When young social worker Rika (Megumi Okini) is sent to the home of an elderly woman, nothing could have prepared her for what she finds inside the house. While the fact that the home is in complete disarray and the old woman's nearly catatonic is shocking enough, things take a turn for the worse when Rika discovers a young boy hiding in the upstairs closet. Little does Rika know that she's just been marked as the latest victim of an evil Japanese death curse instigated by the family who was brutally murdered inside this very house.

Such is the beginning of Takashi Shimizu's Ju-On: The Grudge, the latest horror sensation from Japan to not only take the world by storm but inspire a Hollywood remake as well. Much like that other highly-lauded Japanese fright fest, The Ring, Ju-On offers up a supernaturally-tinged tale of impending doom filled with vengeful ghosts who will kill anyone around them simply because they're angry that they're no longer amongst the living. Unlike The Ring (which I personally find to be terribly overrated), Ju-On actually manages to both entertain and frighten its audience thanks to the skillful direction of Shimizu--which places an onus on creepy visuals, excellent sound design, and an ethereal, nightmare-like quality that only the best horror films ever achieve.

Rather than tell a traditional tale, Ju-On breaks up its action into six vignettes. This fractured approach to the narrative is at first confounding, but then works as a perfect foil to the story--Shimizu strives to keep his audience off-balance throughout, and the episodic approach (with events placed out of chronological order in some instances) only heightens this effect. It isn't until very late in the final act that things come together and form a whole, but by then the audience is so unsettled by the things they've seen in the interim that the sort of ho-hum explanation (which I'll not spoil here--half the charm of Ju-On is trying to make sense of it as you go) doesn't detract from the film as a whole.

What makes the film so effective is the pitch-perfect mixture of unsettling imagery coupled with Shimizu's own obtuseness when it comes to explaining just what is going on. Ghost-kid Toshio and his mother (who does a great imitation of the spider-walk sequence that was cut from Friedkin's The Exorcist) are creepy to the extreme--and made all the more terrifying when the audience sees how their targets react to them. One girl covers her windows in ripped up newspaper in a vain attempt to keep them out, while another reverts to childhood and hides underneath her blankets. Neither gambit is successful in keeping these spirits at bay.

The film does borrow at least one conceit from The Ring (two if you count Toshio as a male spin-off of the Sadako character in Nakata's film)--the evil in Ju-On spreads like a malignant virus--each person who comes into contact with the house is infected, and they invariably pass the curse on to those they come in contact with. The Ring passed its curse through viewing a videotape--the spread of evil in Ju-On is more insidious in this regard...just one more way where the film is genuinely superior to its progenitor.

At any rate, Ju-On: The Grudge is one of those rare instances where the hype for a film is justified. It's not the most terrifying thing you'll ever see, but it does possess an atmosphere of genuine dread and menace that is missing from the majority of today's horror films.

Video

After a veritable boatload of foreign releases, Lions Gate Films finally gives American audiences a domestic region 1 release of this film.

Featuring a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, the film looks good. Black levels are solid, colors vibrant (for the most part), and there's very little in the way of grain or other visual defects.

Image quality is generally sharp, although there is some edge enhancement creeping in to mar the overall presentation from time to time. Fortunately, it's not often, and it doesn't last long when it does show up.

All in all, a decent presentation. Definitely an improvement over some of the foreign discs floating around out there.

Audio

For a film that relies so heavily on sound (at least half of the scares in Ju-On are generated through Toshio's cat-screams and his mother's ghost's gurgling) I'm happy to report that this DVD performs quite well in the audio category.

The real way to watch the film is with the Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital track--sound on this track is nicely mixed and brings an extra dimension to the film's scarier scenes as the sounds tend to envelope the viewer--putting him right into the middle of the action.

Less impressive is a 2.0 Dolby track in English. I don't know who'd want to watch a dubbed version of the film, but if you were considering it, allow me to advise you not to. Not only does the dubbing detract from the overall film, the 2.0 track is infinitely less effective at establishing the mood of the film as a whole.

The disc features some impeccable English subtitles (especially useful for watching the 5.1 track) and also features Spanish ones as well.

Packaging and Extras

Lions Gate has gone the extra mile for fans with the generous amount of extras included on this disc.

First off, the disc includes a series of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending that goes a long way to shedding light on just what was happening in the film. These scenes also feature commentary from director Shimizu that's pretty enlightening as well.

Next up is behind-the-scenes footage and cast and crew interviews. The interviews are pretty good, if you're really into Asian horror cinema and want to see some of the people who're making these movies. The behind-the-scenes footage was basically what you'd expect. If you're not a hardcore film buff, odds are you're never gonna watch either segment.

Rounding out the extras is a full-length commentary track with Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel. Raimi produced the remake The Grudge and Spiegel is a fan (who also directed the splatter classic Intruder). The track is entertaining, although since neither guy was involved in making the film, it's not particularly informative. It's more like two guys who really like the movie talking about what they like and why they like it while watching it. Again, not a bad track--just not one that's going to shed a lot of light on what the Ju-On series is all about.

And, of course, what DVD would be complete without a trailer and a trailer gallery? Both are included here.

Packaging of the disc is nothing special. Ju-On comes in a standard Amaray case and does actually feature an insert card, albeit one that simply highlights the chapters and extras.

Conclusions

Takashi Shimizu takes his place in the pantheon of legendary Japanese horror filmmakers alongside guys like Hideo Nakata and Kiyoshi Kurosawa (not to mention older legends like Kazuo Komizu and Toshiharu Ikeda) with Ju-On: The Grudge. As far as the new wave of Japanese chillers go, it's hard to get much better than this.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening