Ju-On: The Grudge

“Ju-On: the curse of one who dies in the grip of powerful rage. It gathers and takes effect in the places that person was alive. Those who encounter it die, and a new curse is born.”

Thus begins the 2002 J-Horror film Ju-On: The Grudge. This film has been on my mind a lot recently and I’ve been eager to revisit it. As I was putting together my review schedule I knew that I wanted to visit some international horror and I realized almost immediately that this was the one I wanted to explore first.

Ju-On: The Grudge was written and directed by Takashi Shimizu and is a sequel to Ju-On: The Curse and Ju-On: The Curse 2 (both of which are largely unavailable outside of Japan). Ju-On: The Grudge was released on October 18th, 2002 (the first in the franchise to be released theatrically) and was met with mixed reviews; with critics praising the film’s atmosphere but comparing the film negatively to the popular Ringu. I was unable to find information on the film’s budget, it grossed $3,657,876 worldwide.

Ju-On: The Grudge features the aftermath of the brutal murder of a woman named Kayako (Takako Fuji) and her son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) by her husband Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama). Over the years her vengeful spirit stalks and eventually kills everyone who steps foot in the house where she was killed starting with Takeo.

While not a perfect film by any means there is a lot to love about Ju-On: The Grudge. One of the hallmarks of the Ju-On franchise is it’s non-linear narrative and anthology-like format. Part of the fun of this film is seeing how the different narratives connect; it’s like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Shimizu’s direction is generally excellent, particularly when directing scenes with Kayako, whose appearance is always horrifying.

Of course, there are a few issues with the film. The dialogue is occasionally clunky, though that may be less of a dialogue problem than a subtitle translation problem, and the rules of the curse are not clearly defined (one victim is a security guard who works with a character who entered the house, but he never entered it himself). The film also starts to get a little repetitive near the middle but course corrects quickly with the final act.

Regardless, those are minor quibbles that don’t affect my enjoyment of the film at all. It’s a tight, effective ghost story with some excellent set pieces and extremely creepy imagery. If you have any interest in J-Horror, this is the one to check out.

Rating: 3.5 death rattles out of 5

Other Observations

• Does the Dog Die? Toshio’s cat is killed by Takeo as well in the backstory.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: Tough to choose but I’ll go with a three-way tie between Kayako coming down the stairs, Kayako in Hitomi’s (Misaki Ito) bed, and Izumi (Misa Uehara) being pulled into the shrine. 

• I’m also a big fan of Ju-On: The Grudge 2 and the American remake, both of which I’ll probably cover at some point.

• Haunted house movies are one of my three favorite sub-genres of horror (along with slashers and creature features)

• Next Week: Making a pit-stop in London on our way back to the States to check out 28 Days Later.