Ju-on
| Ju-On | |
|---|---|
Franchise logo
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| Creator | Takashi Shimizu |
| Print publications | |
| Novels |
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| Comics |
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| Graphic novels | The Grudge 1.5 |
| Films and television | |
| Films |
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| Short films |
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| Games | |
| Video games | Ju-On: The Grudge (2009) |
| Audio | |
| Soundtracks |
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| Miscellaneous | |
| Pachinko | CR Ju-On |
| * Series of three short films. | |
Ju-On (呪怨 Juon?, lit. "Curse Grudge", also known as The Grudge) is a Japanese horror franchise created by Takashi Shimizu, consisting of 12 feature films. Shimizu attended the Film School of Tokyo, where he studied under Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Kurosawa helped Shimizu shepherd the Ju-On projects to fruition.
The Ju-On films generally revolve around a curse created in a house in Nerima, Tokyo when Takeo Saeki, convinced that his wife Kayako was having an affair with another man, murdered her, their son Toshio and Toshio's pet cat in a jealous rage. According to Ju-On, when a person dies with a deep and powerful rage, a curse is born. The curse gathers in the place where that person has died or where they were frequently at, and repeats itself there. The spirits of the deceased haunt the location, killing anyone who encounters the curse by any means, such as entering a cursed house or being in contact with somebody who was already cursed. The curse's manifestation is mainly death, where the victims' bodies may or may not disappear. The following deaths may create more curses and spread them to other locations.
The franchise consists, to date, of 12 films (9 Japanese productions, 3 American) alongside additional media and merchandise products.
Shimizu stated in an interview that the inspiration for Ju-On came from his own personal fears as a child, and from a Japanese dance group that would paint their nude bodies white and perform, Shimizu found the performance frightening and decided to "paint [his] ghosts white". He also mentioned that the rise in the number of domestic abuse cases emerging in Japan during production of his previous films gave him ideas about the origins of the story.
The title of the films translates roughly to "Curse Grudge", which means putting up a curse while bearing a grudge against someone or something. The first two films in the series were so-called V-Cinema, or direct-to-video releases, but became surprise hits as the result of favorable word of mouth. Both films were shot in nine days and feature a story that is a variation on the classic haunted house theme, as well as a popular Japanese horror trope, the "vengeful ghost" (onryō). The titular curse, ju-on, is one which takes on a life of its own and seeks new victims. Anyone who encounters a ghost killed by the curse is killed themselves and the curse is able to be spread to other areas.
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Wikipedia