Ju-On: White Ghost (2009)

Simply Perfect

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

On Christmas Eve, a cake shop worker arrives at the Isobe household, only to find the family dead – the result of an uncle who went crazy after failing his law exams & after being caught molesting his niece & who went to the forest to hang himself – and their ghosts already haunting the house. The worker is then surprised by the family's grandmother, herself a ghost too & holding a basketball. The film then follows the fate of several people who had contact with the doomed family in the final days before they died.The Ju-On film series was one of Japan's great horror franchises – a worthy contender to the likes of the RING cycle & PULSE, as well as giving Western horror fans something new to contend with after they had worn out their VHS copies of the Shinya Tsukamoto classic TETSUO: THE IRON MAN into the ground. Director Takashi Shimizu had created what is effectively the Friday the 13th of ghost stories – a killer ghost going around passing on a lethal curse to anyone who she comes into contact with. Not much in the way of character development, plot exposition or even a cohesive narrative – the films pass between victims with no logical connections to the point that trying to decipher the story is like sorting spaghetti. In 2009, nearly a decade after the original Ju-On films came out, two DTV features came out in order to celebrate the series.Of the two spinoffs, Ju-On: Old Lady in White is the better of the two. While this one might not quite match the major unease of the original films, it does try to make a reasonable ghost story. Newcomer director Ryuta Miyake manages to put in a few interestingly weird moments – everything from a severed head in a bag to a supernaturally resilient audio cassette & the rather silly but still weird image of the old lady ghost holding a basketball, as well as the film's highlight in weirdness with the uncle possessed by the house's evil spirits that leave his reflection still in the mirror while his body goes walkabouts – but like I mentioned above, the story is so murky that the plot threads are mixed together like your favourite Italian restaurant's finest spaghetti. Passable at best.

Another instalment to the well-loved horror franchise that is Ju-on. Old Lady in White is on the TOP of my horror list(although if we're talking of the Ju-on series, all of them are really UP there with the exception of Ju-on: The curse 2).Old Lady in White still incorporates Ju-on's trademark:scary ghost faces that will effectively bring out the scream in you. And by ghost faces, I mean be prepared because there are times where the ghost suddenly appears so be sure to watch it without holding something breakable.lol. Lest everyone just assume this is just pure horror without a story, well, let me break down what I thought were serious and deep themes laid down by this movie.Ju-on:Old Lady in White tells the story of a man who killed his own family. The latter part of the story reveals that a certain Atsuji(the man) and his family moved to this house(well, a haunted house that is). He lived with his parents, a younger sister named Mirai and his grandmother.I mentioned about depth. Well here's the depth of the story as far as I read it. This movie tells a story of revenge. Revenge by someone who blames her friend for neglecting her at a time she sought and needed her help. I won't go into details but you'll understand that once you've seen the movie. Here's another depth and a rather sensitive issue I initially thought was just me too much imagining things but affirmed after a second viewing. Incest. Now given that this movie is just an hour long, I won't blame a viewer if he missed this part of the story. In just a matter of less than 3 minutes, you'll see a scene of Atsuji caressing her sister Mirai, Mirai mentioning something about her underwear, and the ghostly grandmother somehow lusting for Atsuji. Atsuji was possessed of course. He wasn't his own self because they weren't the lone occupiers of the house. It wasn't expressly shown but its easy to assume this way. Now if someone has a much more logical theory on how and why everything happened, I'm willing to listen.This movie is a bit short I'm left wanting more. Although I don't think its on the running time but rather the satisfaction it gives. And for a horror fan like me, this movie does not disappoint!

Im a bit unsure wither or not to make this a good or bad review. I don't think it deserves to be considered one of the ju-ons, neither does Kuroi shôjo in my opinion. I think the story was well written; perhaps the let down was due to the director. It didn't have the same eerie settings, and uneasy tension that the other ju-ons captures beautifully. The acting in some scenes was also quite cringeworthy. I did like the non-linear running which is also carried out in this "ju-on" ; probably the only was it can be compared. I think this film has a good frame work for a really good horror; just not enough was put in. Also i did not understand how the granny with the basketball could be considered scary; it was more hilarious than anything. I enjoyed the fact that Toshio made an appearance, however i don't understand why, and nothing explained this. i think it is worth a watch if you are a fan of the ju-on series; just to witness it, but don't approach with great expectations.

All I can tell about this movie is poorly done. I didn't even get a little tense during the plays of this movie.The director seems like preferred to do bloody scene rather than the horror scene. I can tell you that his taste is definitely doesn't fit with the Ju-oN franchise. Also, what the heck with the old lady holding a basketball? Her appearance was just a gags. The only original ghost that appeared in this movie was Toshio, for a little 5 sec. Where is Kayako? Where is Takeo?No crawling, no scary croaking. A big disappointment for a super Ju-oN fans.