Ju-Rei: The Uncanny (2004 film)

Long-time readers of my original site know that I'm a big fan of Japanese horror (and, well, Japan in general).  When Hollywood Video had one of their rental deals, I took advantage of it by renting a bunch of Japanese horror movies.  Among such offerings as the Tomie series, I found this film, Ju-Rei: The Uncanny.  The picture reminded me of Ju-On/The Grudge (one of my favorite horror series of all time), so I decided to give it a shot.   What I found was an interesting presentation of the traditional grudge-type curse.

The film starts at Chapter 10 and works backwards through a curse, eventually showing the source of it and how it spreads to each person that's shown.  As such, since I normally give a summary of events here, any such summary would probably be laden with spoilers and I want to avoid that as much as possible. 

The film was, for it's chronologically backwards state, very straightforward.  I also want to point out that the summary on the back of the box has very little, if anything, to do with the plotline of the film.The acting here was pretty well-done.  The effects were interesting, as well.  There was very little to no blood in the film.  What I found interesting was the effect over the ghost actors.  When shown on camera, as a ghost, they're either shown with their entire body completely out of focus, or as a dark shadow standing in the background.  That's another thing I enjoyed in this film, that sometimes the ghosts will appear in the background, watching the chapter's current protagonist.  It's a very creepy touch that works.

Chinatsu Wakatsuki played Noriko Maeda, Chapter 9's protagonist.  She was also in Otoshimono.  Yurei Yanagi played Juku-koshi Kasahara in the film, and may be recognized from Ring and Ring 2, Ju-On: The Curse 1 and 2, plus Ju-On: The Grudge, Death Water, Exte: Hair Extensions and A Slit-Mouthed Woman.

So, an interesting film in the vein of Ju-On and Ring.  I give it a solid 4 out of 5.  It's good, but it's not one of the best I've seen.  But I do enjoy it quite a bit.  Next up on the Happy Horrorween marathon, we have a film from 1974 to serve up for you... the original killer baby film, It's Alive!  The tagline says "The ONE Film You Should Not See Alone."  Well, I'll be seeing it alone and serving it up to you.  Until then, take care of yourselves and this is Red Hawk signing out!