I'm the dude who translated the novelization of "Ju-On" via Dark Horse Comics. Just wanted to say awesome video, great reference to have all this in one place! It is my favorite horror world of all, and you did a bang up job on it!!!
The Top 4 are definitely tough to pit against each other but Ju-on the Curse is my all time favorite. I think the low budget effects and more indepth story make it an instant banger.
Fluent non-native Japanese speaker here. Firstly, thank you for this wonderful review. The effort that went into making this has you deserving much more attention than you have gotten. I have been exposed to the Juon franchise all of my life since I saw the American movie when I was in college. I generally prefer overall the Japanese versions as some cultural aspects of the language and how it affects the meaning of certain ideas in the story appeals more to me, but I do agree that the American version is one of the best in the whole franchise. Next, your message about not being able to pronounce words in Japanese shouldn't be necessary, as your passion for the franchise would definitely make Japanese people very pleased, and even though the pronunciations were Westernized I didn't feel any jarringly bad or confusing choices. If I could nitpick, there is just one word that is so easy to fix which I would love to hear pronounced correctly: sake. Instead of saying [ˈsaw key], it is phonetically closer to say [ˈsaw kay]. "Saw key" sounds like the word "saki" in Japanese, which has half a dozen different meanings, all unrelated to the alcoholic beverage. Thanks again for everything. I am subscribing and look forward to seeing you make more interesting reviews moving forward.
Actually in black ghost the lady on the street IS looking for Mar ( the cat Toshio is blended with - as in Mar is a stray cat and she does not seen surprised to find Toshio in the gutter at the side of the road ).
Such an entertaining journey through the "too many" Juon movies 😂 I love your way of talking about film and ranking. Your passion really shines through and you have a great sense of humour and heart ❤️ You made my day! Thank you ~ Also, I have only watched the top 4 ranking movies in your list, so seems like I am covered 🤭
Great way to introduce your two main villains. In the span of 6 minutes you will never forget either one of them. I like how they bleed over to the curse films.
While I have to disagree with your perspective of the first American Grudge movie being best, I can see why you would believe so and respect it. I also have massive respect for how comprehensive everything was and how well you managed to talk about everything without giving huge spoilers. Fantastic job!
I was rewatching White Ghost recently and realized it’s about the only film in the franchise where a character is spared. Mirai didn’t kill Akane, she just returned her good luck charm.
Loved your review and the effort that you put into it, the first Grudge movies scared the heck out of me as a child and I'm glad that you covered every inch of the franchise. I know that this comment is two years too late but I sincerely hope that you see it. Also, I enjoyed your sense of humor. I feel like humor is something that most review channels forget about. Stay safe and have a great day!
After rewatching white ghost, I think the films microbudget worked in the films favor by creating a very uncanny atmosphere. It’s very reminiscent of David Lynch’s inland empire in regards to atmosphere and vignette storytelling. It’s really interesting to me how older cheap horror movies often unintentionally have elements of modern internet horror trends (analog horror, liminal spaces, etc)
I think the opening moment of the delivery guy standing in the hallway is a great and terrifying moment. He's trapped between obligation and his job, and every alarm bell in his head yelling for him to escape. I also like white ghost for having the one happy ending of the franchise: the girl is truly ashamed for holding her tongue and letting her friend get abused, and the ghost is kind enough to stay its wrath just once. Sadly the basketball ghost is probably the goofiest thing in the whole franchise.
Love the work put into this video (I also love long videos) but you put in a lot of effort and have a lot of great insight unlike some channels that kinda just repeat stuff that happens with bare minimum opinions added⭐️ this is super in depth and i definitely had to subscribe! ❤❤️❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you so much and welcome aboard! I hope you dig the rest of my content and if you liked THAT long-form video, you're going to love what I have coming up in a few weeks. 😀
Not necessarily. It was made in promotion for The Grudge 2 and are featured on the DVD special features. Toby Wilkins directed them, and went on to direct The Grudge 3 🫤
I do love The Grudge 2004. It borrows the best parts of the previous films, and makes it into a true horror film. I also love that the more linear story gives us more time with the characters, which helps us to connect with them while previous entries had vignettes with little impact. But... it adds very little overall if you've seen the others. Everything is recognisable and it leaves little room for surprise. Plus while it is the scariest film, I think that is actually somewhat of a weakness as it didn't allow itself to be creepy. Instead of long takes and wide shots of Kayako and Toshio, we get a lot of jump scares and quick cuts of them. Overall, it is in an objective sense the best, but I probably liked it less than Ju-On The Grudge and Ju-On The Curse overall.
Really happy to see someone take time to give both JuOn and The Ring series the focus they deserve. Also I LOLd at your review of The Grudge (2020). As much as I'd love a conversation with a fellow superfan of how they shat the bed with that movie, at the same time nothing needs to be said about it XD
You've truly amazin. The grudge has always been one of my favorite horror movie, but I didn't know there were Japanese movies as well, thanks to you my grudge series experience can be slot longer and slot more satisfying
Great comprehensive video. Respect to all the work put into it...although I do disagree with some of your takes on the films themselves, lol. Imo Ju-On: The Grudge 2 is the franchise at its peak, but to each his own!
Really great and well-made video! I hope it gets more views. I agree with a lot of what you said. My personal favourite is definitely ju-on from 2000. 😋
I think if Dead Meat were to cover the series for his Kill Count, he may need to borrow your notes because this so... insightful and concise and well-researched :) And in essence, he may have to do the short films and Ju-On the Curse duology first given what you said here about how watching those four can help with understanding and immersing yourself in the cinematic releases better
I really enjoyed the Netflix series - though the fully blacked out ghost banging on the glass sliding door towards the end of the series looked so tacky. It was so bizarrely cheap looking - despite the rest of the series looking and feeling very quality. In terms of fear factor, I think my top 3 would be Ju-on- the Grudge 2, the Grudge 2, and the Ju-on Netflix series (I agree with your more negative points about this series completely - and the lack of answers did annoy me - but I did kind of like the mystery of it all). The U.S Grudge 2 had some moments that I found pretty spooky (and some truly awful moments, as well as a real typical/disappointing direction). Nice review! Very in depth and interesting.
Oh Ju-On The Grudge 2 (2003) and The Grudge 2 (2006) were really scary. I completely agree. When I think of some of the deaths from these movies I get creeps.
Wow I didn’t know this had so much history I had only seen the first one till a couple days ago when I saw 2020 As horror films go This one delivered Loved it
Ok I love your breakdowns of this series. The only thing I disagree with was Ju-on Origins. I really like the direction and they used many real life situations and events that heavily moved the plot forward. Like the guy who kidnapped kids was based on a real serial killer and how they tried something different with still a similar feel
Yeah, you aren't wrong with placing the remake up high. It cherry picks the best scares of the original 4 and, not all, but some remade scenes are slightly better (scarier) than the original. Personally I like to think of the original four as a whole, and I prefer them a bit more over the remake for the authenticity (only Japanese actors and the Bmovie feel)
I actually have a bit of a soft spot for White Ghost. On a purely technical level it’s one of the weaker entries, but I think the writing is fairly strong and helps prop it up quite a bit. Feels nasty when you watch it though; I felt like I needed a shower afterward.
Ju-On may be my favorite J-Horror film. It's very suspenseful, atmospheric, all of the characters and their little stories are well shot and written, and each one of them has a purpose. I recently purchased the Arrow Video box set and heavily enjoyed it. I then found online The Beginning of the End, which was... uh... something. I am planning to watch The Final Curse this week, thus, I will edit this list, but here is my current ranking of what I have seen from the franchise. 1. Ju-On Grudge 2. Ju-On Curse 3. The Grudge 4. Ju-On Curse 2 5. Ju-On Grudge 2 6. White Ghost 7. Black Ghost 8. Origins 9. The Grudge 2 10. The Grudge 3 11. The Beginning of the End 12. Sadako vs Kayako 13. The Grudge 2020 I really do like The Grudge, but I feel like it lacks in a few areas that makes it inferior to the Japanese movies, especially when it comes to Takeo. It doesn't really touch upon Takeo being a ghost in the house all that well. There's also the time flipping aspects such as the detective who ends up seeing his daughter in the future when she is in the house that didn't make its way into the American version. Black Ghost was very lackluster and inferior to White Ghost. I also don't get the reason for the Black Ghost to have th throat sound. It made sense in White Ghost since the grandmother was strangled. The Grudge 2 and 3 are just bad movies, but at least they have a couple of good scares compared to The Beginning of the End. It's also the first traditional Ju-On movie that I found to be an utter borefest. Speaking of borefests, I hated Sadako vs Kayako. Not only did it change the rules of the tape and the Saeki house, but the lighting was awful. It looked like the whole thing was shot in front of a green screen over a weekend. The 2020 Grudge movie was atrocious and even though I put it last, I might actually like it better than SvsK just because it had one good scare scene in it with Toshio. Other than that, that being the first movie of 2020 pretty much defined the entire year. One other thing I will say is that I liked some of the Origins TV show, but I agree, none of the characters were remotely likable. I also hated how they retconned the story to be the house itself that is cursed rather than the murder of Kayako and Toshio causing it.
Okay so now having watched The Final Curse and have no freaking idea what the hell was going on, I'm going to make that my 11th movie and push the other three back one. The only reason I am putting this over Beginning of the End is because the scene in the karaoke room was actually damn cool. Everything else, was crap. I'm also confused on one scene that occurred where who I thought was Reo was looking for the original house and found an empty lot. Some dude tells her it was torn down and people he loved died because of it. However, Reo's plot takes place like a week after Kayako would have been killed, so that wouldn't make any sense. Also, why the hell was Toshio and evil little bastard?????? Oh, lastly, I don't get why Mai and her boyfriend were being haunted when they never even stepped into the house.
hey man. first thing I've seen from you. I love, love your presence. you're hilarious, informative, articulate, and interesting. I'm in. I've subbed the channel and I'll check out your other vids. thanks for this, really enjoyed it.
I have another theory about the kid Toshio meawing: Becasuse he seemed to almost dont talk, he might say his name but no more and since the cat was the only real company for him in the family and in that hose, he probably comunicate with him playing like that until it became an habit. The parents clearly had Toshio abandoned somehow because of the more and more disturbing situation that happened and ended in m u rder
Thanks for such a detailed breakdown of a fantastic series. It does fall apart with the last few entries but I'm one of the few that really liked the 2020 reboot. They could quit but as a fan, I like the possibility of new stories and the 2020 one was a good start. A really strong talented cast, expansion of the story that doesn't tie it down like it's always been and it had had great scares with creepy atmosphere and effects. I'd give it 6/10 but overall a good flick. It still kinda puzzles me why fans don't like it really.
So pretty much it goes downhill after the grudge and maybe sadeko vs kayako... I watched this after watching ju-on the grudge 2 and I sm kind of saddened. Will still watch all of them either way
2006 is honestly where they should've ended this series. The Grudge 2 was still a great movie. I know many people don't neccessarily like it because of 3 different stories going on at the same time. I personally think they should've just saved the entire Chicago family story for The Grudge 3 as it was the least interesting segment of the movie, but I loved Alison and Aubrey's story + I loved how Aubrey after Eason's death found out Kayako's old village and confronted her mother about what she had been doing to her daughter through childhoon making her an evil she became. The Grudge 2 was very engaging, cinematic, dynamic and some of the death scenes were more than scary. Kayako looked very beautiful in it 😊 There is actually a lot not that a lot of people who even liked The Grudge 2 more than The Grudge 1 for its dynamics and I'm definitely one of them. I liked the idea of Kayako's sister in TG3 wanting to put an end to the curse of her sister once and for all to save people from an inevitable death. She was growing up with Kayako and their mother really made their childhood miserable, so it's obvious both of the sisters wanted to leave it all behind and move on, but after the years of avoiding the Kayako's curse thing Naoki decides to come out of the shadow and knowing everything what her mother taught her she knows she's the only person who can stop it...and I really loved the idea and honestly...Naoki was the only good element of The Grudge 3, as Kayako and Toshio at this point hadn't been played by the same actors and the new ones were really generic and these iconic characters lost all of their charm and intimidation. Sadako vs. Kayako was the movie I couldn't take seriously but it was at least fun experience to see both iconic horror characters to battle each other and the main characters of the movie were so absurdal in their actions that I couldn't do anything but laugh. And Kayako actually looked as good as in Ju-On -> The Grudge 1-2 movies. So it was a good one. Out of Japanese releases I watched only Ju-On The Grudge 2 (2003) and I would rank it higher. It was really a good one having this horrific atmosphere Ju On movies should always have. Some of the death scenes when I think about them still give me creeps. The fact how Kayako can manipulate the time and get different people to meet each other even if some of them already died in past really terrifies me. It's scary AF. Kyoko becoming a vessel of Kayako's rebirth and the last scene where Kayako (?) pushes her out of the stairs and Kyoko even after that still shows her affection when Kayako looks at her with absolute emotionlessness and pure evil...damn! I'm definitely going to watch Ju On The Grudge (2002) and the ones from 2000, but everything which came after The Grudge 2 (2006) was a waste of time and at that point it wasn't a true Ju-On/The Grudge we loved. These are my 2 cents.
Thank you! That one was probably the most difficult to find. I had to kind of cobble it together from some RUclips vids that are no longer available and some subtitle files I found. I wish I had a better answer - hopefully with Arrow having released a "complete" set (which only went up to WG/BG), it'll inspire someone to make the rest more easily available.
@@RottedReviews damn, that’s a shame, thanks though, I wish Arrow included both TFC and TBOTE in their box set, but hopefully you’re right and someone somewhere will make it easily accessible for us👍🏻
Loved this. Never could make any sense of the enter Ju-On series and at least I know which one I could watch or rewatch. (I did enjoy the 6 part netflix mini series though). And Yeah I'm mostly looking forward to Ju-on vs The Ring 😅
This is an epic review! Like others have commented, I had no idea there were so many entries in this franchise. Your comprehensive review is a great starting point for anyone interested in (or confused by) these films. Only seeing a few in passing over the years, I now have a great place to jump in and really start watching: The Grudge (2004)! PS: Excellent intro and editing throughout. Very professional.
You should do the Ringu series, because the continuity is even more fucked than Ju-On. It was already a book series, and the first book has been adapted/remade a few different times, and some of the movies sequels are adaptions of the novel sequels, while other sequels are original stories that follow the movie and ignore the other sequels.
@@RottedReviews Well I thought this was awesome. The Ringu stuff would be fun if you included the awful video game, the nonsensical spiral arc, horrendous American sequels, or the chinese unofficial Sadako vs stuff :D
@@RottedReviews I'm a year late as I go through your catalog now, but please give this treatment to the Ring series. I feel like Ringu 0: Birthday especially deserves more attention.
As great as I thought it would be. I am on the fence about these as I prefer other similar movies. However your reviews always make me want to watch or rematch films with fresh eyes. I will avoid some but will give some a rewatcb.
This was amazing and really informative! I've only seen the '04 American remake, the Netflix series, and the 2020 remake *shudder*. I'll have to check some of the other higher-rated ones out!
Problem is the Japanese are pretty stubborn about certain things. I'll give an example. Worked at a big company in Japan in 2020 right in the middle of tokyo and the record keeping they had... only paper. Dear fucking god the overtime they gave to the employees half the time was just organizing the absolute shit show of paper record keeping. So back onto the topic it really makes sense why they wont add anything new to Ju-on. You're not the only one wondering why they wont spice up the series. Like there's no way that no-one of huge spiritual importance like a high ranking shaman hasn't known about and/or tried to lift the curse after literal decades the curse has been there. I personally feel that Japanese horror is slowly going down the route of Korean horror much to my dismay because everyone in korean horror just dies or it's a really bad ending and it becomes really predictable how their movies end.
Yeah, Japan needs to come into the 21st century at this point. One of my friends lives there and talks about how some areas still think it's like the 60s.
I won't say I agree completely with everything you say, but my nostalgia for Ju-On: The grudge cannot be undersold. I bought it in a store based on the cover alone, all I could read on the cover was 'English' under subtitles - the rest was in Japanese, so I had no idea what I was walking into. The movie ended up being the first in probably 10-15 years that left me with a feeling of fear - not 1-2-3-bo! jumpscares, but genuine fear, and I still count it as one of my all-time favorites. And not to be too nit-picky, but you actually left out one installment that 'showed up on a screen,' but I don't really blame you for not including the 2009 Ju-On 'Haunted house simulator' for Wii on your list.
It is a great movie, and that's ok - folks don't have to agree all the time. 😀 As far as the Wii game goes, I thought about it, but: 1. I don't have a Wii - and 2. I've never reviewed a video game on this channel before and while I'm not opposed to it, it's not something I've yet decided to pull the trigger on. Maybe someday.
He was to kind to Grudge 2020 it has no right to the name. Kyako is only in the film for 10 seconds literally 10 seconds. The curse itself is barely explained. Its just blood and gore for the sake of it
I'm the dude who translated the novelization of "Ju-On" via Dark Horse Comics. Just wanted to say awesome video, great reference to have all this in one place! It is my favorite horror world of all, and you did a bang up job on it!!!
Loved all of those film to comic releases! I wish I would have collected the m.p.d. psycho comics around them also! I have all the movie comics still!
Ju on the curse still has one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever watched in it. That damn bag.
The Top 4 are definitely tough to pit against each other but Ju-on the Curse is my all time favorite. I think the low budget effects and more indepth story make it an instant banger.
I had no idea there were so many films in this "series" - great work, and now I have to figure out when I can rewatch the top five films. Well done!
Fluent non-native Japanese speaker here.
Firstly, thank you for this wonderful review. The effort that went into making this has you deserving much more attention than you have gotten. I have been exposed to the Juon franchise all of my life since I saw the American movie when I was in college. I generally prefer overall the Japanese versions as some cultural aspects of the language and how it affects the meaning of certain ideas in the story appeals more to me, but I do agree that the American version is one of the best in the whole franchise.
Next, your message about not being able to pronounce words in Japanese shouldn't be necessary, as your passion for the franchise would definitely make Japanese people very pleased, and even though the pronunciations were Westernized I didn't feel any jarringly bad or confusing choices. If I could nitpick, there is just one word that is so easy to fix which I would love to hear pronounced correctly: sake. Instead of saying [ˈsaw key], it is phonetically closer to say [ˈsaw kay]. "Saw key" sounds like the word "saki" in Japanese, which has half a dozen different meanings, all unrelated to the alcoholic beverage.
Thanks again for everything. I am subscribing and look forward to seeing you make more interesting reviews moving forward.
Thank you so much, this means so much to me! I really appreciate the kind words here.
Respectfully, you are crazy. The American grudge movies are poorly acted and often dowright comedic.
Actually in black ghost the lady on the street IS looking for Mar ( the cat Toshio is blended with - as in Mar is a stray cat and she does not seen surprised to find Toshio in the gutter at the side of the road ).
Thanks for covering the whole “series”! I enjoyed, and agreed with your commentary from beginning to end.
I really enjoyed the Curse 1 & 2 (skipped through the recap portion of 2) 🙏🏼 thanks for this video!
there's a nice edit someone did on youtube of 1+2 cutting out the repeat
So looking forward to watching this. Your Amityville rankings were amazing
Such an entertaining journey through the "too many" Juon movies 😂 I love your way of talking about film and ranking. Your passion really shines through and you have a great sense of humour and heart ❤️ You made my day! Thank you ~
Also, I have only watched the top 4 ranking movies in your list, so seems like I am covered 🤭
Great way to introduce your two main villains. In the span of 6 minutes you will never forget either one of them. I like how they bleed over to the curse films.
While I have to disagree with your perspective of the first American Grudge movie being best, I can see why you would believe so and respect it.
I also have massive respect for how comprehensive everything was and how well you managed to talk about everything without giving huge spoilers. Fantastic job!
Thank you so much, I appreciate your kind words and very much value respectful disagreeing opinions (truly)!
I was rewatching White Ghost recently and realized it’s about the only film in the franchise where a character is spared. Mirai didn’t kill Akane, she just returned her good luck charm.
Loved your review and the effort that you put into it, the first Grudge movies scared the heck out of me as a child and I'm glad that you covered every inch of the franchise. I know that this comment is two years too late but I sincerely hope that you see it. Also, I enjoyed your sense of humor. I feel like humor is something that most review channels forget about. Stay safe and have a great day!
After rewatching white ghost, I think the films microbudget worked in the films favor by creating a very uncanny atmosphere. It’s very reminiscent of David Lynch’s inland empire in regards to atmosphere and vignette storytelling.
It’s really interesting to me how older cheap horror movies often unintentionally have elements of modern internet horror trends (analog horror, liminal spaces, etc)
I think the opening moment of the delivery guy standing in the hallway is a great and terrifying moment. He's trapped between obligation and his job, and every alarm bell in his head yelling for him to escape. I also like white ghost for having the one happy ending of the franchise: the girl is truly ashamed for holding her tongue and letting her friend get abused, and the ghost is kind enough to stay its wrath just once. Sadly the basketball ghost is probably the goofiest thing in the whole franchise.
Love the work put into this video (I also love long videos) but you put in a lot of effort and have a lot of great insight unlike some channels that kinda just repeat stuff that happens with bare minimum opinions added⭐️ this is super in depth and i definitely had to subscribe! ❤❤️❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you so much and welcome aboard! I hope you dig the rest of my content and if you liked THAT long-form video, you're going to love what I have coming up in a few weeks. 😀
Tales from the grudge were fan made films , that is why they were added
Not necessarily. It was made in promotion for The Grudge 2 and are featured on the DVD special features. Toby Wilkins directed them, and went on to direct The Grudge 3 🫤
I do love The Grudge 2004. It borrows the best parts of the previous films, and makes it into a true horror film. I also love that the more linear story gives us more time with the characters, which helps us to connect with them while previous entries had vignettes with little impact. But... it adds very little overall if you've seen the others. Everything is recognisable and it leaves little room for surprise. Plus while it is the scariest film, I think that is actually somewhat of a weakness as it didn't allow itself to be creepy. Instead of long takes and wide shots of Kayako and Toshio, we get a lot of jump scares and quick cuts of them. Overall, it is in an objective sense the best, but I probably liked it less than Ju-On The Grudge and Ju-On The Curse overall.
Really happy to see someone take time to give both JuOn and The Ring series the focus they deserve. Also I LOLd at your review of The Grudge (2020). As much as I'd love a conversation with a fellow superfan of how they shat the bed with that movie, at the same time nothing needs to be said about it XD
First time coming across your review. Very good and useful (there are so many of them)
Like the number 13 here in the US, the number 4 in Asia is associated with death.
You've truly amazin. The grudge has always been one of my favorite horror movie, but I didn't know there were Japanese movies as well, thanks to you my grudge series experience can be slot longer and slot more satisfying
Great comprehensive video. Respect to all the work put into it...although I do disagree with some of your takes on the films themselves, lol. Imo Ju-On: The Grudge 2 is the franchise at its peak, but to each his own!
Really great and well-made video! I hope it gets more views.
I agree with a lot of what you said. My personal favourite is definitely ju-on from 2000. 😋
Imagine Blum house with the grudge rights 🤔
Trash
I think if Dead Meat were to cover the series for his Kill Count, he may need to borrow your notes because this so... insightful and concise and well-researched :)
And in essence, he may have to do the short films and Ju-On the Curse duology first given what you said here about how watching those four can help with understanding and immersing yourself in the cinematic releases better
Subbed! Looking forward to bingeing your channel!
Also, much respect for the amount of time and work that goes into a video like this 👊
I really enjoyed the Netflix series - though the fully blacked out ghost banging on the glass sliding door towards the end of the series looked so tacky. It was so bizarrely cheap looking - despite the rest of the series looking and feeling very quality. In terms of fear factor, I think my top 3 would be Ju-on- the Grudge 2, the Grudge 2, and the Ju-on Netflix series (I agree with your more negative points about this series completely - and the lack of answers did annoy me - but I did kind of like the mystery of it all). The U.S Grudge 2 had some moments that I found pretty spooky (and some truly awful moments, as well as a real typical/disappointing direction). Nice review! Very in depth and interesting.
Oh Ju-On The Grudge 2 (2003) and The Grudge 2 (2006) were really scary. I completely agree. When I think of some of the deaths from these movies I get creeps.
@@aziatix1168 did you ever see the Netflix series?
@@deboxmojave6541 yes, I had seen it in August this year. It was okay, but I didn't love it as much as Ju-On/The Grudge movies from 2000s.
I love how the frying pan death from curse 2 is repeated in the grudge 2. also the 25 mph crash that can put you in a coma lol
Lol they were trying their best with that car crash okay?! 😂
Wow I didn’t know this had so much history I had only seen the first one till a couple days ago when I saw 2020
As horror films go
This one delivered
Loved it
This is such fantastic work. Really really good
great details!! For me Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (JP) - the atmosphere was intense and creepy throughout
Ok I love your breakdowns of this series. The only thing I disagree with was Ju-on Origins. I really like the direction and they used many real life situations and events that heavily moved the plot forward. Like the guy who kidnapped kids was based on a real serial killer and how they tried something different with still a similar feel
Great video , for all you had to do -you did amazing
Yeah, you aren't wrong with placing the remake up high. It cherry picks the best scares of the original 4 and, not all, but some remade scenes are slightly better (scarier) than the original. Personally I like to think of the original four as a whole, and I prefer them a bit more over the remake for the authenticity (only Japanese actors and the Bmovie feel)
I actually have a bit of a soft spot for White Ghost. On a purely technical level it’s one of the weaker entries, but I think the writing is fairly strong and helps prop it up quite a bit. Feels nasty when you watch it though; I felt like I needed a shower afterward.
I love this video, thank you for such a comprehensive video🤗💜
THE NON-LINEAR NARRATIVE OF THE SERIES DOESN'T DISAPPOINT IT'S LIKE A HORROR MYSTERY WITH HOW, WHEN, WHAT...
Ju-On may be my favorite J-Horror film. It's very suspenseful, atmospheric, all of the characters and their little stories are well shot and written, and each one of them has a purpose. I recently purchased the Arrow Video box set and heavily enjoyed it. I then found online The Beginning of the End, which was... uh... something. I am planning to watch The Final Curse this week, thus, I will edit this list, but here is my current ranking of what I have seen from the franchise.
1. Ju-On Grudge
2. Ju-On Curse
3. The Grudge
4. Ju-On Curse 2
5. Ju-On Grudge 2
6. White Ghost
7. Black Ghost
8. Origins
9. The Grudge 2
10. The Grudge 3
11. The Beginning of the End
12. Sadako vs Kayako
13. The Grudge 2020
I really do like The Grudge, but I feel like it lacks in a few areas that makes it inferior to the Japanese movies, especially when it comes to Takeo. It doesn't really touch upon Takeo being a ghost in the house all that well. There's also the time flipping aspects such as the detective who ends up seeing his daughter in the future when she is in the house that didn't make its way into the American version.
Black Ghost was very lackluster and inferior to White Ghost. I also don't get the reason for the Black Ghost to have th throat sound. It made sense in White Ghost since the grandmother was strangled.
The Grudge 2 and 3 are just bad movies, but at least they have a couple of good scares compared to The Beginning of the End. It's also the first traditional Ju-On movie that I found to be an utter borefest. Speaking of borefests, I hated Sadako vs Kayako. Not only did it change the rules of the tape and the Saeki house, but the lighting was awful. It looked like the whole thing was shot in front of a green screen over a weekend.
The 2020 Grudge movie was atrocious and even though I put it last, I might actually like it better than SvsK just because it had one good scare scene in it with Toshio. Other than that, that being the first movie of 2020 pretty much defined the entire year.
One other thing I will say is that I liked some of the Origins TV show, but I agree, none of the characters were remotely likable. I also hated how they retconned the story to be the house itself that is cursed rather than the murder of Kayako and Toshio causing it.
Okay so now having watched The Final Curse and have no freaking idea what the hell was going on, I'm going to make that my 11th movie and push the other three back one. The only reason I am putting this over Beginning of the End is because the scene in the karaoke room was actually damn cool. Everything else, was crap. I'm also confused on one scene that occurred where who I thought was Reo was looking for the original house and found an empty lot. Some dude tells her it was torn down and people he loved died because of it. However, Reo's plot takes place like a week after Kayako would have been killed, so that wouldn't make any sense.
Also, why the hell was Toshio and evil little bastard?????? Oh, lastly, I don't get why Mai and her boyfriend were being haunted when they never even stepped into the house.
hey man. first thing I've seen from you. I love, love your presence. you're hilarious, informative, articulate, and interesting. I'm in. I've subbed the channel and I'll check out your other vids. thanks for this, really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you dig the content, welcome aboard!
I have another theory about the kid Toshio meawing: Becasuse he seemed to almost dont talk, he might say his name but no more and since the cat was the only real company for him in the family and in that hose, he probably comunicate with him playing like that until it became an habit. The parents clearly had Toshio abandoned somehow because of the more and more disturbing situation that happened and ended in m u rder
just found this channel after searching for reviews of some japanese horror. great breakdown of the series.
Thanks for such a detailed breakdown of a fantastic series. It does fall apart with the last few entries but I'm one of the few that really liked the 2020 reboot. They could quit but as a fan, I like the possibility of new stories and the 2020 one was a good start. A really strong talented cast, expansion of the story that doesn't tie it down like it's always been and it had had great scares with creepy atmosphere and effects. I'd give it 6/10 but overall a good flick. It still kinda puzzles me why fans don't like it really.
Lots of work clearly went into this. Quality video, thanks.
About 30 hours of editing alone! 😂 Thank YOU!
@@RottedReviews I'm sure Ju On to rest after that :-)
So pretty much it goes downhill after the grudge and maybe sadeko vs kayako... I watched this after watching ju-on the grudge 2 and I sm kind of saddened. Will still watch all of them either way
2006 is honestly where they should've ended this series. The Grudge 2 was still a great movie. I know many people don't neccessarily like it because of 3 different stories going on at the same time. I personally think they should've just saved the entire Chicago family story for The Grudge 3 as it was the least interesting segment of the movie, but I loved Alison and Aubrey's story + I loved how Aubrey after Eason's death found out Kayako's old village and confronted her mother about what she had been doing to her daughter through childhoon making her an evil she became. The Grudge 2 was very engaging, cinematic, dynamic and some of the death scenes were more than scary. Kayako looked very beautiful in it 😊 There is actually a lot not that a lot of people who even liked The Grudge 2 more than The Grudge 1 for its dynamics and I'm definitely one of them. I liked the idea of Kayako's sister in TG3 wanting to put an end to the curse of her sister once and for all to save people from an inevitable death. She was growing up with Kayako and their mother really made their childhood miserable, so it's obvious both of the sisters wanted to leave it all behind and move on, but after the years of avoiding the Kayako's curse thing Naoki decides to come out of the shadow and knowing everything what her mother taught her she knows she's the only person who can stop it...and I really loved the idea and honestly...Naoki was the only good element of The Grudge 3, as Kayako and Toshio at this point hadn't been played by the same actors and the new ones were really generic and these iconic characters lost all of their charm and intimidation. Sadako vs. Kayako was the movie I couldn't take seriously but it was at least fun experience to see both iconic horror characters to battle each other and the main characters of the movie were so absurdal in their actions that I couldn't do anything but laugh. And Kayako actually looked as good as in Ju-On -> The Grudge 1-2 movies. So it was a good one. Out of Japanese releases I watched only Ju-On The Grudge 2 (2003) and I would rank it higher. It was really a good one having this horrific atmosphere Ju On movies should always have. Some of the death scenes when I think about them still give me creeps. The fact how Kayako can manipulate the time and get different people to meet each other even if some of them already died in past really terrifies me. It's scary AF. Kyoko becoming a vessel of Kayako's rebirth and the last scene where Kayako (?) pushes her out of the stairs and Kyoko even after that still shows her affection when Kayako looks at her with absolute emotionlessness and pure evil...damn! I'm definitely going to watch Ju On The Grudge (2002) and the ones from 2000, but everything which came after The Grudge 2 (2006) was a waste of time and at that point it wasn't a true Ju-On/The Grudge we loved. These are my 2 cents.
Number one , ju-on origins. I love katasume and 4444444444. I love ring 0 birthday and rasen.
So very glad I found your channel!
I'm glad you're enjoying the content!!
Such an amazing video, as always🎉❤ May I ask where you managed to find Ju-On: The Final Curse, I can’t seem to find it anywhere 😢
Thank you! That one was probably the most difficult to find. I had to kind of cobble it together from some RUclips vids that are no longer available and some subtitle files I found. I wish I had a better answer - hopefully with Arrow having released a "complete" set (which only went up to WG/BG), it'll inspire someone to make the rest more easily available.
@@RottedReviews damn, that’s a shame, thanks though, I wish Arrow included both TFC and TBOTE in their box set, but hopefully you’re right and someone somewhere will make it easily accessible for us👍🏻
Would love more reviews on J-horror/K-horror. Movies like Kairo, A tale of two sisters e.x
Thanks for this excellent retrospective!
What about Ju-rei the Uncanny? How does that movie tie into the series?
Yes, it works only in Japan with Japanese actors.
Love the break down !
Loved this. Never could make any sense of the enter Ju-On series and at least I know which one I could watch or rewatch. (I did enjoy the 6 part netflix mini series though). And Yeah I'm mostly looking forward to Ju-on vs The Ring 😅
There's also 2 books and a wii game!
I tried looking up a way to watch the beginning of the end but couldn't. I really wanted to binge all these, good or bad. Oh well.
You need to do a review on the ringu franchise !!!
This is an epic review! Like others have commented, I had no idea there were so many entries in this franchise. Your comprehensive review is a great starting point for anyone interested in (or confused by) these films. Only seeing a few in passing over the years, I now have a great place to jump in and really start watching: The Grudge (2004)! PS: Excellent intro and editing throughout. Very professional.
In scary movie 3 the black chick and sadako first fight
You should do the Ringu series, because the continuity is even more fucked than Ju-On. It was already a book series, and the first book has been adapted/remade a few different times, and some of the movies sequels are adaptions of the novel sequels, while other sequels are original stories that follow the movie and ignore the other sequels.
I might do that if this video gets enough traction, kinda tough to tell if there's interest in these films based on the numbers so far.
@@RottedReviews Well I thought this was awesome. The Ringu stuff would be fun if you included the awful video game, the nonsensical spiral arc, horrendous American sequels, or the chinese unofficial Sadako vs stuff :D
@@RottedReviews I'm a year late as I go through your catalog now, but please give this treatment to the Ring series. I feel like Ringu 0: Birthday especially deserves more attention.
Sir where I can find katasumi and 4444444444 movies???? Anyone who know please answer
Here:
ruclips.net/video/QOVBu3MuEuU/видео.html
Grudge 2 unrated DVD or arrow box set.
God’s work, dude
So pumped
I like you. You're a fun guy. And no, I don't mean mushroom.
Not the father , he is the uncle ( white ghost )
yeah this earned a subscription
As great as I thought it would be. I am on the fence about these as I prefer other similar movies. However your reviews always make me want to watch or rematch films with fresh eyes. I will avoid some but will give some a rewatcb.
One movie is missing is kayako vs bunshinsaba
Where can I buy or watch it subbed?
This was amazing and really informative! I've only seen the '04 American remake, the Netflix series, and the 2020 remake *shudder*. I'll have to check some of the other higher-rated ones out!
Going on this trip again hahahahaha
2002 film was perfect
Problem is the Japanese are pretty stubborn about certain things. I'll give an example. Worked at a big company in Japan in 2020 right in the middle of tokyo and the record keeping they had... only paper. Dear fucking god the overtime they gave to the employees half the time was just organizing the absolute shit show of paper record keeping.
So back onto the topic it really makes sense why they wont add anything new to Ju-on. You're not the only one wondering why they wont spice up the series. Like there's no way that no-one of huge spiritual importance like a high ranking shaman hasn't known about and/or tried to lift the curse after literal decades the curse has been there. I personally feel that Japanese horror is slowly going down the route of Korean horror much to my dismay because everyone in korean horror just dies or it's a really bad ending and it becomes really predictable how their movies end.
Yeah, Japan needs to come into the 21st century at this point. One of my friends lives there and talks about how some areas still think it's like the 60s.
Umm toshie did kill and was evil before 2014
呪怨はthe grudge方よりいです
PHONERZ
럭WWEZ
틀플흘TERYUH
GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!! LOVE IT🖤🤍☠🤍🖤
For me personally The Grudge 3 is always the worst, too american for me, plus Toshio looks older made me laugh
I won't say I agree completely with everything you say, but my nostalgia for Ju-On: The grudge cannot be undersold. I bought it in a store based on the cover alone, all I could read on the cover was 'English' under subtitles - the rest was in Japanese, so I had no idea what I was walking into. The movie ended up being the first in probably 10-15 years that left me with a feeling of fear - not 1-2-3-bo! jumpscares, but genuine fear, and I still count it as one of my all-time favorites.
And not to be too nit-picky, but you actually left out one installment that 'showed up on a screen,' but I don't really blame you for not including the 2009 Ju-On 'Haunted house simulator' for Wii on your list.
It is a great movie, and that's ok - folks don't have to agree all the time. 😀 As far as the Wii game goes, I thought about it, but: 1. I don't have a Wii - and 2. I've never reviewed a video game on this channel before and while I'm not opposed to it, it's not something I've yet decided to pull the trigger on. Maybe someday.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Why do you force yourself to do these things lol
I just love creating content!
@@RottedReviews next you gotta do all the children of the corn movies
@@joncokejones9318 Already did the Puppet Master movies, but it was pretty early days of the channel and each one was its own video.
@@RottedReviews that’s right you then you might as well do the Ring series next there’s like 11 of them
He was to kind to Grudge 2020 it has no right to the name. Kyako is only in the film for 10 seconds literally 10 seconds. The curse itself is barely explained. Its just blood and gore for the sake of it
ur teeth
I need your opinion completely detailed about Grudge.2020 !! I was so concentrated and when that happened, I couldn't help laughing. a lot