This, like a lot of the original Japanese horrors which have been raped and pillaged by Hollywood, is held in high regard among cinephiles and having heard a lot about it, including the outrageous claim that it is scarier than Ringu, I decided to rent it. It was late when I put the DVD in and I sat on the bed with my girlfriend waiting to be scared, and we were...by the menu screen.
That was the most scared we got. The screams and jolting images of ghosts on the main menu pretty much disappeared and we stepped into an hour and a half of sheer boredom. Sure it starts promisingly enough, with the first segment been genuinely creepy as the first of the female horror fodder catches glimpses of the spirits in an old woman's house, then it rapidly grows repetitive as pretty much exactly the same thing happens to various other people. Literally the only difference is that sometimes a black mist takes them instead of a blue little shit, or that whining blue bint and the whole thing becomes yawn worthy.
I don't expect jump of your seat thrills, or full on gore. Ringu didn't work because of that one climatic scene, Ringu worked because it took it's time building a true sense of dread which made the final, fairly simple scare all the more effective. It's a root that some of the best horrors have taken; films like: Don't Look Now, The Wicker Man and Audition. Films that a simple scare and repeat it like Ju-on include: the Halloween sequels, the Friday the 13th sequels, and any Scream rip off from the late nineties.
Honestly, which category has the better selection? If you think it's the second then this blog might disappoint you in the long run.
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