Juon: The Curse II

This relatively brief (72 minutes) continuation of the first Juon earns zero points for adding anything to the Juon oeuvre and for willfully slapping J-horror punters in the face. Why is that? Because the first half hour comprises the same footage from the start and the show-stopping ending of the original Juon, and the stuff that follows is simply less-scary and a more transparent churning of the concepts in the first.

However, if you have no experience and little tolerance for horror you may get a charge out of the movie, especially the first half, but then why not just rent the original?

Whatever the case, if you fit the above description, you may find yourself (like my wife) squirming uncomfortably until ol’ Kayako appears, when you’ll jump up and run to the kitchen screaming “oh my god” in a manner that says ‘I can’t believe you made me watch that!’

Good stuff.

But not for the initiated, who’ve literally seen it all before. What remains in this tale of ghosts who drive mad and then kill anyone who meddles in their business (read: knows anything about them) are a few more episodic scenes of folks getting their eggs scrambled by slow-crawlin,’ upside-down lookin’ Kayako, Saeki, whoever, and her blue, mewling boy-child.

Capping it off is a ludicrous Matrix-inspired ghost multiplication and 2-minute summation of the entire series told with the voiceover of a couple girls who’ve sneaked into the house.

But the Sewer forgives, and, like Juon the first, I can at least say that what makes these movies so effective is their lean and mean attitude. Using weird sounds and darkness, the movies wring unbearable tension from nearly nothing; not much characterization and no plot beyond concept. It’s the cinematic equivalent of shoving your friend into a dark room when they know full well you’ll be waiting inside ready to jump out at them.

Skip Juon II unless you meet these criteria: you’re a completist, you never watch horror and need a zip-less chill to alleviate the heat, or all other versions of Juon are unavailable for rent.