Ju-On: White Ghost

JU-ON: WHITE GHOST is an hour-long follow up to the original GRUDGE films that was made back-to-back with companion film JU-ON: BLACK GHOST. These films continue the same mythos as in the first two feature-length movies, adding in new characters and allowing them to get haunted by the ghost from the original.

Let's be fair: these are straight-to-video short films so quality-wise they're not going to be on par with the first two features. But JU-ON: WHITE GHOST isn't too bad. The central female ghost is watered down and CGI-ed up since the original, so not as frightening, but is acceptable for a straight-to-video horror flick.

At an hour long you can never get bored by this, and the story plays out as a bunch of five minute vignettes that only begin to make sense towards the climax. Indeed, trying to work out the film's mixed-up chronology keeps the interest level high. The acting is of a strong standard throughout and there's a mix of scary and gory moments to keep viewers watching.

I suppose it makes logical sense for the distributors here to combine both Ju-on: White Ghost and Black Ghost stories in 1 screening. After all, each is only 1 hour long, and narratively are somehow intertwined together quite loosely, with their production marking 10 years since Ju-on's cinematic premiere. Helmed by two different directors, we're given two direct-to-video productions, each with its own flavour and separate storyline dealing with the Ju-On Grudge curse, and frankly, with its limited production budget and consistent elements,

For those unfamiliar with the Ju-on mythos (like me), fret not, as the films are self- contained, so prior in-depth knowledge is not required to enjoy what's essentially one of the longer enduring J-horror franchises out there, which has been remade by Hollywood as always. For both tales, the story lines were done in non-linear fashion, which is supposed to make you work at piecing together its chronology, with an increased challenge in White Ghost being two separate timelines you have to make mental notes of.

Then there's the episodic cliffhanger that trails off each segment. On its own, the episodes within White Ghost and Black Ghost can be extremely short stories of their own, since each contains its own dedicated shock-scare moments, though White Ghost seemed to enjoy making it look so cheesy with its atmospheric jump scares, sudden appearances and the likes, and I admit it did get to me, especially with that old ugly woman with a penchant for holding onto a basketball (yes, all will be explained in due course) seem to have a fetish for charging towards her victim / screen.

Personally, between the two, I'd prefer White Ghost to Black Ghost, mainly because of the storyline which was more engaging and kept within its limits, save for a tangent in White Ghost for AV star Mihiro to appear in a needless scene that had most of her screen time being butchered for a screening here (no, my friend who has met her before, says there's nothing sexy about that segment, more of a violent treatment which was rather tame that the censors frowned upon). For Black Ghost, it went off into the hokeyness of a Japanese medium of sorts, probably to show off some snazzy looking CG-ed belly, and a tale that's less engaging.

For what it's worth, these stories did enough to pique my interest in the original Ju-on mythos, and I just might pick them up on DVD just to see how those got executed. For starters though, I have to get used to how "The Grudge" can be used as a plot device for ghouls to get created / passed on, as I felt White Ghost had it quite nailed down, and Black Ghost didn't exactly do a great job on that concept.

There's something about the Ju-on films that really fascinate me and gets under my skin --- from the persistently warped mythology, confounding non-linear narrative, low-key jolts and blood-curdling atmosphere. JU-ON: WHITE GHOST ticks all the boxes. No matter how beat up or imitated the formula becomes; I'll never tire of this franchise.

At only hour in length, the curse is re-awakened taking no time to install fear and despair in all of those who come in contact with it. Starting backwards, changing timelines, and characters. What starts off as a jigsaw puzzle (at the infamous residence) begins to add up with the pieces finally becoming one. Everything comes full circle along with the consequences. You know where it's heading, and once the characters are apart of it, they're literally stained. Slowly building upon its actions and drawn out for maximum impact when it lashes out with a quick-fire jump scare, and this is rather constant with the shocking images. Never does it lull, always interesting and unnerving whomever the taut narrative follows. Taking a backseat this time; Toshio only gets a cameo appearance and Kayako doesn't come into it at all. Most of the frights are taken up by an elderly white ghost and child. I thought the scenes with the white ghost were surprisingly creepy thanks to the low-maintenance makeup and how they were shot. Some violent moments too.

The mystery behind the curse is somewhat recycled using the typical tropes; a horrific past event casting a shadow over the occupants, someone under distress coming under the possession of the restless spirit to commit despicable acts, and the others unknowingly become attached, or purposely dig up disturbing info that should be left untouched. But that's just the manner of the curse --- an unstoppable loop that no one can escape, and from that a new curse can be born out of it. This is what WHITE GHOST sets up and effectively so.

Even tho "White ghost" does provide some very, but very tensioned moments, I found it hard to take it seriously. I mean, after watching it, it's rather difficult to say that this one is worthy of a grade over 6, cause let's face it, for a cheesy Asian fun, it does the job, but if you in for some real scares with a over the top plot and development, "White ghost" looks like a cartoon!

Again, don't get me wrong, dunno how, but when I saw it, it scared me out of my mind, cause the execution is very good, but if they were able to put it on screen like this, why didn't they try harder on the script part? Get a decent idea, make use of it, and put your name up there, with the rest of Asia's greater horrors! They did everything better than most such films, again, the plot is what killed it for me. Check it out and you'll see what I'm talking about!

Cheers!

Format: Amazon Prime - Language: Japanese (English Subtitled)

Released: 2009

Director: Ryut Miyake

Starring: Hiroki Suzuki, Ichirota Miyakawa, Naysuki Kasa

Where to start? Well it's short, which is a blessing!

To be strictly fair to the film it does start out well enough, with the initial building up of tension that I have come to expect from Japanese horror films; then sadly, rather then building on the initial success, the whole thing falls apart.

Ju-On: White Ghost is the story of a house that was the location of a brutal mass murder. The film consists of a series of short segments, each one showcasing the history of a different character and setting out why they eventually come to their various unfortunate ends, as well as giving the background to the murders.

As a direct to DVD film it is very low budget and it shows, badly. Yet for all the appallingly bad and cringe-worthy acting there are occasional moments of great, outstanding performance; for all the unbelievably poor stories there are some strong, genuinely creepy tales.

At an hour long it is worth sitting though the rubbish mainly because when this film gets it right, even with the cringe fest that some of the actors put us through, it delivers some genuine scares. It just unfortunate that director, Ryuta Miyake, comes across as not having the slightest clue about how to make/direct a film.

Like this film this is really all I can think of to say on the matter, short and pretty much lacking in any direction.