Ju-on: The Grudge

One thing that Ju-on taught me about Japanese ghosts: they are not the pansy, thumping, whispering, stuff moving ghosts that us Americans know. Nope. They are murderous, vicious, evil, and devious. Rather than just frightening you out of your home by moving shit around, or killing you by scaring you into doing something stupid (falling down stair/elevator shaft, etc...), a Japanese ghost is more likely to crawl out of some unseen corner, making some horrendous bone chewing sound, right up to you in plain sight, grab you, and drag you into some dark abyss where you will probably be devoured by Oni, or slowly cut to pieces. At least that's what Ju-on taught me.

There is really to much going on in this movie to pinpoint anything. Its a story about various people dying in horrible ways at the hands of two ghosts that want justice/revenge. What connects all these people? A house. You see the Saeki family had some problems. Mainly the father/husband Takeo killing them. He found his wife's journal and read it, discovering that she had an obsession over an American man. In a jealous fury, he murders his wife Kayako and drowns his son Toshio. But the gruesome way in which they died turns them into vengeful spirits. Kayakos spirit gets revenge on Takeo, but this only serves to also turn him into a vengeful spirit. Now any who enter this house or have any connection to someone who is cursed by this house will be haunted and killed by any of these hate filled souls.

While the story (sorta) mainly focuses on the social worker Rika (who spreads the curse to those around her by surviving) saying it focuses on her is a stretch. It spends more time with her, with her survival, with her haunting, but there are plenty of people and plenty of segments that are in this story.

We have detectives that were investigating the murder of the Murakami family, the Murakami family who where unlucky enough to move into the house, a group of school girls that went into the house because they heard it was haunted, one of the detectives daughters, and a teacher that went to the house to look for Toshio after he had not shown for school.

I think the most chilling parts come when we see Toshio. While he is not as sickening or horrifying as Kayako, he is creepy. The way he sorta sits there, curled up, staring, tapping his knees. He moves around and disappears more that Kayako, and just his stare. Kayako on the other hand, her bone crunching noises as she twitches along the ground, her guttural groan, her appearing as part of someone, its weird. Takeo is much less creepy. He doesn't have a pale ghost form, only appearing as he did in life. But knowing that he slaughtered his wife, his blood stained clothes, it just makes him foreboding.

I like how everything was presented, the different chapters for different people, the basic, shoestring budget sort of presentation. It all works in the movies favor by creating a muted, grainy atmosphere. The house is cramped, full of corners for things to crawl out of and dark. And while Kayakos noises can get a little old, at some points when they become less human and more ethereal it actually gives them a frightening power.

The connections of the characters, the willingness for the movie to go all the way and take care of each one, and the great grey atmosphere all make for a pretty good flick.