“Ju-On: The Curse” is actually the first of the “Ju-On” films. The franchise did not get a theatrical release until “Ju-On: The Grudge”. What we have here almost feels like a blueprint for what would become “Ju-On: The Grudge”. It’s certainly not bad but it just lacks the finesse of what would come later. Audiences outside of Asia are probably more familiar with the later American remake, “The Grudge” from 2004.

In “Ju-On: The Curse”, we get a series of sequences where unfortunate Japanese folks find themselves dealing with evil ghost creatures. The curse started at one home where a terrible crime was committed. Now, a creepy ghost woman and an equally creepy ghost boy haunt the living. Like the other “Ju-On” films (and the later American remakes), the plot is really just minimal.

You could pretty much copy and paste what I said about “Ju-On: The Grudge” when it comes to the characters. We have a variety of different people that are pretty much just there to be terrorised by the evil spirits. Nobody is seriously watching these movies for the human characters. The ghosts are kind of creepy but I think they refined them in the later movies.

“Ju-On: The Curse” is not bad and in some ways, it’s very low-budget look helps give it a more organic horror feel than the more polished sequels and remakes. However, a lot of it just is not that engaging. I think the filmmakers got better with “Ju-On: The Grudge” and the 2004 “The Grudge” when it comes to the scares. This first one just isn’t able to create the same kind of intense situations that we really need. We need the intensity because we sure are not going to be particularly entertained by the living characters. If you are a big fan of the franchise then maybe you’ll get a kick out of seeing where it all began.