Ju-on

This is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few classics (F13'th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Exocist, you get the picture). I'd already established, after seeing Ringu, that even a pretty tame Asian horror flick is probably scarier than most Western ones. Face it, they can just scare people better. But Juon, as short as it is, may very well win the cup for the scariest. This was a TV movie, and from what I can see, about the only effects they used were fake blood and Photoshop (you'll know what scene I'm talking about once you see it). This was because of the noticably low budget. But the effects they did have were put to fine use to provide the maximum scaring effect. The movie is about a Juon, which is a Japanese idea about a curse started when one dies a horrible death, and killing all who come in contact with it, creating more Juons. It is basically a series of 6 or 7 scenes about a Juon started in a house that spreads to everybody who goes in the house afterwards. The scenes loosely connect together, but you'll have to read between the lines until you can get Juon 2. Or you could buy both at the same time ;). At the end of the movie you know what happened on camera, but you don't know why. Audiences are forced to hypothesize, keeping in mind the idea of "Juons" that was introduced at the beginning of the film. While many sequels blow up their prequel's perfectly good resolution and open the story back up, the movie Juon never really has a resolution, so the sequel is so necessary that it was obviously planned to be a two-part excursion. When I say sequel, I'm not talking about the two theatrical releases, those are more remakes, I'm talking about the second TV movie. I just finished the first tonight, but I can't wait to see the second. Lots of gruesome images and things. If Ringu gave you chills, this is like Ringu on steroids.

First off this is the movie that kicked it all off. It was followed by Ju-On 2 , Ju-On The Grudge, Ju-On The Grudge 2, and now the Sarah Michelle Gellar version The Grudge all directed by Shimizu. These movies have since become sort of a mystery due to the fact that very little people actually know there are so many of these movies and that there is an actual order in which they proceed. So I personally decided to buck that trend and watch them from the start. So....

Anyways this movie eerily begins off with a teacher played by Yûrei Yanagi who must visit the ominous home of one of his students Toshio whom has not recently been to school and who's parents have not been able to be reached. When he arrives at the house he discovers the boy is alone at home and his parents are out and about.

This is when the movie flashes back into an almost short story mode where it tells the tale of others who have lived and been in the house and what has become of them. One of the characters being played by Chiaki Kuriyama who has gone on to bigger and better things with Battle Royale and Kill Bill. This movie is confusing and made even more confusing by not being used to watching a movie with all Asian people and subtitles. But from what I've understood these people have all been cursed with The Grudge as is described in the beginning of the movie as

"A curse of one who dies with strong resentment

Accumulates in the place where the dead were while alive, and turns into "Karma"

He who comes in contact with the curse loses his life, and a new curse is born."

After these sequences are finished Shimizu once again returns to the main story of the teacher and his student Toshio. Where we quickly learn what has really become of Toshio's parents. EEK!

These short story like sequences are very frightening and creepy, and it wasn't the limited amount of gore that got me. It was the great direction and incredible use of sound to freak the s**t out of me. I've never really seen any American horror movies made like this one, and it's almost hard to explain even to myself how a movie with such an erratic and confusing timeline could still be so satisfying. Although maybe I'm just ignoring the fact that many of these confusements(is that a word, if it isn't it should be) will be explained in the sequels, which I now must absolutely see.

Ju-on: the Curse is absolutely the scariest movie ever made. I found myself gasping out loud at times. Forget cheap scares, forget the need for special effects. Forget even the need for a dark setting. Most of the scenes are in broad daylight, yet they will nearly scare you to death. I've seen a lot of horror movies, but I can easily say that nothing compares to this one. Takashi Shimizu has mastered the art of bringing terror to the screen. If there really were such a thing as ghost, really mean, really vengeful ghost, this is what they would be like. I should note that Ju-on the Curse is really two movies, Curse I and II. The second has some overlapping material, but adequately compliments the first. If you want to be frightened, really really frightened, this is the one to watch.

Before Ju-On achieved worldwide fame, the franchise originally began with this film, which at the time was only released in Japan. Although it is a low-budget film that was only released on VHS, what lay in this film was something that would end up becoming a horror film phenomenon. The original genesis of the franchise begins in this film, where Kayako's mythology begins from the beginning. The stories told here present how it began, why and who were the first victims. It is a simple film that, despite not being in chronological order like the other installments that came later, can be understood well. Obviously, it didn't age very well due to the quality with which it was made. The special effects seem to be quite crappy. Even so, it is an enjoyable film and it is good to know it as it is the first original chapter of the franchise. Ju-On (2000) is undoubtedly a diamond in the rough that is worth knowing for having started the Ju-On mythology. My final rating for this movie is a 7/10.

First i was disappointed to see that it was a TV movie i had bought, but after 10 minutes of watching it i didn't give it much of a thought. This movie is simply just entertaining from beginning to end. There is no limit to the imagination of creepiness in this movie, all thanks to my new favorite horror director Takashi Shimizu. The fact, that its like Shimizu has thought " I would like to make a movie that scares the s*** out of everyone and then to hell with everything else" really makes me raise my thumbs up and bow in the dust for the man. This Flick is on my top 3 list of the scariest movies ever, together with "The shining" and "Salems lot". If i had seen this one when i was 13 i would have been horrified for stairs years to come (just like i was horrified for windows without curtains for about 5 years, after seeing "Salems lot"), thats for sure.

Note: You don't have to use blood for a movie to be scary. The Japanese have realized that, why cant the Americans???

The reason that i didn't give this movie 10 out of 10 is because i find it hard to keep track of all the names (maybe because I'm not Japanese?)and i miss some answers in this riddle of a ghost story. And yes, i HAVE seen the other 3 in the series. And no, you Don't get much more insight, just more confused. They are still some excellent horror movies though, especially Ju-on: The grudge 2. But the first one is still the most scary.

I gave it 9 out of 10. Enjoy! ;o)

Ps. If anyone knows movies as scary as the above mentioned, please write me the titles so i can continue my search for the scariest horror movie ever.