Film Review: Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

Ju-on to watch this film. *ba-dum tish*

Ju-on: The Grudge (2002) is the third installment of Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on series, and the first to be released theatrically. The film depicts six interconnected stories all centering on a house in Japanese suburbia and the people associated with it. This is no ordinary house; it is plagued by the curse of a deceased man and his murdered wife and son, as when one dies "in the grip of a powerful rage," such a curse is created.

Figure 1

Like Hideo Nakata's Ring (1998) before it, Ju-on thrives as a film on its incredibly unsettling atmosphere. Shimizu creates this atmosphere using minimal score and snail-slow pacing but above all an uncomfortable degree of quietness -- nearly every scene in the film seems to be leading up to a big scare, be it via moving shadows, distorted photographs or TV images (Figure 1), pallid, shambling schoolgirls, or eerily drawn-out death rattles. Tension and unease build as the audience's imagination fills in the blanks initially left by the film; it is not until the near-end of the film that the true antagonist, the evil "big bad," is revealed.

Figure 4

Figure 2

Figure 3

The living characters in Ju-on are highly average and ordinary. Rika the social worker, Sachie the catatonic elderly woman, Toyama the ex-detective (Figure 2), Izumi the schoolgirl -- all are believable, well-cast characters. More significant in these respects, however, are the characters of Kayako and Toshio, the two ghosts who seemingly haunt those who enter the premises of the house. The portrayals of the two are a huge part of the fear caused by the film; Kayako creeps, inhumane, blood-soaked, and unnaturally contorted, down staircases (Figure 3), while her ghostly pale son Toshio appears out of thin air to stare unblinkingly and send tingles down spines (Figure 4).

The only true complaint to be made about the film is the potential for confusion caused by the arrangement of the six stories. The vignettes, much like Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994), are in non-chronological order, but not clearly so. If one does not pay close attention or make the right connections, it may appear as if there are clear contradictions in the plot; for example, Rika's death is mentioned prior to its being shown. Otherwise, there is not much to be said as far as detractors. Being a horror film, the intention of Ju-on is to entertain by inducing fright; ergo, there is no clear theme or underlying message intended to be communicated. The cinematography, in all aspects (color, lighting, framing) is decidedly average, with no real standout shots or even notable characteristics.

Figure 5

Overall, Ju-on is a film that serves its purpose -- it is very scary (Figure 5), the kind of scary that curls your toes and forces you to look over your shoulder every few seconds. The atmosphere dominates viewers' consciousnesses and drags them kicking and screaming into the dark. Just pay close attention to the small details (so as to recognize the order of the storyline) and Ju-on is a film well worth your time.