Meanwhile, in Japan, horror fans were treated to a new breed of ghost story that was humourless and bleak. Complex films made with clinical precision that gave us unforgettable imagery of black-haired, black-eyed soggy dead girls floating down corridors, crawling out of TVs and oozing out of plugholes.
Creepy, subtle ghost stories are back in fashion. Just a couple of films, right? Or should some of it just crawl back up the staircase and stay locked in its room? Ad — content continues below. The two central characters from the Ju-On franchise first appear in these two short films from Takashi Shimizu. Butoh is a mysterious type of avant-garde theatre from postwar Japan that uses contortion, body paint and expressive, uncanny movements to create intense performances, often relating to taboo subject matter.
Ju-On: The Curse finds Shimizu experimenting with the unusual chronology and fragmented storytelling that would define the franchise, introducing us to the backstory of his two ghosts through a series of six linked segments.
We are introduced to a house in Tokyo and the horrible event that kicks the story off, as artist Takeo Saeki murders his wife Kayako, son Toshio and cat Mar in a jealous rage. Now, anyone who enters the house becomes cursed and dies at the hands of their vengeful spirits. The scares from the original shorts are both recycled here but, given the additional context, take on a deeper meaning.
Ju-On: The Curse is by no means a perfect film. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! The Curse 2 is a short and curious sequel that was shot back-to-back with The Curse. That said, this one re-edits some of those original vignettes and arguably makes them more effective.
Both Curse films were very successful in Japan, so Shimizu was asked to bring Kayako and Toshio out of the video world and onto the big screen, which he did with style. If you only watch one Ju-On film, make it this one.
The Grudge has the indefinable cinematic alchemy of a classic. Something just works. There are so many iconic moments and you can feel his glee at scaring the audience. It all builds to the most effective climax in the franchise, the infamous scene in which Kayako descends the staircase.
The over-arching plot is less abstract than usual and focuses on a film crew who enter the Saeki house to investigate all the deaths that have occurred there. Is Grudge 2 in English? Is The Grudge 2 scary? Is The Grudge 3 Scary? Will there be a Grudge 3? Which the grudge cast member is a veteran of supernatural horrors? What happened at the end of Grudge 3?
Why does the grudge make that noise? How does the Grudge 2 end? How did the grudge die? Why does the little boy in the grudge meow? Has anyone survived the grudge? When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage meaning? How do you get the grudge curse? What is the monster in the grudge? There's moments within this one that are all about extreme jump-scares as the ghost appears long before actually interacting with the victim which sets off the scares quite well so scenes of the lone girl in the apartment being tormented by the ghostly doppelgangers of her friends, the showing of the brother and his wife who succumb to the curse and the reporter in the hotel room are all outstanding sequences that work very well because of where the ghost finally pops up and how creepy it is seeing this.
When it decides to backtrack and focus more on the suspense of the slowly-approach ghost just utterly terrifying the victims, like the ambush on the security guard at her workplace, the first scenes showing her caring for the grandmother amid the ghost-boy and cat as well as the police detectives in the house during the crime scenes and finally the true meaning of the curse at the end where the hand-trick all-throughout the film finally gets explained, generates some rather creepy moments from time-to-time which causes this to definitely be worthy of its stellar reputation.
There's also the generally demented ghostly-look for them throughout here, which is just unnervingly chilling and creepy that serves this one quite well. Unfortunately, it's also slightly problematic as there's a small-but-noticeable flaw here. The only real issue is that the film is plagued by a plot that's far too disjointed to make any sense as we constantly zip around to view the dozen or so different stories that are told within, making it nearly impossible to keep track of who's-who here and what time period we're in since this doesn't go chronologically with that either, and then because we learn so late in the film what's actually going on, it's far too late to really care.
When it sticks to the ghosts, it's great stuff all around and is certainly highly enjoyable. Rated R: Violence, Language and themes of child abuse and violence. The new wave of Asian horror is so boring that once you've seen one of them, you've seen the lot. The first Asian horror movie I ever saw was Ringu, and if I had stopped there I'd have missed nothing at all. It is, of course, too late now that I've seen at least ten of the damned things; but I'm hoping that someone will heed this warning before attempting to see Ringu's many rip-off's, or even that film itself.
I actually went into this movie with some hope, as the Asian horror sub-genre's sister; the wave of American remakes, actually produced a decent take on this tale; but alas, it turns out that this is one of the few times that the remake is superior to the original.
This film relies more on a creepy atmosphere than a story to deliver it's scares, and this is more than evident on several occasions as the story constantly gets put on the backburner, leaving us with a very muddled plot indeed. After announcing that when someone dies in a fit of rage, their spirit lays dormant; the film skips between various happenings in a rush that is far too swift to keep up with, making it very, very easy to get bored.
A major thing I'm not impressed with when it comes to Japanese horror films is the effects on the ghosts. The ones in this movie are no better on the looks front than the norm, but they accompanied by a certain noise that does serve in being quite frightening.
It's hardly a masterstroke on the director's part, but at least the film has a good point. The way that the story moves is really confusing. I noticed this with the remake too, but it's even worse here. We start off at one point, and suddenly we find ourselves somewhere else and it doesn't exactly make for an interesting watch when you can't tell what's happening. The film does look nice throughout, but this is a purely aesthetic point, and doesn't help it when it comes to the more important parts.
Important parts, like characters, for example; and the ones here are paper thin, and impossible to care about. Much like the entire film. On the whole, I say don't bother with this and just see the remake. You don't really need to see the remake either, of course; but if it's one or the other, take the other. Before He Died! When Rika Megumi Okina is sent by the Welfare office to check on an elderly woman, she finds a bizarre situation in the woman's home.
The woman is living in deplorable conditions, and appears to be in shock. The longer Rika stays to help out, the more odd things she uncovers. The creep-factor rises rather quickly, and Rika has no idea what she has stumbled into. So begins one of the best ghost stories to emerge from Japan in years. JU-ON features a curse that is more like a trap for the unwary, rendering them helpless to do anything to save themselves from impending doom! An anthology film of sorts, JU-ON shows what happens to various people who enter the accursed abode.
There is a certain gargling sound that will haunt your dreams! Genuinely frightening throughout, this movie came out during the wave of Asian horror films that reshaped and revitalized the genre. It still stands among the few at the very top of the list. Recommended for anyone who loves an outstanding ghost story that truly chills the spine!
The sequel, JU-ON 2 is also highly recommended Very well made horror and if it is influenced by, The Ring, it has much innovation of its own. I loved the use of sound and at times just these noises were scary in themselves. Also I loved the inclusion of the edge of something scurrying out of frame or a reverse zoom revealing a little something to surprise us.
The ghosts were exceedingly well done. Their stilted movement was excellent and the reliance of white for skin colour and piercing eyes most effective. The film could be difficult to follow because we go back and forward in time as it would seem do the ghosts, but one tends to be swept along by the obvious emotion in the air and the sheer creepiness of the goings on.
No graphic violence other than what are virtually stills establishing the raison d'etre for the whole film, but still very scary. Red-Barracuda 21 August There is a house in Tokyo where every visitor ends up dead. A child and a mother live there. Both are ghosts. Their presence stems from a traumatic event in the house's past. The story follows a variety of characters that enter this house.
The film is structured into a series of short vignettes. We follow different people who encounter the horror of the mysterious house.
To be honest, the plot only barely makes any sense. It seems to be no more than really an excuse to string together a number of scary moments. This is excusable on the grounds that this is a genuinely unsettling film. It's unnerving in that way that the best Japanese ghost movies are.
The cultural difference between east and west means that these movies come at us in ways we can't predict as easily. The Grudge, like Ring, is no different in this respect and its scare factor stems quite a bit from this unknown quality. There is a constant atmosphere of dread in this one.
If it perhaps had a little more coherence it would have the potential to reach the top bracket of horror. As it is, it works as an exercise in inventively scary Japanese horror moments. For me this is a perfectly acceptable compensation, as it's quite rare for any film to scare you in the way that this one sometimes does.
So with that in mind, it's quite obvious that this movie has achieved something impressive. The plot and almost everything else of Ju-on is almost identical to that of the American remake, The Grudge. When one of the other social workers doesn't show-up for work, one of the newest workers goes to take his place. When the new social worker arrives at the house, she immediately realizes that something is not quite right. What she doesn't realize is that the house is possessed by spirits who will kill anyone they come into contact with.
Overall, I'm one of the seemingly few who enjoyed the American version more than the original Japanese version. Maybe it's just because I watched The Grudge first, but I really think it goes a little deeper than that. As I mentioned previously, the plots are almost identical so there's really no point in trying to pick a favorite.
Things I preferred about The Grudge - 1. Make-up - I found the more stylized make-up very effective. Flow - As far as non-linear story's go, The Grudge is one of the best examples I've ever seen. Things I preferred about Ju-on - 1. Simplicity - The lack of a lot of extraneous details makes for a tighter movie. Overall, while I may have preferred the American remake, the two movies are actually very close in my mind as far as vehicles of entertainment go.
CinemaClown 21 August Nothing more than a collection of six interrelated episodes, it isn't scary but only shocking in bits n pieces. The story of Ju-On: The Grudge revolves around a curse that was born in a house in Tokyo when a husband killed his entire family in a jealous rage after he suspected his wife of having an affair.
The segments are presented in random order but it all links up in the end. The ending does provide some insight into what the curse is all about but there is still no answer to what the viewers are supposed to take from it or what exactly is the director's intent. On an overall scale, Ju-On: The Grudge makes efficient use of its available resources, maintains a fine grip on the genre elements, is unwilling to hand its viewers the key to solve its puzzle, and sustains its suspenseful ambiance till the very end.
Those looking for a typical horror flick are bound to be disappointed but just like every film ever made, Ju-On: The Grudge will find its share of admirers. In Japan, when the volunteer social assistant Rika Nishina is assigned to visit a family, she is cursed and chased by two revengeful fiends: Kayako, a woman brutally murdered by her husband and her son Toshio.
Creepy moments, but I wasn't surprised due to watching the remake first. The weird yelching, the noises, the atmosphere didn't feel the same to me. Not to mention the storyline gets confusing, going off course in the second half. Bottom line. People who have not the remake first will undoubtedly get more out of this, than me. This movie is only scary if you are kind of person who jumps at there one shadow. This is not scary.
This movie is badly written. Badly acted. Good special effects. But what an awful ending. This movie is pooh pooh. Pooh pooh, pooh pooh.
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