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Tuesday, 26 October 2004
"JU-ON","JU-ON2","JU-ON:THE GRUDGE","JU-ON:THE GRUDGE2","THE GRUDGE","MORTIIS"THE GRUDGE"
I'm a J Horror NUT.I love thier twisted little mindz,thier constant fear of wet slimey women with long stringy black hair,thier strange sense of style.So,when I stumbled upon "Ju-ON:The Grudge" earlier in the year I waz thrilled beyond belief.This movie had it all!
Originally started by Director Takashi Shimizu as a direct to video low budget haunted house story,it has since spawned three sequels and the just released American version "The Grudge" unto the world.Like the curse in the movie,it refuses to die,taking different forms,spreading thru-out the world.
Most people's exposure to Japanese Horror came walking thru thier television sets az "The Ring",based on the Japanese film "Ringu".Very dark and creepy,it waz sure to spawn a whole legion of copycats.And sure nuff,there iz,a whole galoogle of dead girls with nappy slimey black hair haunting the living in such filmz az "The Eye","Dark Water","The Phone","The Tale Of Two Sisters" & "War Of The Gargantuas".
He he-ok,I kid about the last one.
But,in reality,this whole creepygirl stuff started long before "Ringu",especially in the 1965 film "Kwaidan"
But I'm veering off track here-
Let's break it down a little here-
First there waz "JU-ON",where we are introduced to not only the haunted house,the origin of the curse and it's halpless victums,but also to the series' interesting non-linear style of story telling.We jump back n' forth in time between different people and thier misfotunes with the curse,making it confusing to some,but to me it makes for some neat turn of events that you may not catch the first time watching it,but appears suddenly from a second or third viewing.Like putting a puzzle together but your only given certain pieces at different times.
For a low budget first film from Shimizu,it's incredibly intense and forboding,immersing you in the middle of all the horror,and leaving you with a huge chunk of despair n' dread.Just plain,good ol' goddamn creepiness I hadn't seen since "The Exorcist".
Next up iz it'z sequel "JU-ON 2",where the story continues,giving us some more giblets of information about what exactly happened in the house,but still not spelling in all out in detail.Tho not az creepy az the first installment,there still iz some mighty scarey scenes.
Next up The Doozy!After the success of the first two videos,Shimizu released a full fledged theatrical version in Japan,and "JU-On:The Grudge"iz a huge hit.Word of the movie spreadz to the U.S. where fanz of horror snatch it up at comic conventions & overseas sales."Ju-On:The Grudge"iz a masterpiece of horror.We're introduced to some very interesting characters,such az a former detective who originally worked on the case of murders that happened in the house,how he iz drawn back into the case and how it not only affects him,but his wife & daughter.Once again the timeline shifts back n' forth,slowly tossing us into the mayhem and deliciously freeky fates of it's characters,where there iz nowhere to escape the curse,not even under the covers of your very own bed.It iz perhaps up there with some of my fave horror filmz of all time.
Such a huge success,it'z no wonder that Shimizu returns with a sequel-"Ju-On:The Grudge 2",where we get a look into the horror from the perspective of a tv host shooting a "reality"show.Course,thingz go awry,and more thrills n' chills insue,one in particular involves a woman who hears thumping noises in her wall and can't figure out what causes it,only to be shifted in reality to witness it's horrible truth.Some of the scarez do fall flat in the sequel,and at timez,it'z just a little too over the top,but it doez end on an interesting note,leaving room for another sequel,but with a whole new twist.CCant' wait for it!!
Hollywood,not knowing how to make scarey movies anymore that doezn't involve a guy tooling around in a hockey mask,caught on too the success of "The Ring"and sunk it's glitzy clawz into the Japanese market and got a big ol' whif of "Ju-On's" success.So they gather up some American actors,hire Shimizu,and make an English speaking version called "The Grudge".Actaully,Sam Raimi,the master behind those "Evil Dead" movies & "Spider Man",saw the original movies and loved 'em so much that he had to get them released over here.Now,knowing that 90% of the American population wouldn't sit thru a movie they had to read subtitles too,waz on to a sure bet.And it's huge!Opening night everywhere waz sold out,I couldn't get into any of the showingz,so I had to wait til a Monday night,where still there waz quite a crowd filling the seats.
I don't think audiences knew quite what to expect and quite what they were getting themselves into.Some hated it,others loved it.Roger Ebert didn't understand it.
"The Grudge"takes most of the major scenes from the four different movies,slaps them all into one movie.adds an American sublot and ups the special effects with some computer animation,but it's still basically the same story.I liked it,quite alot,but there iz something missing from it.Mayhaps I've seen the original movies so much that I'm not spooked or suprized by much of it,but it's pretty loyal to the original source material,but,maybe because we have American actors involved that it doez lose some of it's "culture shock",meaning that maybe,just maybe,The Japanese sense something deeper,more chilling than us Americans.And I'm not taking anything away from the American actors,they all did a fine job no matter what the critics may say.I mean for chrissakes,it's a horror film,what do they want from the actors,a song and dance?
The ending iz changed up a bit which I'm not too sure I liked,but the sound affects are awesome,there'z still some scenes that'll make ya jump and it's closer to the original than I expected.
Just thought it waz funny that so many Americans keep walking in and out of that house.
So the Japanese versions are better,but to even it out,I prefer The American version of "The Ring"over "Ringu",so there.
Now,completely unrelated,but yet strangely enuff,due to the timing,troll faced goth boy from somewhere over the land where The Lord Of The Rings waz real,we have Mortiis,who's new cd "The Grudge" haz now hit record storez.Mortiis,who couldn't love this guy?I mean,he wears a rubber nose and rubber ears and takez himslef incredibly serious.He'z not playing around!!He's the real deal(well,except for the rubber nose n' ears)and he's back to prove that he'z the real deal by ripping off every idea Trent Reznor haz ever had.If anyone should have a grudge,it's Trent Reznor who,even tho his 1990's industrial goth computer muzik soundz outdated now,still manages to spawn copycats and crappy wannabeez.And he didn't even have to wear rubber noses or rubber boobs.
But ya gotta love Mortiis.I mean,hey,I would kill to have a picture taken with him.That would be hilarious!
Ragz Rates "JU-ON" A 10.0
Ragz Rates "JU-ON 2" a 7.75
Ragz Rates "JU-ON:THE GRUDGE" A 10.0
Ragz Rates "JU-ON:THE GRUDGE 2" A 8.0
Ragz Rates "THE GRUDGE" A 7.0
Ragz Rates MORTIIS "THE GRUDGE" A 5.0
Ragz Rates "WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS" A 10.0
Posted by ragzdandelion
at 10:12 PM PDT
Updated: Tuesday, 26 October 2004 10:20 PM PDT
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