Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writer:

Takashi Shimizu

Stars:

Megumi Okina, Misaki Itô, Misa Uehara

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Megumi Okina	...	Rika Nishina
Misaki Itô	...	Hitomi Tokunaga
Misa Uehara	...	Izumi Tôyama
Yui Ichikawa	...	Chiharu
Kanji Tsuda	...	Katsuya Tokunaga
Kayoko Shibata	...	Mariko
Yukako Kukuri	...	Miyuki
Shuri Matsuda	...	Kazumi Tokunaga
Yoji Tanaka	...	Yûji Tôyama
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Keibiin
Hideo Sakaki	...	Fukushi Sentâ Jimuin
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo Saeki
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Chikara Ishikura	...	Hirohashi

Storyline

In Japan, when the volunteer social assistant Rika Nishina is assigned to visit a family, she is cursed and chased by two revengeful fiends: Kayako, a woman brutally murdered by her husband and her son Toshio. Each person that lives in or visits the haunted house is murdered or disappears.

---

Plot Keywords:

shower | ghost boy | ghost child | ghost | bad guy wins | 

---

Taglines:

When a grudge from the dead passes to the living - Who is safe?

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

The backstory that creates the curse in this series is strongly reminiscent of the myth of Oiwa, a traditional Japanese onryo (resentful ghost) legend. Oiwa was a housewife disfigured and brutally murdered by her unfaithful husband. She returns to haunt him and makes him murder his new lover. According to the legend, a curse accompanies her story, and that those who retell it will suffer injuries and even death. The disfigured aspect of the onryo is likely what inspired Sadako Yamamura's appearance in Ringu (1998).

---

Goofs

The curse spreads like a virus as established by the film series. Anybody who enters the house is now cursed, and so is anybody who meets that person, and someone who met that person, and so on and so forth. Although Miyuki never entered the house, she is friends with Izumi who did enter the house and even unintentionally got her friends killed as a result by making them go inside with her. Miyuki should not have survived the events of the film if going by the rules that are established.

---

Quotes

[repeated line]
Hirohashi: Thanks for the effort.

---

Connections

Referenced in Entrei em Pânico ao Saber o que Vocês Fizeram na Sexta-feira 13 do Verão Passado Parte 2 - A Hora da Volta da Vingança dos Jogos Mortais de Halloween (2011)

---

Soundtracks

Kagi ga akanai
Music by Hiroyuki Hamamoto
Lyrics by Kei Noguchi
Performed by Suitei Shôjo
Courtesy of Epic Records Japan

User Reviews

a different style of haunting

Rika is a care worker for the social services. Its her first assignment by herself. Her duties is to look after an involute woman who doesn't speak. Even before Rika enters the house she doesn't feel right. The house is a mess, the rest of the family is missing with the woman left alone. Soon Rika finds a boy locked in a room; Toshio. But there is a more malevolent force in this house, that is consuming all how come into contact.

Ju-On is an interesting twist on the haunted house genre. With the multi-linear story line, we see how the people who have come into contact with the force surrounding this house have meet their fate. The atmosphere is eerie and foreboding, but its over all not scary. There are moments that your skin crawls; but it doesn't keep it at a constant pace. The multiple story lines does become redundant after awhile. They should have focused more upon only a few people and flesh out their story, instead of adding story line upon story line. They don't even add much information to the overall story.

I think the problem i had with this is that i got stuck in the cultural translation. At times the mythology went over my head, not understanding a lot of the significance that the story holds. Janpanese ghost stories are so different from western styles, so it takes awhile to understand the difference between the two. Janpanese ghost stories are more about the mood, while the American ghost stories are more about the scare.

Though it went flat during the middle, its still an interesting watch and help change your view on ghost stories.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 January 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Ju-on

Filming Locations:

Nerima, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,446, 25 July 2004

Gross USA:

$325,680

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,657,876

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pioneer LDC, Nikkatsu, Oz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 103 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1