This film is about a series of interconnected events, that tie a number of people- and the tragedies that surround them- together.
As we follow a curse, as it passes from one person to another, leaving death and destruction in it's wake.
It's a bit hard to follow, at first...due to the fact that it jumps back and forth from person to person, on various different timelines.
But it all comes around in the end.
And, man...is it ever twisted.
It all begins when things go awry for a young man, who is sent to deliver a Christmas cake to a house, that seems empty at first...but turns out to be very, very haunted.
As a number of brutal killings had very recently taken place there.
Leaving him to walk in on the aftermath of a massacre.
And, thus, inherit "the curse".
That is, however, only the beginning of how the plague of this curse will spread across the town.
Because it is also transferred to a taxi driver...who gives the killer a ride to the place where he will commit suicide, after the fact.
He goes missing shortly after dropping his young daughter off at school.
Though...not before she puts her hand in some ectoplasm like goo, left behind by a bag carrying the decapitated head of the niece of the demonically stricken killer- a girl he had been molesting, prior to his murderous outburst- who happens to be her best friend.
Fast forward to her teenage years...when some of her friends ask her to participate in a ouija-like game...because she has "special abilities" (that allow her to see and hear the dead).
It is through this "game", that she taps into the supernatural realm, which enables her to connect with the ghost of her deceased friend...who shows her how the curse was, inevitably, passed down to her father.
Thus providing us, as viewers, with the backstory we need to put the previous pieces of the puzzle together.
While watching how the curse has affected the others who have also come in contact with it.
And the aftermath that ensues, from thereon out.
It's all rather creepy, and convoluted.
Both of which play into the air of mystery the film exudes.
This could make things confusing for less attentive viewers.
But it does make sense, in the end, if you are able to reflect upon it.
You've got to commend writer/director Ryûta Miyake for constructing a rather complex storyline and plot structure...that works so well...in a film that is, quite literally, only an hour long.
It doesn't give you a whole lot of time to mess about.
And he makes every second count.
Tying up a majority of the loose ends.
While strategically leaving one part of the storyline open-ended, so as to leave room for a continuation of the series.
I'm, personally, not super knowledgeable about the whole Ju-On universe...however...I imagine the house- in which the curse originates here- ties back to one of the other Ju-On prequels or sequels.
This wouldn't surprise me at all.
And would make it an even more impressing endeavour than it already is.
I am aware that it ties in with it's counterpart Ju-On: Black Ghost...which, I'm hoping, will provide context for the only thing I didn't understand in this film...that being the shot of the ghost boy meowing at the dog toy.
That being said, White Ghost is a very solid- and extremely creepy- sequel, that greatly exceeded the expectations I had going into it.
And, thus, is an excellent addition to the Ju-On series (which I should definitely go back and watch more of, after this).
7.5 out of 10.
