30 in 30: A MONTH OF HORROR. JU-ON
DAY 6
JU-ON (2002)
The J-Horror train never stops! CHOO CHOO! Time to get terrified.
‘Ju-On’ is the third or fourth incarnation of this story, if I’m not mistaken. First, there was a short film, then there was a made for TV version which got a sequel, and then there is this ‘Ju-On’ the theatrical release, which is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the TV version. All of them directed by the same man: Takashi Shimizu. Cool J-Horror trivia, right?
Wrong. I’m not telling you this so you can look smart the next time you’re hanging out with your goth friends. I’m telling you this because this movie is so carefully crafted that you can really see this is not the first time the director has gotten a shot to make this story.
Every shot the director picks makes the characters seem vulnerable and alone. In the [REC] post we talked about how isolation and threat were almost essential for horror. This movie creates a sense of isolation around the characters even when they are just walking down a busy office building corridor. The sound design heightens the surroundings, the music takes a back seat to the sounds moving leaves or the lonely steps the characters make over the cold pavement. They are isolated even when around people and in familiar places, you only get this in J-Horror.
But what’s the story about? Well, ‘Ju-On’ does not follow a single, linear, story. This film is more like sequences of short stories about people being hunted by a spirit, the same spirit in all of them, which connects the stories nicely.
Why is the movie scary?
There are many things that make the film scary, first off is a take on a classical Japanese legend called ‘onryō’, which is a vengeful spirit born out of a horrible death or tragedy. In ‘Ju-On’ this spirit haunts an apartment building, which means that the people in there are never safe. Ever. No place is a secure from the ghost.
This movie has one of the scariest scenes ever devised by a human mind, and it plays in the idea of being protected and cozy. What can be safer than your own bed?
This poor woman has been haunted by the spirit all day. She gets home, locks the door, gets in bed and puts on some TV to get her mind of the evil spirit after her. But the spirit has other plans.
This scene manages to be scary even when not many elements you would associate with horror are at display. The room is colourful, warm and well lit, but despite this facade of safety, she’s not protected from the vengeful spirit.
The low-growl the spirts makes in this film is a stroke of genius. It announces the presence of the evil entity while being completely human and unnerving at the same time, it can turn any situation into a tension-filled scene. Is something that you would not like to hear while taking a shower alone in your apartment.
And that’s what makes this film particularly terrifying, nowhere is safe. It can be daylight, you might be with friends, or tucked comfortably in bed, but at anytime the evil ‘onryō’ might get you.
This film has spawned forth many sequels and remakes, and it’s easy to see why. It’s completely terrifying and you can’t hide from it.
Tomorrow: HALLOWEEN (1978)
Yesterday: [REC]
