I saw it this afternoon. Interesting, but not as spooky as the original.
Though I did discover firsthand that the last thing you want to see after leaving this movie is a 7-9 year-old Asian boy darting past you in the crowd.
Either I missed them during a brief bathroom break when
the detective went to the house to set it on fire,
or the two scenes that freaked me out in text must have been in the Japanese TV-movies rather than Ju-on or its American remake.
Are the Japanese versions available to rent at Blockbuster? I was thinking it might be worth it to watch the originals.
The scenes that made me jump the most were when (spoilers):
1- Karen and Doug were
on the train and the specter's head flashed onscreen when they were going through a tunnel.
I literally screamed (but then again, so did everyone else)
2- When Susan (the sister)
jumped into her bed to hide and the specter was at the bottom and pulled her right into the middle of the bed (Nightmare on Elm Street, anyone?)
I think the one thing that really helped the scare tactics were the setups by the music at certain points and the lack of them (
the scene on the train being one of them
).
I also saw the preview to National Treasure. It just occured to me that Sean Bean likes to play "bad guys". (i.e. LOTR - ok not bad, but kinda; one of the James Bond movies, and this one apparently).
Just saw Vera Drake. very powerful, very nuanced, very hard to watchm but ultimately very moving. Incredible performances all around.
I think the one thing that really helped the scare tactics were the setups by the music
The extreme creep/scare factor of Ju-On (and, from what I hear so far, The Grudge as well) is not so much from the visuals, but from the incredibly effective sound design.
Thanks to FAQ Girl's Netflix, we watched
The Apple
last night.
Wow. Just... wow.
So when do I get my toaster?
As soon as I find a BIM toaster, I'll send it over.
Huh. Another film with lots of theremin: The Machinist.
Huh. Another film with lots of theremin: The Machinist.
It is now officially A Thing. I expect you'll be on Letterman next week.
not so much from the visuals, but from the incredibly effective sound design.
To be fair,
the black-eyed ghost faces emerging from darkness in the original and the Kyoko actress' crablike crawl down the stairs in both are pretty high peaks in the movies' creepiness. But I'll agree, that wooden creaking sound resulted in chills even when it was from a living character walking up the stairs
.