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
Yôji 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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing images

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:

$17,032, 30 July 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$325,661, 5 December 2004

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kayako and Toshio are based on the Japanese legend of the Onryo, a vengeful spirit that unlike western ghosts, can physically manifest to attack and kill victims whereas our ghosts are just energy and can't physically appear. They manifest when they are killed in a state of deep rage as explained by the opening title card.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 14 mins) When Rika's in the shower, she has a lot of shampoo in her hair. Yet right before Kayako's hand appears, the shampoo vanishes.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Hirohashi: Thanks for the effort.

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Connections

Followed by Ju-on: Black Ghost (2009)

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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.