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by Fussbett 01/01/2005, 11:10pm PST |
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I haven't seen the American version, but after seeing this mess, I surely won't. Feel free to chime in with descriptions of how the American version improves upon Ju-On, or the craziness that was retained.
Japanese filmmakers are forever wrestling with their arch nemesis: continuity. A clever foe, continuity demands that your film is believable and that the suspension of disbelief remains suspended. Things have to make sense and the audience has to be able to follow the plot. Ju-On: The Grudge is a detailed showcase of lazy writing where the creatives were able to let their imaginations roam free, and after they got one good idea, they stretched an entire movie around it, disregarding continuity entirely. I imagine the writing session involving a lot of quick scribbling and some dude saying "...or whatever" a lot.
On top of my usual Japanese storyline complaints is my complaint about the very simple plot. A murder happens in a house, and thus the house is haunted. Anyone who goes into the house dies eventually (or immediately, whatever). Except for one guy who got possessed, or whatever, by the murderer's ghost then he died. Oh, and once the house even lured in some woman who had never even visited prior. So the ghosts will sometimes do that too, or whatever. The ghosts have no rules. They do what they want. EXCEPT when you put your hands up in front of your face! That can dispell one of the ghosts, or whatever, somehow. But don't bother, because then the other ghost will just kill you anyway. Almost forgot: sometimes one of the ghosts turns into a cat for some reason, but very briefly and to no effect.
So the movie is a list of ghost murders. Nothing clever, just a run down of people continuing to die because they set foot in the house (or didn't). The plot is spiced up with the most loathsome modern filmmaker crutch: the timeline jumble. A stupid person may call this clever. It's not.
Very creepy staring kid scenes, but Ju-On is the poor man's Ringu and Dark Water in every way. |
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JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (Jap version) SUCKS by Fussbett 01/01/2005, 11:10pm PST 
So why is Japanese "horror" spreading? by Lizard_King 01/02/2005, 12:48am PST 
Samurai versions of Shakespeare, hmm... by Horrible Gelatinous Blob 01/02/2005, 1:41am PST 
I think he knew that, Blob, hence the reference. NT by Ran 01/02/2005, 10:40am PST 
Has anybody here seen The Audition? by Fullofkittens 09/14/2005, 7:46pm PDT 
No "The" by Fussbett 09/14/2005, 8:01pm PDT 
Japanese Mushmouth NT by Hey hey hey 09/14/2005, 8:34pm PDT 
Re: Has anybody here seen The Audition? by motherfuckerfoodeater 09/14/2005, 10:03pm PDT 
I'm watching the American version RIGHT NOW by FABIO 09/12/2005, 9:19pm PDT 
huh? by FABIO 09/13/2005, 3:27am PDT 
Re: JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (Jap version) SUCKS by Ice Cream Jonsey 09/12/2005, 11:04pm PDT 
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