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Real estate is often murder and has been for a long time. Regarding that matter, Japan has been more of a stellar example of, than an exception to the rule: a person owning a modest home and sharing it with several more family members across at least three generations could be considered well off. That might as well be the reason why J-horror plots often centre on a dream house haunted by a ghost from its past who is also the primary reason why the average family could afford the house anyway.

Coming from the veteran of the genre, Koji Shiraishi of 2009's Grotesque and 2007's The Slit Mouthed Woman fame, House Of Sayuri follows a familiar path, at least in the beginning. The extended family of seven, lead by the father Akio (Zen Kajihara), and including his wife Masako (Fusako Urabe), children Norio (Ryoka Minamide), Keiko (Kokoro Morita) and Shun.

Japanese filmmaker Kôji Shiraishi knows his way around a haunt, having established a reputation for scare crafting with documentary-style horror movies Noroi: The Curse, Occult, and A Record of Sweet Murder. The director occasionally showcased his sense of humor, dialing up the camp factor in commercial films like Sadako vs. Kayako. Kôji Shiraishi’s latest, House of Sayuri, splits the difference between serious scares and irreverent horror-comedy. A vengeful ghost doles out shocking violence in this haunted house, with a comically combative grandma standing in its way, making for a tonally disjointed effort as bizarre as that setup suggests.

After a cold open that establishes the haunting’s inciting event, House of Sayuri cuts to the present to introduce the Kamiki family, a tight-knit and cheerful group of seven who’ve just moved into the home, blissfully unaware of its history. The new home comes after years of blood, sweat,...