Ju-on: The Grudge

R

Released Jul 23, 2004

1h 32m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

List

80%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

63%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

In a Japanese house, a vengeful spirit goes after one person after another, each suffering a horrible death.

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Pieter-Jan Van Haecke

Psychocinematography

The lighting-design of Ju-On: The Grudge is fantastic. Shimizu refuses to cheaply exploit darkness to make the scares and horror stronger...

Mar 9, 2023

Full Review

Stephanie Archer

Film Inquiry

An unforgiving and relentless curse, Ju-on delivers on its promise to terrify even long after the movie has ended.

Mar 26, 2022

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Projected Figures

it is this deep-seated irrationality which will continue haunting the corridors, closets and attics of your mind long after you have recovered from the peculiar horror of a boy emitting the shrieking meow of a cat.

Jun 1, 2020

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...filmmaker Takashi Shimizu generally proves unable to sustain the viewer's interest for more than a few minutes at a time...

Rated: 2/4

Jan 22, 2020

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

A contemporary horror masterpiece.

Apr 13, 2014

Full Review

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Kyle C

Honestly, this movie hardly makes any sense, but it's spooky af so it's cool. The directing and imagery really bring out the scares without relying on cheap tricks like jump scares and overly dark scenes. I found the narrative structure to be lacking, but I know that a lot of that is just a cultural difference in filmmaking techniques so it's easy enough to overlook and still enjoy some good frights.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/30/23

Full Review

Anndie E

I completely recommend this movie, more so than The Grudge (2004) which is the American remake. Scares are very effective and the atmosphere is perfect. 1.5 stars are taken off for the fact that I like Ju-On The Grudge 2 a bit more but overall, if you're looking to get into the Ju-On/The Grudge series I highly recommend this has a watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/03/23

Full Review

S. C

The way it is structured, shot and edited makes it not as scary as you would expect it to be. Too many characters and too little time given in order for us to care. It feels like an anthology. Once tension builds it's immediately broken when the shot changes to another character. Acting is average. Some scenes are visually chilling while some are downright boring. Some of the sound effects are counterproductive. When the sound designer adds a loud sound right when the ghost reveals itself he basically tells you "Hey, I added a scary sound so you definitely jump incase the ghost doesn't do it for you." That's uncreative and cheap. I had that same exact problem with Dark Water(2002).

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/08/23

Full Review

MasaHiro X

Takashi Shimizu's first theatrically released and third entry into the Ju-On series was a bit flatter than I initially remembered. This is by far the most iconic film however, let's start out with the positives, the film has an overall traditional Japanese feel to it, the mythology from Ju-On: The Curse is still continued in this sequel. Kayako is a force of destruction, a simple force of destruction, manipulation and time bending. This film explores time bending a bit more and Kayako's death is slightly shown, whilst still leaving everything vague and to the viewers imagination. Kayako is still intimidating and horrific, the victims death's are by far amped up in this instalment and death is a repeating cycle. What drags this movie a little bit is because of the refined cinematography, special effects look more comical and less realistic like they did in Ju-On: The Curse 1 & 2. Overall this is still a solid film in the series just not one I personally jive with, still creepy however.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Colin M

Weak Japanese haunted house stuff. A lot of scared faces and scary music. Lacked depth. Boring.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/13/23

Full Review

Taylor L

Made it halfway through this film before I realized the god-awful, extremely generic, and out of place background music wasn't actually supposed to be there. However, even watching the correct version doesn't really save Ju-on. I was actually familiar with the film for years through that impeccable masterpiece of cinema, Scary Movie 4, which parodies Ju-on among several other early 2000s horror flicks. The chronology is loose and somewhat episodic, but doesn't really add much to the film itself, which is mostly a series of murder episodes featuring the same supernatural killers; there isn't much to recommend the premise of a curse that is based in past trauma, as none of the victims relate thematically but just happened to visit a certain house at some point. A lot of the film takes heavy inspiration from The Ring, which had released just prior to Ju-on to massive success. There is the same idea of a curse being imparted based on interacting with something haunted, being pursued by a supernatural entity as a result, and even the victims' faces being altered in photographs. But the sense of brutality and suspense is really watered down, even if the threat is meant to be omnipresent. But it's true, children are the worst. It's shameful to admit, but I was one at one point. (2/5)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/20/22

Full Review

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Takashi Shimizu

Director

Megumi Okina

Rika Nishina

Misaki Ito

Hitomi Tokunaga

Misa Uehara

Izumi Tôyama

Yui Ichikawa

Chiharu

Kanji Tsuda

Katsuya Tokunaga

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Synopsis

In a Japanese house, a vengeful spirit goes after one person after another, each suffering a horrible death.

Director: Takashi Shimizu
Screenwriter: Takashi Shimizu
Distributor: DeA Planeta S.L., Xanadeux Co. Ltd., Medusa Communications and Marketing Ltd.
Production Co: Oz Company Ltd.
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 23, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 15, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $325.7K
Runtime: 1h 32m

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