Ju-on: The Grudge (2003) Review

 

Poster

 Ju-on: The Grudge
Release Year: 2003
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 1 hour and 32 minutes
Viewer’s Rating: 7/10 (or should it be 6…6.5? Nah, I’ll be nice: 7)

“It is said in Japan that when someone dies in extreme sorrow or rage, the emotion remains and can leave a stain upon that place. Death becomes a part of that place, killing everything it touches. Once it sees you, it never lets go.”

J-Horror has been noted for having a unique and different style of horror than that of Western horror. It’s most prominent feature is the traditional usage of “vengeful ghosts” or onryou. Director Takashi Shimizu incorporates this tradition and the classic haunted house theme into creating the popular Ju-on series. Ju-on: The Grudge is the third installment of the series; the first two were direct-to-video productions while the third was the first to be theatrically released. The basic outline of story goes like this: In a house, a father murders his wife, Kayako, (whom he suspects is being unfaithful) and drowns his son, Toshio, (whom he suspects is not his son) along with their pet cat (for some unknown reason, possibly out of rage) then finally kills himself. This triggers a curse to be placed upon the house, which anyone should enter it, they will be killed by the curse.

And this is how the curse is carried out: Sometime after you have entered the house and in the most unexpected time, you see a black cat. If you see the black cat, that means the boy is around. If the boy is around, that means the mother is around. Now when the mother is around, then…you pretty much are in a very unfortunate situation.

I had mixed feelings for this film, as you can see by my rating. Ju-on: The Grudge is simply good, though not fantastically good. Although the “ghost” scenes are cleverly planned out and memorable, they are just simply unnerving rather than shocking and horrifying. Kayako, Toshio, and the other ghosts look indeed frightening along with the sounds they make: the disturbing death rattle from Kayako and the cacophonous mews from Toshio. The music is very sullen yet psychologically uncomforting and somehow reminds me of The Exorcist. Coincidentally, the creepy stair-crawling scene (needlessly shown twice in the film) seems to be an allusion to Ringu and the spider-walk scene from The Exorcist.

There were several things in the film that are a little bothersome:
1) The Plot Delivery: The plot is somewhat confusing as the film is divided into separate chapters or vignettes. The timeline of each of these vignettes tend to overlap upon one another, so the audience is required to focus a little more than they should while watching. As a TV movie, this technique might have worked well. As a theatrical release, not so much. Also, the history of Kayako and Toshio aren’t properly explained in this movie alone so it may seem like this film has plot holes.
2) The Characters’ Reflexes: Mind you, the acting was satisfactory – although star Megumi Okina needs to work on her fainting. The terrified reactions of the characters are plausible, but there are a few parts within the film where you just want to scream at the characters, “DON’T JUST SIT THERE SCREAMING/STARING IN HORROR! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, YOU FOOL, ALTHOUGH YOU WON’T GET VERY FAR!”
3) The Lighting: I know, this is a VERY trivial part of the movie but there a couple of times where a certain scene is too bright to be scared of or too dark to even see through.

In comparison with the American remake – which was also directed by Shimizu – the original film is more worthy to watch. The actors (not the ghosts, the ghosts are fine) in the remake seem to try too hard to scare their audiences, which in turn makes them look downright annoying. In fact, sometimes you won’t even feel sorry for their unfortunate death at all. Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be much point in watching (or even producing) the remake since it is just a reenactment of the original film, just with American actors yet still in a Japanese setting.

So, to sum it up: I don’t absolutely recommend you to watch this, especially if after you’ve seen the American remake. The film is sure entertaining but not extremely thrilling. If you do choose to watch it, I suggest you to watch it in the dark, so that you’ll be able to feel Kayako and Toshio’s presence around you; the full (nonsubbed) version can be found on Youtube. 

WARNING! Audiences may be unable to do the following after watching this movie:

1. Sleeping in bed

2. Taking a shower

3. Going to the restroom

4. Stepping into a closet

5. Stepping into a house

6. Looking under a tablecloth

7. Looking through a CCTV monitor

8. Turning on the TV

9. Picking up the phone

10. Taking care of an eldery man who is playing peek-a-boo with an unseen kid

11. Looking into an attic

12. Looking into a mirror
 
Extra trivial note: In the American trailer, the narrator says, “Look into the eyes of evil.” I object: the ghosts aren’t evil. They’re just having a very VERY bad afterlife and need to vent their steam out.

Next film review: The Orphanage

~ by aliciapark on July 26, 2008.