- Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
- Written by: Takashi Shimizu
- Stars: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytX70Q8fW0
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
IMDB.com describes this as “A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.” The order and timeline are strange and a bit hard to follow, with the focus changing from character to character in different sections. It’s jumbled and didn’t fit together for us as a plot. Neither of us get the appeal. We didn’t like it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We’re told that Ju-On is a curse of one who died in the grip of a powerful rage. Those who encounter it die, and a new curse is born. We open on blurry photos of a man torturing a cat with a little boy in the next room. Credits roll.
At the Social Welfare Center, Rika gets a new case assignment. She’s only a volunteer, but the last guy just sorta quit without notice. When she gets to the Tokunaga house, it’s not very well maintained, and she gasps. She introduces herself to the old lady inside, but the old woman doesn’t have much to say.
As Rika cleans up the house, she finds a torn-up photo of what she assumes is the old woman’s family. She goes upstairs to a closet and opens the door, where she sees a little boy hiding. The boy says his name is Toshio. Suddenly, a scary black ghost comes and leans over the old woman; Rika faints.
A couple gets ready in the morning, and she sees him off to work, leaving her with an aging mother to take care of. It’s the same house, maybe a little earlier. The woman, Kazumi, sees Toshio and goes to investigate. There’s a jump scare involving a cat, and the next thing we get is the husband coming home from work. He finds Kazumi in a trance on the bed. We keep seeing the little boy behind him, but he keeps missing the boy. Another young woman comes in with groceries and speaks to mother, who does not respond. Meanwhile the husband is hiding Kazumi’s body upstairs. Hitomi finds him sitting on the stairs, they are siblings, and he keeps repeating “It’s not my child” over and over. He pushes her outside and heads back upstairs.
Later, Hitomi calls Kazumi to ask about their elderly mother. She’s in the restroom of a hospital and sees the black ghost. She runs back to the security office and watches the creature on the security camera; it’s still there. She runs for it, takes the elevator to her apartment upstairs, and every floor she passes has the little boy on it. She keeps hearing the croaking sound the boy makes, even on TV. Turns out, the adult woman ghost is right there in her bed!
Toyama comes to the Tokunaga house that we saw earlier. He’s Rika’s boss, and he finds both her and the old woman inside, nearly comatose. He calls the police, who also find Kazumi and her husband up in the attic.
Mariko comes to visit Rika in the hospital. The police are very interested in hearing more about the child she reported seeing. She suspects that something bad happened at that house, and the police detective is evasive. Turns out, the families who lived in that house before the Tokunagas disappeared or were killed too.
A man named Tokeo Saeki killed his wife there, and he was found later dead on the road. They had a son, Toshio, and yeah, it’s the same child. They go to talk to the former detective who was in charge of that case, and he’s not happy to be involved. Toshio’s body was never found– five years ago. Meanwhile, the bodies of people involved in all this keep stacking up. The former detective watches a video of one of the killings, but it’s a little too real for him.
That night, Rika gets a visit from the little boy and the big ghost as well. Meanwhile, Toyama, the former detective tries to burn down the haunted house, but gets a vision of his daughter, Izumi. He spots the big ghost and goes crazy; she gets the other two detectives.
Izumi wonders about her missing friends. She’s upset about something; someone suggests she might have ESP. The teacher at school has photos of all the students, and he has to go find Izumi’s. They go to Izumi’s house and find that she’s there, terrified. “The three of them keep looking in at me,” about her three missing friends.
Izumi explains that she and her three friends went to the local “haunted house” on a dare. She got spooked and left, but the other stayed, and they haven’t been heard from since. Her photos are all cursed as well.
Izumi’s three dead friends come for her that night, as do the other ghosts.
Kayako talks on the phone while the old man behind her makes faces at someone she can’t see; it’s Toshio. Later, she meets up with Mariko to talk. She has lunch with Rika later, and Rika’s not quite right– she’s still seeing Toshio. She gets a call from Mariko, who is now at Toshio’s house. Rika rushes right over there.
Mariko suddenly can’t find Toshio and goes upstairs looking for him. Rika arrives and finds footprints in the dust. She follows them just in time to see Mariko dragged into the attic. She finally figures out the secret to seeing the ghosts through her fingers. She then gets a vision of the man who killed his wife many years ago. He kills her.
Brian’s Commentary
I’m sure I saw this when it came out, but other than Toshio, I didn’t remember much about it. It’s confusing when the narrative jumps from one character’s point of view to another, as we’re not sure how the timeline works. Also, there are a lot of characters
Maybe it was the subtitles, but I didn’t really understand a lot of this one. It’s highly regarded and led to many sequels, in Japan and Hollywood, so I’m gonna maybe just suggest that I missed something along the way.
Kevin’s Commentary
I thought this was hard to follow and dull. The story changes from person to person as the main character as we see different parts of the story at different times. And the rules are that the ghost kills or vanishes or makes a ghost of anyone who so much as visits the house, because it’s an angry ghost, or ghosts, holding a grudge. Unless you’re a security guard who never visited the house or had anything to do with it.
I saw the US remake some years back and remember enjoying it. I didn’t care for this one a bit.
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