Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

Ju-on: The Grudge: Directed by Takashi Shimizu. With Megumi Okina, Misaki Itô, Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa. A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

“With obvious homages to Ring, The Grudge could be accused of an element of plagiarism. That doesnu0026#39;t, however, detract from the fact itu0026#39;s a pretty decent picture, and one of the better Tartan Asia Extreme movies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFirst things first – I *love* Ring, and of course, I mean the Japanese original. That film is by far and away the greatest horror flick ever devised and goes above and beyond what I ever expected a movie to do. However, it also instigated a ready conveyor belt of substandard imitators from the same shores ready to cash in on this unique success. Dire nonsense like the hollow Dark Water, the dull and over stylised Eye, the truly pitiful Phone and the slightly bizarre Audition havenu0026#39;t truly come close to the level of Ring.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow, while Grudge isnu0026#39;t quite up there with the very best horror films, as far as these Asian efforts go, itu0026#39;s definitely one of the more effective selections.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMegumi Okina is Rika, a volunteer homehelper. On being assigned to a family whose regular assistant is temporarily unavailable, she encounters the mother of the family who seems unresponsive. However, after a disturbing incident at the family home, Rika finds herself seemingly haunted by some kind of entity and everyone who gets involved in the case seems to endure the same trauma.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a slightly convoluted story to explain, but it works pretty well on screen. As usual the Japanese acting is generally pretty bland, but a few loud screams certainly add colour.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe main u0026#39;bad guyu0026#39; seems to be some type of ghostly being, and while it doesnu0026#39;t utterly terrify, it definitely brings a few chills. The only real problem is we see too much of it, and not enough is left to our imagination ala Ring. This takes away a certain air mystery and fear. Moreover, the fact the entity resembles the symbolic Japanese girl with long black hair weu0026#39;ve come to expect in the likes of Ring and Dark Water slightly detracts from notions of originality.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, this is redeemed by some pretty effective direction and camera-work, which aid to promote certain wrongness about what is going on.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePerhaps a few aspects donu0026#39;t altogether make complete sense, but thereu0026#39;s enough style here to paper over such cracks.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMovies like this do go to show that when it comes to horror, the Far East have a handle over the Western world.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s by no means the most brilliant horror Iu0026#39;ve ever seen, but itu0026#39;s definitely not bad and if youu0026#39;re up for a chill or 2, you could do far worse.”