Ju-on (2002)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writer:

Takashi Shimizu (written by)

Release Date:

25 January 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

Plot Keywords:

Haunted House | Murder | Search | Walking | Suspicion

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Megumi Okina	...	Rika Nishina
Misaki Ito	...	Hitomi Tokunaga (as Misaki Itô)
Misa Uehara	...	Izumi Tôyama
Yui Ichikawa	...	Chiharu
Kanji Tsuda	...	Katsuya Tokunaga
Kayoko Shibata	...	Mariko
Yukako Kukuri	...	Miyuki
Shuri Matsuda	...	Kazumi Tokunaga
Yoji Tanaka	...	Yûji Tôyama (as Yôji Tanaka)
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Keibiin
Hideo Sakaki	...	Fukushi Sentâ Jimuin
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo Saeki
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Chikara Ishikura	...	Hirohashi
Chikako Isomura	...	Sachie
Chiona Ôkuni	...	Erebêtâ no Onna
Miho Fujima	...	Joshi Ana
Daisuke Honda	...	Igarashi Keiji
Hirokazu Inoue	...	Nakagawa Keiji
Mao Kobayashi	...	Shôgakusei no Izumi (as Tomomi Kobayashi)
Aki Fujî	...	Yôko Tôyama (as Aki Fujii)
Risa Odagiri	...	Saori
Kaori Nakajô	...	Chiaki
Kana Kobayashi	...	Ayano
Akira Saito	...	Sekine Sensei (as Akira Saitô)
Hiroyuki Yokoo	...	Nyûsu no Koe (voice) (as Hiroyuki Yoko'o)
Isao Yatsu	...	Saitô
Haruka Yamano	...	Fukikae
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wendee Lee	...	Rika (uncredited) (voice: English version)
Michelle Ruff	...	Hitomi (uncredited) (voice: English version)

Directed by
Takashi Shimizu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takashi Shimizu		written by

Produced by
Takashige Ichise	....	producer
Kunio Kawakami	....	producer
Yoshinori Kumazawa	....	producer
Hiroki Numata	....	producer

Original Music by
Shiro Sato		(as Shirô Satô)

Cinematography by
Tokusho Kikumura		(as Tokushô Kikumura)

Film Editing by
Nobuyuki Takahashi

Production Design by
Toshiharu Tokiwa

Production Management
Rintaro Hamasaki	....	location unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaki Adachi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Walter Ledesma	....	sound re-recording mixer: English version
Komatsu Masato	....	sound

Other crew
Kiyoshi Kurosawa	....	creative consultant
Hiroshi Takahashi	....	creative consultant

Production Companies

• Pioneer LDC
• Nikkatsu
• Oz Company
• Xanadeux Company

Distributors

• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2003) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Medusa Communications and Marketing (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Contender Entertainment Group (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (Spain)
• Highlight Film (Germany) (DVD)
• Intercontinental Video (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films (2004) (USA) (subtitled)
• Lizard Cinema Trade (2004) (Russia)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (all media)
• Xanadeux Company (2003) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• Nippon Eizo Creative (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Cineo Camera  camera equipment supplied by
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Also Known As:

The Grudge (UK) (DVD title) (USA)
Ju-on (USA) (DVD box title)
Ju-on 3 (Japan) (working title)
Ju-on: Gekijô-ban (Japan) (poster title)
Ju-on: The Grudge (International: English title) (informal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing images.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Sweden:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Nerima, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Pioneer LDC

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rika's in the shower, she has a lot of shampoo in her hair. Yet right before Kayoko's hand appears, the shampoo vanishes.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Hirohashi: Thanks for the effort.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Grudge (2004)

Soundtrack:

Kagi ga akanai

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.