Ju-On is both a TV movie including a sequel, which was then both rewritten and renewed for the big screen. The first feature released is Ju-On: The Grudge, with a sequel, and a thid film in the works.
The original Ju-On is one of the strongest of the series, even as a TV movie. You have to remember that Japan is not a country which is continually pouring money into movies like America or India. Yes, they have a buoyant industry but it’s a different world. TV movies are given as much credibility as a feature.
Ju-On could be seen as the milking of a Ringu type formula. In many ways this is true. The eerie setting, the darkness, the simplicity of the tale, the handful of characters. It all sets the precedent for a “we’ve seen it all before”.
The story of Ju-On is a pretty standard and simple premise. A Ju-On is a malevolent spirit of the dead that haunts; its only purpose is to kill the living within the confines of the place where the original host was killed, murdered or died for whatever reason. It attacks the living, creating more Ju-Ons. They are corporeal in form, and animalistic in nature – they commit death in the most gruesome manner imaginable.
Ju-On is told an interesting form – it tells you about each character that is mentioned as significant (the mother, father, son, teacher etc) as a part of the movie – it gives you the briefest of insights into their lives, and how they came to be a Ju-On. All the characters are linked in some manner, even if it was through some chance meeting. This is probably the movie’s most original aspect. Each vicitm has a story, and each vicitm then creates further victims. It’s nicely written and put together in a rather small package (the first TV movie is only 70 minutes in length).
Is Ju-On any good? Yes it is. for the most part.
Anyone who seems to investigate the death, ends up in the world of death that haunts the premises in which the movie is set. The movie revolves around one house for the most part, but at times breaks away from that set to some external sets. The Ju-On can be summised as a disease, which can spread through killing, but they all return to the same place where it began – which is the house. In many ways each vicitm is warned through an experience of visual and auditory experiences of a Ju-On presence, which brings an inevitability to their death.
The house is sold and resold, but now after the death of the last family someone is trying to sell the house again. The man trying to sell the house has heard the rumours, and calls upon his friend, who just happens to be a psychic of some description. She already feels a darkness and malevolence within the house as she walks by, and knowing that the house is to be sold to perhaps another compliment of dinner for the Ju-On, or as she sees it as some dark force, she agrees to assist. Boy did she not like what she felt….
Many of the actors in Japanese TV also star in their movies – and therefore, if you’re a fan of Japanese movies you’ll notice a lot of familiar faces. Acting varies from placid and wooden to something a little more interesting and more engaging. The death scenes, for their limited budget are interesting. Suspense is built up and well created, tension mounts as you wait for something expected – it does have a vertible chill factor, which is suprising based on the lack of budget they had. Some of the Ju-On, or at least one of them is a little….sad, you can see what they tried to do with the “monster” and it doesn’t quite work. It’s rather a shame they felt the need to create something so silly, and yet in the darkness it initially looks daunting.
A Ju-On is a malevolent spirit of the dead that haunts; its only purpose is to kill the living within the confines of the place where the original host was killed
Is Ju-On any good? Yes it is. for the most part. For all that it does well: plot; character profiles; and death the flaws are obvious. At points you wonder if the makers of Ju-On had higher ambitions for what they wanted to achieve (which was true as they made 1 of the two features), and therefore, at times they perhaps push themselves too far with such lack of finance. In some ways it is ambitious, and a proud attempt at creating something big, but at the same time, for all that it merits in achievement, it is also a movie and the ambition affects the overall impact of the movie.
Ju-On is as dark as it is engaging, if you ignore its flaws, and take it for what it is, a tv movie, then you will appreciate the chills, the short bursts of fear. Watch this in a darkened room, on your own, with 0 noise to achieve the best results.
As mentioned this is part of a series of two TV movies, and two feature-films (of which only one is complete) and therefore it is better considered that the two TV movies are prequels and grounding for the two feature films. The features are, if you will, both remakes and new stories.
Verdict: Moments of bad acting and low budget sfx do not detract from an interesting spin on the psycho-horror genre.