7.0

Ju-On: White Ghost/Black Ghost

To coincide with 10^th anniversary of the series, Madman has released two cult classic Japanese horrors on one DVD that includes Ju-On: White Ghost and Black Ghost. The original Grudge movie from Japan became a relative hit in Western countries and not only did this spawn a variety of sequels, it also included some interesting remakes from Hollywood and inspired a whole wealth of Japanese horror films to be remade in the US.

And this is where this release comes into play as once again writer and director Takashi Shimizu continues the scares as he highlights two interesting ghosts, one of an old lady dressed in white and the other, a girl dressed in black. Needless to say, two extremely scary premises and this is what makes Japanese ghost films so entertaining due to its rich spiritual and supernatural history that generally puts Western ghost stories to shame.

These two short films not only pay homage to the films before it but give the viewer a unique twist into how the story will play out and without spoiling these movies, I’ll give you a short run down. The first movie “White Ghost” is directed by Miyake Ryuta which revolves around a high school girl called Akane (Minami Akina) who begins to experience strange visions. Like the original, White Ghost is a collection of interweaving stories of betrayal, murder and ultimately revenge in classic Grudge or Ju-On style.

The second movie, Black Ghost was my favourite and stars Kago Ai as a nurse who has been given the task of attending a young girl (Matsumoto Hana) who has a strange tumour like growth in her stomach. As the plot unravels, we soon learn that this growth is actually her unborn twin and has a huge grudge against her living sister. Let’s just say that the !@#$ hits the fan in true supernatural style.

At times, both movies almost forces you to empty your bladder because you don’t know what’s going to happen and when the ghosts appear, they can be there for frights or for more violent apparitions. The ghosts are also quite different in both stories and hearing those weird clicking/gurgling sounds and the way they ignore physics is classic stuff.

Video/Audio & Special Features

Boasting 16:9 widescreen, the transfer to DVD supports deep levels of black, vivid colours and only some artifacting and grain. The stars of the films are of course the special effects that are well contrasted between two worlds, that of the natural and the supernatural. Audio supports Dolby Digital 5.1 and dialogue is clear, sound is crisp and the soundtracks work quite well on both movies. Unfortunately only trailers are included in this release for special features, however this is a definite must for those who like to be scared @#$less.