Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 6:06 pm Post subject: A Ju-on: The Grudge review I wrote for IMDb...
So I actually wrote a review for Internet Movie Database (Site: www.imdb.com) Ju-on: The Grudge is not actually Korean but Japanese. I hope you won't mind... So, I would like to hear some comments 'cause I'm trying to improve my writings and my english. Read it if you like
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Ju-on: The Grudge
Have you ever considered that maybe - just MAYBE - the idea of REVENGE could be so terrible that it totally creeps you out and makes you unable to sleep for a month or two? Doesn't it scare you how much HATE and HORROR does that kind of revenge keep? So, let's face it - Ju-on: The Grudge is by far the scariest and creepiest horror movie ever made. Forget the remarkable screenplay, forget the superb actors, just let this scare the daylights out of you. Takashi Shimizu really knows how to fill the audience with FEAR. This movie is a good proof for that.
Concerning the plot, there's actually not very much to tell. The idea is so simple that it makes it work so well. The whole movie is based on one simple yet terrifying thing: powerful rage in flesh. It's a curse no one can escape from. This is what makes Ju-on so creepy. No matter who you are or where, the curse WILL kill you. No cheap tricks or complicated mysteries - just pure fear... Besides this, there's also two very strong elements in Ju-on, a haunted house and a vengeful female spirit (with a long black hair of course). To add some creepiness, there's also this little dead kid running around and scaring people.
The film is actually a bunch of different stories which are connected by the curse. They're "character-based", meaning that one story follows one or two characters till the end of their days. Those characters are always somehow related (or a better word could be "infected") to the curse. To make it more confusing, the stories are NOT in a chronological order. (This is very important thing to know if you're planning to watch this) Each story is a significant piece of the plot, meaning that everyone of them drives the main story forward until the whole thing is revealed in the end. And one more very important thing why is this so good; each story is more frightening than the previous one. I've seen a lot of horror movies which fall for a simple reason: the beginning is far better and scarier than the ending. This does NOT happen in Ju-on! The ending is just mind-blowing!
In Ju-on it's all about horror. The director, Takashi Shimizu, really gets everything out of it. There's nothing this man can't do when we're talking about horror flicks. If he wants you to be scared, you WILL be scared. I've seen this movie like a thousand times and it still manages to creep me out every time I watch it. Nothing is more frightening than a good scare scene which first slowly builds up the tension and then blows it right to your face. Ju-on -horror is slow-paced (so you actually have enough time to be scared) and creepy. (I feel sorry for you if you have an attic in your house. Watch the movie and see what I mean..) BUT if you're sick and tired of all these vengeful-female-ghost-with-a-long-black-hair -movies, Ju-on has less (I'm not saying "nothing"!) to give to you. But do NOT call it a cliche 'cause it's NOT! "Finding a bunch of black hair blocking a sink" is a cliche. Having a dark-haired female ghost in a movie is NOT! It's very important to know that these vengeful ghosts are THE BASIC ELEMENT in Asian horror. It's just the matter of HOW this element IS USED in a movie. (Trust me when I say that Takashi Shimizu really knows how to use this element)
What about the script then? Well, it's not that good. The scares are awesome but the characters... They're simply just lacking personality. I can forgive this easily though 'cause there's still something that makes you care about them - they are the victims of something evil. It's not about the acting, it's just the idea of helplessness and desperacy. Just the idea of being a victim is awful... And about the actors - most of the acting is terrible. Especially that Katsuya guy who just keeps overacting whole the time. I'm not saying that would be laughable, it just lowers the fear-factor. Not all of the acting is terrible though! The main character, Rika, does an average job as a frightened social-worker. And let's not forget that girl who played Izumi! She's very convincing as a frightened high-school student.
Overall, Ju-on: The Grudge is the best *horror movie* I've ever seen. It gives a whole new meaning to the word "FEAR". Why is it so good? Because it's all about the terror. No cheap tricks, no pointless confusion - just horror, nothing more. If you're waiting for a perfect script or flawless acting, forget it! Just let this movie fill you with FEAR.
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