Ju-on: Owari no hajimari

Present me with an Asian horror movie and I will immediately sit down and watch it. And being familiar with the "Ju-On" franchise, of course I will sit down to watch this Japanese horror movie, as I was given the chance to do so.

However, I must say that "Ju-on: Owari no hajimari" (aka "Ju-On: The Beginning of the End") was somewhat of a swing and a miss.

First of all, there was absolutely nothing scary anywhere to be found in this movie. Well, unless you are an Asian, of course, then you'll find the little white painted boy and his floor and ceiling crawling mom scary. But for a seasoned horror veteran as myself, nothing scary in this movie at all.

Secondly, the storyline was just rubbish. It kept jumping to and from various storylines and following different characters. Sure, it was interwoven, but it just had very little appeal, especially since none of the storylines were particularly interesting and had zero scary stuff in them.

It should be said that the acting in the movie was actually good, taking into consideration the fact that the actors and actresses had very little to work with in terms of a proper script.

All in all, "Ju-On: The Beginning of the End" was a less than mediocre foray into the "Ju-On" genre, and it was a weak movie in itself. My rating of the movie is a meager three out of ten stars.

Another scary flick in this long running Jap-horror series that seems to run out of new tricks this time around. The SCARE here is still scary and creepy, however it just feels too repetitive and we can see that it tarted to run out of any new ideas or scares here. Even they might have some new ideas here but in the end those scenes unfortunately just become laughable and make the film even less scarier and just become an embarrassment to this respected franchise. I have to admit I did laugh out loud in one of the scenes because of that. There are also some GORES here but nothing that shocking or that you haven't seen before from other horror films. Overall, this latest Ju-On film may have some classic scares here and there but in the end, the film is still a disappointing one in the series that try to bring in some new scares but ultimately resulting in becoming a laughable and forgettable one instead. >>C+<<

In recent years, we have experienced a fair bit of disappointments from the J-horror releases. From the unremarkable extensions of classics such as The Ring (1998), to the mundane new additions to the franchise of Ju- On (2003) which features the iconic pale white kid. Ju-On 3: The Beginning of the End, contrary to what the name suggests, is the seventh installment of the franchise of Ju-On. This is the first film that has no involvement from the series creator, Takashi Shimizu. Instead, a familiar name in Japanese horror film making, Masayuki Ochiai (director of Infection, 2006) takes over. Will J-Horror films ever come back with something equivalent to one of those we've seen in the golden era of J- Horror?

For those who are familiar with the Ju-On franchise, you may already know that it adopts a format where the narrative is being 'chopped up', going back and forth to tell a story. Hence it might frustrate the viewer a little, trying to keep up and link the dots. This time, the story focuses on Yui (Nozomi Sasaki), an elementary school teacher who will slowly uncover the true reason for one of her student's absence from school. She pays the family a visit at their house, only to unravel the tragedy that happened 10 years ago. The vengeful spirits are still out to haunt for the next victims – seems like anyone who enters the 'cursed house' will not come out unscathed.

The movie begins with a hand-held camera styled sequence, which closely follows the first group of people who discovered the body of a child being left to die in the summer heat. Brace yourself for the first 'boo' scare of the movie, which sets out the tone and atmosphere of the movie. As much as we humans have this tendency to be masochistic (i.e. it's so spooky but it's so good), the truth is we won't deliberately walk into an obvious trap/danger. Hence in that respect, you may find some sequences in the movie rather illogical. Nonetheless, the whole horror atmosphere was well maintained from beginning to end – giving you the chills and keeping you in good suspense. This was supported by the seamless use of horror tracks and sound effects, one of the hallmarks of Japanese horror movies.

Director Masayuki Ochiai takes a slightly different approach as Takashi Shimizu when it comes to the scares. Masayuki has a penchant to use more graphic scenes to create the shock and impact. While it does create an impression, the prolonged screen time of some of the grossly gruesome scenes numb the eyes. The converse of having less is more will probably work better in this aspect.

Nevertheless, this new addition to the Ju-On franchise is not too shabby a J-Horror. Though any may say that this still does not match up with the first theatrical release of Ju-On in 2003, Ju-On 3 has set another milestone for the Ju-On cult for giving it a more edgy and modern remake, redefining it for the new generation that have never encountered what Ju-On is. While many of the horror sequences have to do with daily activities, be glad that a lot of them are not the common experience in Singapore – hence it won't haunt you through those endless nights.

I loved it. Whats not to like? Don't expect alot,its a simple story of a teacher and her student

Its from ju-on franchise ,which means basic story plot should have to be the same,just accept it ,but if you want to watch something simple and horror you are in for a treat. Some scenes are quite discomforting and the best part is in a simple movie like this ,you would not have expected those.So believe me Set your bar low and then watch it.

Horror sequences were good,not too scary or gory,but enough thrilling to keep you engaged.All of them cast members acted beautifuly specialy the main protagonist,she was charming.The cinematography and background music were okay, overall a pretty solid movie for a one time watch.

And yes you can make Nozomi sasaki stand in a 2 hour movie with some expressions on her face, i m ready to watch it. No one can deny . She's just born cute

It's awful. Avoid it. I waste my money on this, definitely need a refund. It's so nothing in the beginning and super funny at the end. My friend sleep the whole movie and only wakes up when the whole cinema is laughing. Yes, we all laugh at the ghost/alien(or whatever that is). And did I tell you we were watching it at midnight. Yes, that boring. You might enjoy the comedy but only if you can bare yourself through the whole movie. Half of the audience walk out.

I always love Ju-on movies but this one is definitely a miss. The cast is OK but the directing, the plot, the ghost all wrong. Overall, you get the point.