Japanese horror stories–and horror movies–have a long, scary tradition, partly because Japanese cinema has often excelled in spooky atmosphere and abnormal psychology.
But I wouldn’t rank “Ju-on” with classics like “Kwaidan” or “Ugetsu” or recent hits like “The Ring”–even though, like “The Ring,” it’s scheduled for an American remake, by the original’s writer-director Takashi Shimizu.
Shimizu’s movie is about an evil, white-faced little boy, perhaps a ghost, who keeps popping up in closets or under beds and wreaking havoc among residents or visitors in a disheveled and badly haunted house.
The evil little boy, who reminded me vaguely of Michael Jackson in his “Thriller” video, metes out ghastly fates to a collection of pretty uninteresting people (social workers, schoolgirls, glum cops) who keep getting killed or going crazy before you can get to know or care about them.
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Shimizu remade “Ju-on” from an earlier straight-to-video version, and he’s good at atmosphere; his film, which is better than most low-budget American horror movies, is also extremely well shot. But I haven’t a clue as to why it’s being remade in America, unless some evil little producer bears us all a grudge.
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“Ju-on” ((star)(star)) opens Friday at the Landmark Century Centre. In Japanese, with English subtitles. MPAA rating: R (violence). Running time: 1:32.