The Grudge:
White Ghost and Black Ghost
Madman
R4 DVD
One
of the most successful J-horror series of all times was Ju-on
or The Grudge. Just when you thought nothing more could be added to the series,
along comes a double bill which knocks your socks off. While the original Ju-on director was not directly involved, he supervised the
production and hence his influence is felt throughout. The directors of White
Ghost and Black Ghost are Ryuta Miyake and Mari Asato.
White Ghost
begins as a series of seemingly unconnected ghostly tales. They are short,
direct and haunting but are somewhat jarring as they do not make a lot of
sense. However as the tales continue you notice connections here and there and
slowly a deep sense of dread begins to build. Each of the characters is related
to others in the tales and it all begins and ends with the cursed house and a
very dysfunctional family. When a new family moves into the house the
resonances of the past move into the present and an adopted son begins to
transform into an abuser and then a killer. When he fails the bar exam, he
slaughters all the members of the household and hangs himself. As he died he
made a tape recording but on the cassette is not just his own voice but the
voice of Mirai, the youngest member of the family.
Her soul seeks revenge from beyond the grave and affects all who hear the tape.
In
Black Ghost Yuko, a nurse, is left in
charge if a young girl named Fukie who seems to be
suffering from a large cyst. Soon, however, strange things begin to occur as the
cyst is actually an unborn child fuelled for hatred and contempt for mankind.
As the baby grows everyone around her is cursed, Fukie’s
father goes insane after a bloody murder. The baby’s powers are only just kept
in check by the psychic forces of Fukie’s younger
sister but even they are not strong enough to keep the growing enmity in check.
After an exorcism fails all hell breaks loose, literally.
These
are surprising and refine developments of the Ju-on
storyline with interesting twisted, excellent suspense and lots of terror. It
is surprising how much tension can be created with such little gore and with a
minimum of special effects. Highly recommended.
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