Ju-On Vs The Grudge

[carl]

OK having watched both films now I can safely say this.

MY GOD THE GRUDGE WAS CRAP!!!!!

I saw Ju-On in the cinema and I was scared. I was scared because the imagery was just too damn scary. Toshio under the table, the school girls behind the window, the mother coming down the stairs. I was pinned to my seat in fear. I also found the original featured better storytelling, featuring The Grudge spreading out like a virus and infecting people who had never visited the house. It's been described as meandering off, it was actually getting the story told in the best possible way.

The Grudge though bored me senseless. The imagery looked too fake, the mother too made up, Toshio didn't look innocent and so never scary, and the school girls scene (the scariest scene in the first) was completely removed because American film makers take it as a given that their audience lacks the intelligence to follow a simple story. In the end the story sections kept were spelt out in simpler terms than Kindergarten, the ones cut removed the whole spreading curse thing and so it lost its psychological edge. Oooh a curse that leaves you alone if you stay away from the haunted house, clearly a scary thought.

Overall The Grudge suffered a lot of the same problems as The Ring. Completely patronizing story telling that spells out everything and removed any mystery, and a god awful belief that creepy visuals are not enough and need to be replaced by poor makeup and even worse CGI effects. The Grudge is even worse though. Whereas the Ring was a halfway decent fright fest that paled in comparison to the original but made for an above average American horror, The Grudge is a mess of a movie. A travesty that no unfortunate soul should have to endure.

[aS!Dz]

i totaly agree.. after having seen The Grudge, at the end credits i was thinking.. eh? did i jus miss da movie or was it just senselessly boring and not shocking at all !! Ohwell

[Lafce]

Just checked on IMDb and I see that there are several Ju-On movies...

* Ju-on (2000) (V), aka "Ju-on: The Curse"
* Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003), aka "Ju-on 4"
* Ju-on 2 (2000), aka "Ju-on: The Curse 2"
* Ju-on: The Grudge 3 (2005)

Carl, I guess you were talking about this one, right?

[carl]

This one

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0364385/

Sorry it's the only one of the Ju-On series available in the UK, and to the best of my knowledge outside of little Japanese video stores, so I neglected to mention the full title. Haven't had the chance to see the first 2 direct to video features yet.

[Kn'thrak]

I'm interested to find out how do the 2 versions differ. They are made by the same director and from the trailers, the 2 movies look almost the same just with replaced actors. The unrated DVD for the US Grudge is set to release next week and I'm starting to get into these scary movies just now. Should I go for Ju-On or Grudge Unrated?
Extreme details of your opinion would be appreciated.

[Shrubz]

Whereas the Ring was a halfway decent fright fest that paled in comparison to the original but made for an above average American horror, The Grudge is a mess of a movie.

I'd have to disagree. Ringu did absolutely nothing for me... The Ring kept me scared for a couple days. I just don't understand... I'd guess most who say the original was better are just saying it for the sake of sounding cultured or something (not neccessarily you)... but it just isn't. I wasn't the least bit scared.

[wirm]

It is unfortunate that I saw the originals of both movies before moving on to the US versions. You kind of spoil it for yourself, since the stories are so similar. I don't think it's fair to say one is better than the other because of that.