Good start, but then it gets ruined

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Cryptic, puzzling & refusing to unfurl its mystery, Ju-On: The Grudge is an eerie yet utterly baffling horror that presents itself as an enigma, is told in non-chronological order, and keeps its audience clueless from beginning to end. Nothing more than a collection of six interrelated episodes, it isn't scary but only shocking in bits n pieces.The story of Ju-On: The Grudge revolves around a curse that was born in a house in Tokyo when a husband killed his entire family in a jealous rage after he suspected his wife of having an affair. The plot takes place over a number of years and follows people who, after visiting the cursed location, are marked & pursued by a vengeful spirit.Written & directed by Takashi Shimizu, the movie covers the origin of the curse during its opening moments and follows it up with six segments, each focusing on a character who comes in contact with the curse and inadvertently spreads it to other people & places. The segments are presented in random order but it all links up in the end.The house where the curse was born is revisited various times & by various characters throughout the movie but it ultimately becomes repetitive with no logical explanation in sight. The ending does provide some insight into what the curse is all about but there is still no answer to what the viewers are supposed to take from it or what exactly is the director's intent.On an overall scale, Ju-On: The Grudge makes efficient use of its available resources, maintains a fine grip on the genre elements, is unwilling to hand its viewers the key to solve its puzzle, and sustains its suspenseful ambiance till the very end. Those looking for a typical horror flick are bound to be disappointed but just like every film ever made, Ju-On: The Grudge will find its share of admirers.

Following in the immensely successful footsteps of RING, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE is an influential, creepy and utterly disturbing low-key ghost story from Japan, successful enough to spawn both a sequel and an American remake. This is Japanese horror at its finest: shot on a minuscule budget, utilising real-life 'run down' locations, and with a cast of subtle actors and actresses fleshing out the roles. Director Takashi Shimizu seems to have cast only deeply attractive actresses in his movie, perhaps to keep the attention of his male audience, and this makes the slow-burning proceedings very easy to watch.The 'haunted house' storyline is very straightforward and there isn't much of a plot to speak of: basically, we see a series of interconnected stories showing how a series of characters are haunted. There are a couple of ghosts; one is a cute little boy, whose manifestation mixes fear and pathos; the other is a more traditional female spirit with long, dark hair and staring eyes, the sort who inhabits every Asian horror film since the similar ghost in RING proved so successful. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE dwells on scares and shocks all the way through, which is why it's so effective: it's 100% focused on scaring the viewer. There are many great bits, my favourites including the duvet shocker, the television breakdown, the bloody staircase set-piece at the climax, and the bit with the three dead schoolgirls. There's even time for a twist ending for those who like that sort of thing. For unsettling, deep-rooted frights and genuine creepiness throughout, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE comes up trumps and will be hard to surpass.

There is a house in Tokyo where every visitor ends up dead. A child and a mother live there. Both are ghosts. Their presence stems from a traumatic event in the house's past. The story follows a variety of characters that enter this house.The film is structured into a series of short vignettes. We follow different people who encounter the horror of the mysterious house. To be honest, the plot only barely makes any sense. It seems to be no more than really an excuse to string together a number of scary moments. This is excusable on the grounds that this is a genuinely unsettling film. It's unnerving in that way that the best Japanese ghost movies are. The cultural difference between east and west means that these movies come at us in ways we can't predict as easily. The Grudge, like Ring, is no different in this respect and its scare factor stems quite a bit from this unknown quality. There is a constant atmosphere of dread in this one.If it perhaps had a little more coherence it would have the potential to reach the top bracket of horror. As it is, it works as an exercise in inventively scary Japanese horror moments. For me this is a perfectly acceptable compensation, as it's quite rare for any film to scare you in the way that this one sometimes does. So with that in mind, it's quite obvious that this movie has achieved something impressive.

Very well made horror and if it is influenced by, The Ring, it has much innovation of its own. I loved the use of sound and at times just these noises were scary in themselves. Also I loved the inclusion of the edge of something scurrying out of frame or a reverse zoom revealing a little something to surprise us. The ghosts were exceedingly well done. Their stilted movement was excellent and the reliance of white for skin colour and piercing eyes most effective. The film could be difficult to follow because we go back and forward in time as it would seem do the ghosts, but one tends to be swept along by the obvious emotion in the air and the sheer creepiness of the goings on. No graphic violence other than what are virtually stills establishing the raison d'etre for the whole film, but still very scary.