Ju-On: The Grudge Collection

Arrow Films are releasing, in a five disc box set, the six films that constitute the original Japanese cycle of JU-ON movies. The JU-ON franchise is one of the more confusing out there, not least because in the UK the third and fourth movies were released first but with the titles swapped around. There are also US versions, as well as both Japanese and US reboots and remakes. Mind you, it's still nowhere near as confusing as the HALLOWEEN franchise, which you'll see at the end of this review where I'll be going through how they all fit together. But for now let's crack open this six film set and take a look at what Arrow has for us:

Disc One: 

Ju-On: The Curse (2000)

This is where it all started. A brief, 70 minute made for video feature that consists of several short vignettes, each concentrating on a different character. The overall story, though, is a familiar one, that of the brutal murder of Kayako Saeki (Takako Fuji), her son Toshio (Ryota Koyama) and the family cat by Kayako's husband Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama) in a fit of jealousy. The scare tactics that would be employed throughout the series are present and correct here also - the pale wailing child, that rasping sound effect, and Kayako's tendency to appear in confined spaces and come down stairs in the scariest way possible. 

Because it was made for video the film is in 4:3 and the quality isn't great, but it is worth watching, if only to see how such a simple concept can be rendered terrifying even on an almost non-existent budget. Extras here are a trailer and two short and charming introductions, one from Takako Fuji and the other from writer-director Takashi Shimizu.

Ju-On: The Curse 2 (2000)

As writer-director Takashi Shimizu states in his brief introduction to the second film, the two CURSE films were made at the same time and over a period of just a few days. It's not surprising, then, the running time of THE CURSE 2 is also brief at 75 minutes, or that 30 minutes of it is spent on a recap of the first movie. Theres enough new stuff to make it worth watching, though, but any details here would swiftly end up in spoiler territory. Suffice to say the events of the first film are resolved and then a new family moves into the Saeki house, with the movie ending on a teaser for the next film which became the series' first theatrical release and the one that the title JU-ON: THE GRUDGE is best known for. Extras for this one are the introduction and a trailer.

Disc Two (4K UHD) and Disc Three (Blu-ray):

Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)

If THE CURSE started it all, JU-ON:THE GRUDGE is the reason we're all here. Arrow's presentation of Takashi Shimizu's classic is a new 4K restoration with the UHD disc in HDR10 compatible Dolby Vision and it looks and (especially) sounds great. It's actually beneficial to watch the CURSE movies first as JU-ON THE GRUDGE really strips the narrative down to the 'violent act leads to haunted house that affects anyone who goes within spitting distance of it' concept. Once again the plot focus hops from character to character and, like many great horror films, it's all really just an excuse for Shimizu to scare us with a variety of creepy scenes, which he achieves very memorably indeed. There's more than enough here to ensure that audience word of mouth would have made it the big success it became.

Arrow have essentially, and quite reasonably, built their boxset release around JU-ON: THE GRUDGE and its immediate sequel and there are plenty of extras for both. Extras for JU-ON: THE GRUDGE include two commentary tracks - a new one by historian David Kalat who talks about the long and quite complicated genesis of the movie, as well as the archival commentary from Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel. There's also an English dub track for those who fancy it.

Arrow's disc has two new interviews, one with director Shimizu (who also introduces the film) and one with star Takako Fuji. Evolution of JU-ON is 27 minutes in the company of J-Horror movie scholars Tom Mes and Zach Davisson who discuss all the influences on the film from Kaidan stories to Nakata's RINGU and beyond.

Archival material is extensive - interviews with Shimizu (31 minutes), Megumi Okina who plays Rika (17 minutes) and Kayoko Shibata who plays Mariko (10 minutes). There's also a stack of brief on-set interviews with the cast, four behind the scenes featurettes, five deleted scenes (with commentary) and an alternate ending. As well as a trailer and a image gallery you also get a ten minute reading by Hiroyoshi Kihara of the two 'true' stories that inspired the movie.

Disc Four: 

Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003)

Released just six months after JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (at least according to the commentary we have on this disc from Japanese cinema expert (and producer of this box set) Jasper Sharp  and cultural historian Raechel Dumas, this sequel maintains the same fragmented narrative format, this time all centred around a documentary piece that has been filmed in the haunted Saeki house.

There are some good creepy bits in this one, including a very creative hanging sequence but it does go seriously over the top towards the end, so be prepared from some childbirth ludicrousness and quite a bit of gore.

We get an introduction from the director, the aforementioned commentary, an English dub, and a stack of archival material including an interview with the director (28 minutes), six on-set interviews with the cast (2-4 minutes each), four deleted scenes, lots of behind the scenes footage (including the filming of the movie's two highlights mentioned above) and preview and premiere footage from Japan, Korea and Taiwan as well as a trailer and image gallery.

Disc Five: 

Ju-On: White Ghost (2009)

Ju-On: Black Ghost (2009)

The final disc in Arrow's set is a double bill of films, each with a 60 minute runtime and made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the JU-ON franchise. While keeping the same narrative format, neither has much to do with Kayako or the Saeki house. BLACK GHOST is about a schoolgirl possessed by the physical remnant of her unborn twin, and is the better, if rather crazier of the two pictures, with the climactic conjoined foetus exorcism scene a daft but entertaining standout. 

WHITE GHOST has a family moving into a new house and, in a plot device straight out of some of those terrible AMITYVILLE sequels, a spirit in an old mirror possesses the father, who then kills the entire family and commits suicide. He records his final words on a cassette tape which, this being JU-ON world, becomes cursed. Toshio Saeki does have a tiny cameo int his one but it's actually rather silly and probably should have been left out. The main ghost, an old lady holding a basketball, is also more likely to inspire laughs than chills.

Extras on this disc are a 12 minute interview with Maru Asato who directed BLACK GHOST and she also introduces the film. You also get trailers and an image gallery. 

Arrow's box set also comes with a 60 page book featuring writing on the films as well as reversible sleeves featuring new and classic artwork. You also get 24 double-sided postcards and a reversible poster.

Finally, let's have a summary of the entire JU-ON: THE GRUDGE franchise. Titles included in Arrow's set are in blue. Other titles reviewed on this site are in brown. First of all there are four Japanese films:

JU-ON: THE CURSE (2000)

JU-ON: THE CURSE 2 (2000)

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2002)

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 (2003)

Then come the American ones:

THE GRUDGE (2004)

THE GRUDGE 2 (2006)

THE GRUDGE 3 (2009)

After that some more from Japan. Firstly the end of the 'original cycle':

JU-ON: BLACK GHOST (2009)

JU-ON: WHITE GHOST (2009)

Followed by the Japanese reboot cycle:

JU-ON: THE BEGINNING OF THE END (2014)

JU-ON: THE FINAL CURSE (2014)

SADAKO VS KAYAKO (2016)

Not forgetting the Japanese Netflix TV series:

JU-ON: ORIGINS (2020)

And finally the latest US remake / reboot with the modern trend of having a supremely unhelpful title:

THE GRUDGE (2020)

So, if you didn't know all that before, now you do. 

Arrow Films are releasing JU-ON:THE GRUDGE COLLECTION in a six disc UHD and Blu-ray box set on Monday 19th December 2022, all ready for Xmas.