Ju-Rei – The Uncanny
Picture: C
Sound: D Extras: D Film: D
On the cover we see a clever bit of false advertising “THE
MOST HORRIFYING FILM FROM JAPAN?”
Oh yeah? Then I worry about the
future (and past) of Japanese Horror Cinema.
Here we have Ju-Rei - The Uncanny, which is as bad as, no worse,
than The Grudge, and we all know how much I loathed that film. The reason is simple – I love horror
movies. I watch George A Romero’s Dawn
of the Dead once a week, I have a nice collection of Dario Argento and
Lucio Fulci films. I know what a real
horror movie is and this is just another poor excuse for a horror film that
forces the audience to “use their imagination” about the carnage. People don’t want that. At least I don’t. I love using my imagination but when you’re watching a movie
you’re enjoying the artistic imagination and vision of another filmmaker. ‘I want to see the carnage!’ is what I
screaming at my television when the fifth girl got killed and the camera cut
away immediately and I heard a sound effect.
When people or little creepy girls jump towards the camera and the sound
effect and music is blasting too loudly for me to think, it doesn’t scare
me. When I see someone getting brutally
murdered in a film it puts things into perspective more.
The film, shot on grainy video and under shoestring
budget, sounds down for Chapter Ten to tell the story of a group of schoolgirls
who are meeting their end by a creepy entity that makes creepy noises, ala The
Grudge. The victim’s die in the
same style as they do in The Ring, with their mouths wipe open and their
eyes as wide as saucer bowls. There’s
nothing more to say of the plot since it is too paper thin to even pay
attention to.
The transfer is horrific, no pun intended. Too many dark and grainy video shots to even
make out the images well. Everything
dealing with the darkness is difficult to make out to see let alone enjoy. The rest of the colors are flat and
uninteresting. The sound is obviously a
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track that is not impressive in the least. The disc has no audio options selector and
has only the ability to turn the subtitles on and off. Not too fancy of a release. Unattractive menus, chapter selections,
theater trailer, and nothing else too exciting on this disc. Pretty much, Ju-Rei is one big
letdown and I’m horrified more that people actually think this film is scary
let alone being scared myself.
- Jamie Lockhart
