FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

MaximumMadness The interesting thing about Takashi Shimizu's now legendary horror franchise "Ju-On" is that its more humble beginnings have been almost forgotten in a flurry of sequels, remakes, reboots and spin-offs that have cropped up in the years since the release of the first chapter back in the year 2000. Most audiences, at least in the west, seem blissfully unaware that that the series got its start as a direct- to- video "V-Cinema" franchise beginning with this film- "Ju-On: The Curse," and instead are more focused on its subsequent cinematic spin-off release "Ju-On: The Grudge" and the American remake series that followed, also known by the moniker of "The Grudge." And that really is a bit of a shame, because this initial outing is something to behold in a lot of ways, especially given it's incredibly low-budget and an obvious lack of resources. Shimizu instead must rely on cunning visual direction and clever storytelling to deliver the goods, and he pulls through quite magnificently.Much like the series as a whole, "The Curse" follows a fractured and non-chronological collection of short-stories and vignettes all revolving around a cursed house in Tokyo where a dreadful murder took place. Those who come into contact with the house are infected by this curse, and are destined to meet a dark and grisly fate... However, there might just be some hope for some as they try to piece together what happened and try to figure out a way to stop the evil from taking them...The film's success and a large part of the reason it has gone on to influence so many follow-ups and retreads is its absolutely stunning sense of dread and desperation. Shimizu is a master at the craft of eliciting guttural creeps from the audience, without relying too much on cheap tricks like gross-out gore or false scares. He's able to take relatively standard suburban locations and inject a pure sense of isolation and paranoia through suggestive camera angles, tense sound (or lack thereof) and the mere suggestion of terrible things from the past. It's often stunning in just how much fear he is able to generate with so little at his disposal, and it's the biggest draw of this installment in the franchise- he had so little, and yet did so much with it. For merely a 70-minute feature, there's more genuine scares and gasps than most feature-length Hollywood horror films.However, it's not quite at the level of perfection, and it echoes a problem that is also a common complaint of the many films to come after- it's a bit patchy and a little too rough around the edges a little too often. As much good as Shimizu is able to accomplish with his fine visual storytelling, there is something of a lack of character development through many of the short tales that make up the runtime. This is a film of clichés and archetypes for basically every major player, and it can rob a bit of the suspense. I also had some issues with the length- this is very much a "get in and get out" type of film, and the fact it's barely over an hour means we never quite attain a level of connection with the stories and characters as we might like. It would have made the constant creeps it gives you even more powerful if we spent but a few more fleeting minutes on each story.Still, I cannot fault the film too much for these issues, because when it works... it works wonderfully. "Ju-On: The Curse" might not be the best installment in the franchise. Heck, I think you could make an argument that even the big-budget Hollywood remake was a teeny bit better on the whole. But it's never anything less than completely competent and thoroughly engrossing. It's a splendid and frightful freak show and accomplishes almost everything it sets out to do... and I love it!I give it a very good 8 out of 10.

ferbs54 I had been looking forward to seeing "Ju-on: The Grudge" (2003) for quite a while, after having heard it favorably compared to 1998's "Ringu," one of the best horror films I'd seen in years. As it turns out, "Ju-on" is not quite in "Ringu"'s league, but it still remains a fairly creepy, if ultimately frustrating, film. The picture deals with a house possessed by the spirits of a murdered mother and little boy, and presents us with a series of characters who have some pretty freaky and usually lethal experiences in said haunted abode. Admittedly, the mother, Kayako Saeki, and her son, Toshio, stake their claim to immortality in the classic-ghosts pantheon; every glimpse of Toshio is chilling, and every hint of Kayako's scuttling form fairly terrifying. Still, neither one is as scary as "Ringu"'s Sadako Yamamura, and the film eventually leaves the viewer feeling that all the pieces haven't been fitted together quite properly. Or, more likely, that some of the film's pieces are totally missing. For example, the film's director, Takashi Shimizu, reveals in an interview "extra" that the strange, staccato gurgling noise we hear throughout the movie is the result of Kayako's throat having been crushed when she was murdered by her husband. However, there is no way that the viewer could possibly know this by any hints supplied by the film itself. A nonlinear story line utilizing some bizarre time warping doesn't help clarity much either (the Izumi episode is particularly puzzling). Thus, while the film is well directed, features some fresh attractive players and boasts some nice touches (I love the way Toshio dawdles his fingers), it sure did leave me scratching my head. But as one of the film's characters, Rika, would probably tell you, better to scratch your own head than have someone else do it while you're in the shower!

qiowisj I anticipated Ju-on with high hopes before viewing it. The American remake, The Grudge, was so awful that I thought the Japanese original had to be a better undertaking. I was sadly wrong.From the first frame one feels the low budget quality of the picture. This by no means signals mediocre cinema, just take a look at Takashi Miike's Visitor Q. But, in this case, the poor production values put a real hinder on the film's scares. The atmosphere never attained that sense of dread that I relish so much in a good horror movie. Instead, the scenes just lulled me into a quasi-sleepy state, with a few jumps interspersed here and there. Added to this is generally bad acting by the cast.Try to avoid this one, there are so much better J-horror titles to choose.

EVOL666 Personally, I tend to lean towards "blood-and-guts" types of films, because most horror out there these days just doesn't have any atmosphere or real "scare-factor". Ju-on was a pleasant surprise. The story surrounds a house where some "unpleasantries" occurred and now holds a curse that tends to "infect" anyone who comes into contact with it. Some really creepy stuff going on here, with little to no gore (which normally I would knock points off for, but Ju-on really didn't need it). Not anything that will make you p!ss your pants, but good atmosphere, sound effects, strange/creepy visuals, and an engaging and pretty original story-line keeps this one afloat. Hats off to the Asian horror film-makers - they seem to be carrying the horror torch and pushing the limits these days...Recommended 8/10