Powerful

Admirable film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

As many have said in other reviews, Ju-on is sometimes a difficult film to acquire here in the United States. However, the Grudge and Ju-on should not necessarily be confused, because Ju-on is in fact an entirely different film.I have personally studied Yokai (Japanese Spirits and Monsters in lore) and so far, I haven't heard of any type of haunting spirit quite like the ones in the film. Though I do have to say that the film tends to spend a bit too much time on some of the individual stories of the people who are affected by the spirits. The spirits do not physically harm anyone, until they are ready to take them to the spirit world with them. Before so, they do their best to literally scare the heck out of you. The woman and son who were killed by the woman's enraged husband (after discovering she was having an affair) have this almost pitiful sense. You are terrified by the spirits but because you know of their story, you also feel sorry for them. The house itself is haunted, but the spirit will follow anyone it has attracted itself to, so basically, once you enter the house, you are inevitably doomed.The movie isn't bad, but I can't say I was glued to the television the whole time. Stories of character stories tend to drag very badly, and all of the appearances of the spirits are entirely predictable.

Following a series of strange deaths, a group of detectives learn they are linked to those who entered a house with a cursed history and race to stop the deaths from continuing.Overall this one was highly impressive at times and got some good points out of it. The biggest factor for this one is mainly from the scares, which are prevalent throughout here as it works through several impressive elements. As is usual for the Asian ghost genre, the majority of that comes from the quite creepy and definitely scary ghost popping up whenever you least expect it in areas that are quite shocking to see it come from, definitely giving this one a feeling of dread and terror that very few actually manage to accomplish at all yet this is utterly masterful at. There's moments within this one that are all about extreme jump-scares as the ghost appears long before actually interacting with the victim which sets off the scares quite well so scenes of the lone girl in the apartment being tormented by the ghostly doppelgangers of her friends, the showing of the brother and his wife who succumb to the curse and the reporter in the hotel room are all outstanding sequences that work very well because of where the ghost finally pops up and how creepy it is seeing this. When it decides to backtrack and focus more on the suspense of the slowly-approach ghost just utterly terrifying the victims, like the ambush on the security guard at her workplace, the first scenes showing her caring for the grandmother amid the ghost-boy and cat as well as the police detectives in the house during the crime scenes and finally the true meaning of the curse at the end where the hand-trick all-throughout the film finally gets explained, generates some rather creepy moments from time-to-time which causes this to definitely be worthy of its stellar reputation. There's also the generally demented ghostly-look for them throughout here, which is just unnervingly chilling and creepy that serves this one quite well. Unfortunately, it's also slightly problematic as there's a small-but-noticeable flaw here. The only real issue is that the film is plagued by a plot that's far too disjointed to make any sense as we constantly zip around to view the dozen or so different stories that are told within, making it nearly impossible to keep track of who's-who here and what time period we're in since this doesn't go chronologically with that either, and then because we learn so late in the film what's actually going on, it's far too late to really care. When it sticks to the ghosts, it's great stuff all around and is certainly highly enjoyable.Rated R: Violence, Language and themes of child abuse and violence.

The American version was good to me. I believe the Ring to be overrated compared to this. Let me state if you have not seen any version yet and are wondering if you will get into this.First off, watch this movie alone in a dark room. If you can have surround sound. The atmosphere created here is amazing. While a lot of Japanese horror movies have the "Black Haired Girl", this one is original to me. The atmosphere is the creepiest thing in this movie. Also if you know Kayacko(sorry can't spell it) story, you can't help but feel bad for her. You will like this movie if you go in with an open mind and like supernatural horror.You will not like this movie if you are more of an American Horror buff. I love American horror. But on theme I have seen among people who don't like this series is they prefer serial killers and such. Nothing wrong with that and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.Overall as long as you like supernatural horror and have an open mind, this ranks as my favorite ghost movie. Quick side note, Ju-On The Curse is the original that aired on TV. This is the movie he made following the TV airing. I recommend this one first then watch the first version. Also the second Ju-On does something most horror movies don't; It is improved and the ending is SICK. Enjoy and watch.

Very well made horror and if it is influenced by, The Ring, it has much innovation of its own. I loved the use of sound and at times just these noises were scary in themselves. Also I loved the inclusion of the edge of something scurrying out of frame or a reverse zoom revealing a little something to surprise us. The ghosts were exceedingly well done. Their stilted movement was excellent and the reliance of white for skin colour and piercing eyes most effective. The film could be difficult to follow because we go back and forward in time as it would seem do the ghosts, but one tends to be swept along by the obvious emotion in the air and the sheer creepiness of the goings on. No graphic violence other than what are virtually stills establishing the raison d'etre for the whole film, but still very scary.