Ju-On: Review By Dodd

Once again, another horror movie has reached the shores of America from the great land of Japan. After receiving word that Ringu was a terrifying hit in Japan, America made a remake, The Ring, which successfully spawned a sequel in the works. Following in the footsteps of Ringu, Japan had another horror hit titled Ju-On: The Grudge. Just like The Ring, Ju-On has been given the Americanized remake treatment which is currently grossing top dollar in the box office. While it is the top dog in the box office, I decided to skip the newly remade The Grudge and see the original Ju-On imported from Japan, so I could eventually compare the two films. However I now have my doubts about seeing the remake. Why so? Because how good can a remake possibly be when the original film itself is simply mediocre.

The story begins with a social worker named Rika (Megumi Okina) going to check on a home where an elderly woman sits in a state of shock. As she searches the house for other signs of life she discovers a black cat meowing obnoxiously, a little boy spying on her from upstairs, and a shadowy figure with a cold stare. From this point forward the movie replays this type of scenario over and over as different characters discover the haunted house.

Ju-On: The Grudge makes use of storytelling through a non-linear style. This is the style better known in Quentin Tarantino’s films or Memento where events are not presented in a chronological order. Does this style have an impact being used in a horror film such as this? I would have to say no. The narrative style seems to be an attempt at clever filmmaking that is completely pointless.

Of the films I have viewed where scenes are presented out of chronological order, pieces of a puzzle are slowly put together. The film starts out puzzling and things become more and more clear as the scenes present themselves. Ju-On takes advantage of this style, but nothing is really solved. Different characters represent different segments of the film that are presented out of order. Rika now carries a curse over her head from entering the house as well as every other character presented in their own segment. These characters do not learn any valuable lessons or solve any mysteries. Instead they walk out of the house, proceed to get the crap scared out of them, and then die.

I am not trying to spoil anything important in my previous statement. Once this film gets rolling there are not lingering questions about what will happen to whomever. By the middle of the film, it becomes inevitable that the characters in this movie are screwed. Everyone experiences a piece of the curse that the house dishes out and they do not even have a chance to ask what they did to deserve it or why it is happening.

The storyline and narrative structure are definitely lacking, but Ju-On does have a fair share of chilling moments. Watching this movie made me think of walking through Halloween spook houses when I was younger. As each character goes their own merry way, they are frightened in very creative ways. One girl encounters a trio of pale-faced ghouls wearing private school uniforms. Another scene produces the heebie jeebies as a black shadow ghost engulfs a security camera and stares eerily into the lens with its eyeballs glaring like a set of headlights.

Yet at the same time I found some of the “scary scenes