Sunday, 27 October 2013

31 Horror Films in 31 Days Challenge, Film Eighteen: Ju-On (The Grudge) (2002)

This isn't a blog along blog just because I didn't have my laptop on me as I watched the film. I'd heard that Ju On was scary and so I set myself up for an authentic, scary horror film experience however it kinda fell flat for me. The film seemed fairly low quality. The effects and acting in places weren't enough to have a chilling impact on me. I've done some research and apparently this film is part of a franchise with several films made. This story, however, is the most commercially successful and is the inspiration for the American Grudge remake. The story follows several characters affected by the Ju-On/Grudge in the Tokunaga household. It's a fresh, interesting way of telling a traditional ghost story. I think in Western film making we're so bored by stereotypical horror film conventions so it's good to see something else.

Something about watching a foreign language horror film adds to the atmosphere because the unfamiliarity of the language adds to the feeling of the unknown. It eaves you one step behind as you're trying to catch up by reading the subtitles. You come with other sociocultural anxieties.

The film was OK but I'm not so thrilled by it that I'd want to watch it again.

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