to watch.The 'haunted house' storyline is very straightforward and there isn't much of a plot to speak of: basically, we see a series of interconnected stories showing how a series of characters are haunted. There are a couple of ghosts; one is a cute little boy, whose manifestation mixes fear and pathos; the other is a more traditional female spirit with long, dark hair and staring eyes, the sort who inhabits every Asian horror film since the similar ghost in RING proved so successful. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE dwells on scares and shocks all the way through, which is why it's so effective: it's 100% focused on scaring the viewer. There are many great bits, my favourites including the duvet shocker, the television breakdown, the bloody staircase set-piece at the climax, and the bit with the three dead schoolgirls. There's even time for a twist ending for those who like that sort of thing. For unsettling, deep-rooted frights and genuine creepiness throughout, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE comes up trumps and will be hard to surpass.
David Arnold
Rika, a young Social Welfare carer, is given the assignment of looking in on an elderly women when the regular carer doesn't show. Not long after arriving at the house, however, she starts to hear strange noises coming from inside a taped-up closet from one of the bedrooms and after investigating, she sees a young boy behind the door. She calls her boss for help, but it's here that she witnesses the spirit of a young woman above the elderly lady, causing her to faint. Shortly after, her boss, Hirohashi, arrives at the house, sees what has happened and calls the police. This leads to an investigation into what happened to the prior house tenants, but with more people starting to disappear, it starts to appear that a more sinister force is at work.Ju-on is one of the more commonly heard of - and probably seen - Japanese horrors, and it is not hard to see why as it's a good suspenseful film. Ringu is another well known horror and it can be a toss up between Ringu or Ju-on on which one is better. For me, Ringu is the better, but that's not to say Ju-on isn't just as good at times.As with a lot of Japanese horrors of this genre, Ju-on relies on creating tension & atmosphere to scare the audience rather than over-the-top violence & blood, and it succeeds as it is genuinely creepy in parts. It's also a practical effects and not a CGI film even though there are a couple of CGI uses, but these are brief and add to the overall feel of scenes they are used in.You also have to pay close attention to the story because Ju-on doesn't follow the traditional linear story line. It's 4 or 5 sub-plots that actually cross over and intermingle with each other to make up the main story. Like Pulp Fiction actually, so if you don't pay attention then you will very easily get lost. Some of the acting is a bit dodgy at times, but it's not enough to distract you from enjoying the film.If you're a fan of "J-horror" then Ju-on definitely has to be on your list of films to see.
andrewbarry6336
The American version was good to me. I believe the Ring to be overrated compared to this. Let me state if you have not seen any version yet and are wondering if you will get into this.First off, watch this movie alone in a dark room. If you can have surround sound. The atmosphere created here is amazing. While a lot of Japanese horror movies have the "Black Haired Girl", this one is original to me. The atmosphere is the creepiest thing in this movie. Also if you know Kayacko(sorry can't spell it) story, you can't help but feel bad for her. You will like this movie if you go in with an open mind and like supernatural horror.You will not like this movie if you are more of an American Horror buff. I love American horror. But on theme I have seen among people who don't like this series is they prefer serial killers and such. Nothing wrong with that and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.Overall as long as you like supernatural horror and have an open mind, this ranks as my favorite ghost movie. Quick side note, Ju-On The Curse is the original that aired on TV. This is the movie he made following the TV airing. I recommend this one first then watch the first version. Also the second Ju-On does something most horror movies don't; It is improved and the ending is SICK. Enjoy and watch.
Tweekums
I saw the remake staring Sarah Michelle Gellar a few years ago and found it very creepy so when this version was on television I had to watch it to see how they compared. I'm not sure if it was because I'd already seen a version of the story or because I was ready to be scared but this time was was no where near as scared, it still provided a few hair raising moments though.The story opens with Rika, a young social worker being sent to a home where she finds an old woman, upon hearing a noise she looks upstairs and finds a cat in the cupboard as well as a small boy who she didn't notice at first, he says his name is Toshio. Before she can ask him anything else she hears a noise in the old woman's room and finds a strange shadow by the woman, it turns and looks at her leaving her terrified. What follows are a series of incidents each linked to the house some take place before Rika's story and others years afterwards, it appears that everybody who visits they finds themselves haunted by Toshio and the strange shadow and end up dead or missing.The episodic nature of the film seemed strange at first but there were subtle links between them such as mentioning the finding of Rika's body in one of the later chapters. Unlike a lot of horror films there is no gore and we don't actually see the victims die, the chills come from creating genuinely creepy situations, Toshio is particularly creepy even though he doesn't do anything more frightening than stare.
AD
