Ju-on: Noroi no Ie (2020)

Ju-on: Origins

I understand why some horror fans are (will be) disappointed with this series, even my brother was a bit disappointed, because as far as the usual/traditional horror formula goes it isn’t really that scary. The build up to the jump scares were just so-so.

For me, it’s more psycho triller than horror. Unlike other stuff under the horror genre, in which the “ghost” causes physical harm to the victim, in this one she just mentally manipulated them into a killing spree. As how my brother desribed it: “She shows up in front of the person and then be like: Surprise! You’re a killer now!”

The gore scenes were also deeply disturbing because it’s way way too graphic, censorship and trigger warnings be damned. There were parts that I had to look away because it was a lot to take in.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching it. I like that it’s plot-heavy instead of focusing on the scary parts. It can be a bit confusing at the start tho because there are two different timelines/stories but they were able to connect it smoothly so the confusion was worth enduring.

I also think that it focusing on the story-telling is a major thing that separates it from the early Ju-on films, and yes other fans might see it as something disrespectful (idk) but I’m honestly okay with how they deviated.

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Ju-On Origins

Ju-On Origins definitely isn't any form of terrifying in terms of ghosts and ghouls, but to be totally honest in this review — that's what I love this show for.

The entire Ju-On franchise has been based on ghost horror, focusing on how supernatural entities prey on the living but Origins brings us a whole new look around to the legend. Origins does this in a new way, showing us how ghosts can affect the living to bring out the worst in humanity, how easily we can be twisted along with the horrors humans cans do ourselves with little input from the beyond.

This show was brilliant in terms of how it interacted with real life, showing actual cases of what has happened in Japan in the same time frames and areas being shown and really helped immerse us in ways that aren't very well explored (or maybe they are pretty explored and I haven't seen enough media). Either way, it was done really well in this aspect and I have to give a massive shout out to the team for that.

The overall feel of this show felt more like the game Fatal Frame in a way, more than the Ju-On series which was refreshing. The original film series had a lot of the same feelings throughout all the movies so a change was a brave thing to do for the series but also very well played.

There's quite a few plot holes that did annoy me and I'm hoping we get a second season later on that will explain these but past that, this was really well done.

It's understandable a lot of horror lovers might not like this for the way it's been presented, the changes, plot holes, etc but for what the show is, they did it extremely well. Brilliant change of pace and definitely worth the three hours.

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Trigger warnings (and potential spoilers):

Just be warned — there's a lot of triggering content in this series including rape, abuse (both domestic and child) and others I'm forgetting.

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