Ju-on: White Ghost (2009) User Reviews

"Don't get involved. Don't ever get involved".

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 22 August 2018]

There's something about the Ju-on films that really fascinate me and gets under my skin --- from the persistently warped mythology, confounding non-linear narrative, low-key jolts and blood-curdling atmosphere. JU-ON: WHITE GHOST ticks all the boxes. No matter how beat up or imitated the formula becomes; I'll never tire of this franchise.

At only hour in length, the curse is re-awakened taking no time to install fear and despair in all of those who come in contact with it. Starting backwards, changing timelines, and characters. What starts off as a jigsaw puzzle (at the infamous residence) begins to add up with the pieces finally becoming one. Everything comes full circle along with the consequences. You know where it's heading, and once the characters are apart of it, they're literally stained. Slowly building upon its actions and drawn out for maximum impact when it lashes out with a quick-fire jump scare, and this is rather constant with the shocking images. Never does it lull, always interesting and unnerving whomever the taut narrative follows. Taking a backseat this time; Toshio only gets a cameo appearance and Kayako doesn't come into it at all. Most of the frights are taken up by an elderly white ghost and child. I thought the scenes with the white ghost were surprisingly creepy thanks to the low-maintenance makeup and how they were shot. Some violent moments too.

The mystery behind the curse is somewhat recycled using the typical tropes; a horrific past event casting a shadow over the occupants, someone under distress coming under the possession of the restless spirit to commit despicable acts, and the others unknowingly become attached, or purposely dig up disturbing info that should be left untouched. But that's just the manner of the curse --- an unstoppable loop that no one can escape, and from that a new curse can be born out of it. This is what WHITE GHOST sets up and effectively so.

A watchable 60-minute horror movie.

[zachmosley · 6/10 · 27 July 2022]

The only Ju-on movie I've watched so far, I think this one is okay. There are a lot of scary and brutal moments at the beginning, but one of the worst things about it is that the final 20 minutes aren't really that scary. I hope to give Black Ghost a try soon.

a little disappointing to say the least..

[siriouslysid · 6/10 · 26 January 2010]

Im a bit unsure wither or not to make this a good or bad review. I don't think it deserves to be considered one of the ju-ons, neither does Kuroi shôjo in my opinion. I think the story was well written; perhaps the let down was due to the director. It didn't have the same eerie settings, and uneasy tension that the other ju-ons captures beautifully. The acting in some scenes was also quite cringeworthy. I did like the non-linear running which is also carried out in this "ju-on" ; probably the only was it can be compared. I think this film has a good frame work for a really good horror; just not enough was put in. Also i did not understand how the granny with the basketball could be considered scary; it was more hilarious than anything. I enjoyed the fact that Toshio made an appearance, however i don't understand why, and nothing explained this. i think it is worth a watch if you are a fan of the ju-on series; just to witness it, but don't approach with great expectations.

Of course, its Ju-on..it delivers!

[plsletitrain · 27 May 2010]

Another instalment to the well-loved horror franchise that is Ju-on. Old Lady in White is on the TOP of my horror list(although if we're talking of the Ju-on series, all of them are really UP there with the exception of Ju-on: The curse 2).

Old Lady in White still incorporates Ju-on's trademark:scary ghost faces that will effectively bring out the scream in you. And by ghost faces, I mean be prepared because there are times where the ghost suddenly appears so be sure to watch it without holding something breakable.lol. Lest everyone just assume this is just pure horror without a story, well, let me break down what I thought were serious and deep themes laid down by this movie.

Ju-on:Old Lady in White tells the story of a man who killed his own family. The latter part of the story reveals that a certain Atsuji(the man) and his family moved to this house(well, a haunted house that is). He lived with his parents, a younger sister named Mirai and his grandmother.

I mentioned about depth. Well here's the depth of the story as far as I read it. This movie tells a story of revenge. Revenge by someone who blames her friend for neglecting her at a time she sought and needed her help. I won't go into details but you'll understand that once you've seen the movie. Here's another depth and a rather sensitive issue I initially thought was just me too much imagining things but affirmed after a second viewing. Incest. Now given that this movie is just an hour long, I won't blame a viewer if he missed this part of the story. In just a matter of less than 3 minutes, you'll see a scene of Atsuji caressing her sister Mirai, Mirai mentioning something about her underwear, and the ghostly grandmother somehow lusting for Atsuji. Atsuji was possessed of course. He wasn't his own self because they weren't the lone occupiers of the house. It wasn't expressly shown but its easy to assume this way. Now if someone has a much more logical theory on how and why everything happened, I'm willing to listen.

This movie is a bit short I'm left wanting more. Although I don't think its on the running time but rather the satisfaction it gives. And for a horror fan like me, this movie does not disappoint!

A Nutshell Review: Ju-On: White Ghost and Black Ghost

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 10 April 2010]

I suppose it makes logical sense for the distributors here to combine both Ju-on: White Ghost and Black Ghost stories in 1 screening. After all, each is only 1 hour long, and narratively are somehow intertwined together quite loosely, with their production marking 10 years since Ju-on's cinematic premiere. Helmed by two different directors, we're given two direct-to-video productions, each with its own flavour and separate storyline dealing with the Ju-On Grudge curse, and frankly, with its limited production budget and consistent elements,

For those unfamiliar with the Ju-on mythos (like me), fret not, as the films are self- contained, so prior in-depth knowledge is not required to enjoy what's essentially one of the longer enduring J-horror franchises out there, which has been remade by Hollywood as always. For both tales, the story lines were done in non-linear fashion, which is supposed to make you work at piecing together its chronology, with an increased challenge in White Ghost being two separate timelines you have to make mental notes of.

Then there's the episodic cliffhanger that trails off each segment. On its own, the episodes within White Ghost and Black Ghost can be extremely short stories of their own, since each contains its own dedicated shock-scare moments, though White Ghost seemed to enjoy making it look so cheesy with its atmospheric jump scares, sudden appearances and the likes, and I admit it did get to me, especially with that old ugly woman with a penchant for holding onto a basketball (yes, all will be explained in due course) seem to have a fetish for charging towards her victim / screen.

Personally, between the two, I'd prefer White Ghost to Black Ghost, mainly because of the storyline which was more engaging and kept within its limits, save for a tangent in White Ghost for AV star Mihiro to appear in a needless scene that had most of her screen time being butchered for a screening here (no, my friend who has met her before, says there's nothing sexy about that segment, more of a violent treatment which was rather tame that the censors frowned upon). For Black Ghost, it went off into the hokeyness of a Japanese medium of sorts, probably to show off some snazzy looking CG-ed belly, and a tale that's less engaging.

For what it's worth, these stories did enough to pique my interest in the original Ju-on mythos, and I just might pick them up on DVD just to see how those got executed. For starters though, I have to get used to how "The Grudge" can be used as a plot device for ghouls to get created / passed on, as I felt White Ghost had it quite nailed down, and Black Ghost didn't exactly do a great job on that concept.

Diluted chills but worth a look for fans of the originals

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 24 September 2015]

JU-ON: WHITE GHOST is an hour-long follow up to the original GRUDGE films that was made back-to-back with companion film JU-ON: BLACK GHOST. These films continue the same mythos as in the first two feature-length movies, adding in new characters and allowing them to get haunted by the ghost from the original.

Let's be fair: these are straight-to-video short films so quality-wise they're not going to be on par with the first two features. But JU-ON: WHITE GHOST isn't too bad. The central female ghost is watered down and CGI-ed up since the original, so not as frightening, but is acceptable for a straight-to-video horror flick.

At an hour long you can never get bored by this, and the story plays out as a bunch of five minute vignettes that only begin to make sense towards the climax. Indeed, trying to work out the film's mixed-up chronology keeps the interest level high. The acting is of a strong standard throughout and there's a mix of scary and gory moments to keep viewers watching.

Utter waste of time

[dschmeding · 2/10 · 12 March 2010]

Now that i what I call a cash off. This movie seems to be one of three released in 2009 under the Ju-On Name. It takes some of the basic ideas from the original Ju-on... the child ghost, the long black hair, the screeching scream sound and the house. But the whole way this one is made is pure trash and reminds me of that ridiculous "Tales of Terror" clip show movie. Its edited in sequences which simply fade to black, the visuals are uninteresting like in a DV-Production and the effects are laughable. Like in "Tales of terror" they go for some cheap shock in the end of each sequence. In this case its a ghost granny with a basketball... yes, really. The scene in the toiled has to be seen to believed because its so bad you have to laugh. Nothing special here... even the movie is just an hour long I was bored. Stay away!

Passable effort mixed like your favourite spaghetti.

[DigitalRevenantX7 · 5/10 · 2 December 2015]

On Christmas Eve, a cake shop worker arrives at the Isobe household, only to find the family dead – the result of an uncle who went crazy after failing his law exams & after being caught molesting his niece & who went to the forest to hang himself – and their ghosts already haunting the house. The worker is then surprised by the family's grandmother, herself a ghost too & holding a basketball. The film then follows the fate of several people who had contact with the doomed family in the final days before they died.

The Ju-On film series was one of Japan's great horror franchises – a worthy contender to the likes of the RING cycle & PULSE, as well as giving Western horror fans something new to contend with after they had worn out their VHS copies of the Shinya Tsukamoto classic TETSUO: THE IRON MAN into the ground. Director Takashi Shimizu had created what is effectively the Friday the 13th of ghost stories – a killer ghost going around passing on a lethal curse to anyone who she comes into contact with. Not much in the way of character development, plot exposition or even a cohesive narrative – the films pass between victims with no logical connections to the point that trying to decipher the story is like sorting spaghetti. In 2009, nearly a decade after the original Ju-On films came out, two DTV features came out in order to celebrate the series.

Of the two spinoffs, Ju-On: Old Lady in White is the better of the two. While this one might not quite match the major unease of the original films, it does try to make a reasonable ghost story. Newcomer director Ryuta Miyake manages to put in a few interestingly weird moments – everything from a severed head in a bag to a supernaturally resilient audio cassette & the rather silly but still weird image of the old lady ghost holding a basketball, as well as the film's highlight in weirdness with the uncle possessed by the house's evil spirits that leave his reflection still in the mirror while his body goes walkabouts – but like I mentioned above, the story is so murky that the plot threads are mixed together like your favourite Italian restaurant's finest spaghetti. Passable at best.

Aw please...

[Patient444 · 4/10 · 4 October 2014]

Even tho "White ghost" does provide some very, but very tensioned moments, I found it hard to take it seriously. I mean, after watching it, it's rather difficult to say that this one is worthy of a grade over 6, cause let's face it, for a cheesy Asian fun, it does the job, but if you in for some real scares with a over the top plot and development, "White ghost" looks like a cartoon!

Again, don't get me wrong, dunno how, but when I saw it, it scared me out of my mind, cause the execution is very good, but if they were able to put it on screen like this, why didn't they try harder on the script part? Get a decent idea, make use of it, and put your name up there, with the rest of Asia's greater horrors! They did everything better than most such films, again, the plot is what killed it for me. Check it out and you'll see what I'm talking about!

Cheers!

Really good

[atinder · 8/10 · 28 August 2009]

Just saw this movie and the bad thing about this is that it only hour one long.

it not got anything to do with Ju-on-The Grudges movies! This is brand new Grudge story, it dose have the same feel to movie just like other but not great like the other two movies but still really really good, I really liked this movie it is creepy and it had some great creepy moment and one and two shocking moments too, I Can't believe it just less then hour, it was so good wanted to see again.

If you liked the other Ju-on movies, give this watch, it only 58min long 8/10

What is the point of gory scene?

[i_love_horror_movie · 1/10 · 17 September 2009]

All I can tell about this movie is poorly done. I didn't even get a little tense during the plays of this movie.

The director seems like preferred to do bloody scene rather than the horror scene. I can tell you that his taste is definitely doesn't fit with the Ju-oN franchise. Also, what the heck with the old lady holding a basketball? Her appearance was just a gags. The only original ghost that appeared in this movie was Toshio, for a little 5 sec. Where is Kayako? Where is Takeo?

No crawling, no scary croaking. A big disappointment for a super Ju-oN fans.

Ju-On: White Ghost Review

[FolkHorror · 5/10 · 12 August 2018]

Format: Amazon Prime - Language: Japanese (English Subtitled)

Released: 2009

Director: Ryut Miyake

Starring: Hiroki Suzuki, Ichirota Miyakawa, Naysuki Kasa

Where to start? Well it's short, which is a blessing!

To be strictly fair to the film it does start out well enough, with the initial building up of tension that I have come to expect from Japanese horror films; then sadly, rather then building on the initial success, the whole thing falls apart.

Ju-On: White Ghost is the story of a house that was the location of a brutal mass murder. The film consists of a series of short segments, each one showcasing the history of a different character and setting out why they eventually come to their various unfortunate ends, as well as giving the background to the murders.

As a direct to DVD film it is very low budget and it shows, badly. Yet for all the appallingly bad and cringe-worthy acting there are occasional moments of great, outstanding performance; for all the unbelievably poor stories there are some strong, genuinely creepy tales.

At an hour long it is worth sitting though the rubbish mainly because when this film gets it right, even with the cringe fest that some of the actors put us through, it delivers some genuine scares. It just unfortunate that director, Ryuta Miyake, comes across as not having the slightest clue about how to make/direct a film.

Like this film this is really all I can think of to say on the matter, short and pretty much lacking in any direction.

The weakest installment of the Japanese "Ju-on" franchise...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 9 June 2018]

Normally I am very fond of Japanese horror movies, and in overall then the "Ju-On" series have been adequate; the Japanese originals of course, not the abysmal Hollywood cash-in on the success of the Japanese movies.

However, this 2009 installment in the franchise was a swing and a miss.

First of all, the production level of the entire movie feels like something I could have done myself as an audience. It just lacks proper production value to be a proper movie.

The story was fragmented and a scrambled mess of a story, that made very little coherent sense.

The acting in the movie was adequate, although the actors and actresses had nothing to work with.

"Ju-on: Shiroi rôjo" had fair special effects, but they were far from being great mind you.

There was nothing scary about the movie at all, which made it a very dull and pointless experience to sit through. Especially if you compare it to the previous installments in the franchise.

This is definitely not a Japanese horror movie that you should rush out to invest your time or money in.

A good solid horror flick.

[thehomicidal · 8/10 · 5 January 2011]

I'm a massive fan of the Ju-On series as well as the American Grudge series.

I watched The Grudge: Old Lady in White in the dark, alone at about 2AM. What a brilliant idea that was. The film is only an hour long and thus grabs your attention early on and doesn't let go.

The Good

-Completely different universe to any of the other Grudge/Ju-On films which is a refreshing change as in my opinion, Kayako was beginning to get a bit overused.

-A good mixture of subtle build-ups and in-your-face scares. I literally punched my laptop in one scene.

-Doesn't try to be anything other than an intense and scary film.

The Bad

-Only an hour.

Better than The Grudge 2

[ghulnet · 8/10 · 25 May 2019]

Well, I have found this to be a much more frightening film than its predecessor. The scary scenes are straight to the point, the protagonist ghost is a scary lady indeed which makes for some genuinely chilling sequences, and it doesn't ever seem to drag or become dull.

The film doesn't suffer from being a relatively modern reboot like so many others, and in the Ju-On tradition it has its portion of cute characters being bumped off in various horrific manners, it certainly doesn't dissapoint in that respect. An enjoyable sequel.

I look forward to seeing the next chapter in the Black Ghost.

An Extremely Creepy- And Well Constructed- Addition To The Ju-On Series.

[meddlecore · 8/10 · 21 December 2023]

This film is about a series of interconnected events, that tie a number of people- and the tragedies that surround them- together.

As we follow a curse, as it passes from one person to another, leaving death and destruction in it's wake.

It's a bit hard to follow, at first...due to the fact that it jumps back and forth from person to person, on various different timelines.

But it all comes around in the end.

And, man...is it ever twisted.

It all begins when things go awry for a young man, who is sent to deliver a Christmas cake to a house, that seems empty at first...but turns out to be very, very haunted.

As it turns out that a number of brutal killings had very recently taken place there.

Leaving him to walk in on the aftermath of a massacre.

It is here that he picks up "the curse".

That is, however, only the beginning of how the plague of this curse will spread across the town.

Because it is also transferred to a taxi driver...who gives the killer a ride to the place where he will commit suicide, after the fact.

And he goes missing shortly after dropping his young daughter off at school.

Though...not before she puts her hand in some ectoplasm like goo, left behind by a bag carrying the decapitated head of the niece of the demonically stricken killer- a girl he had been molesting, prior to his murderous outburst- who happens to be her best friend.

Fast forward to her teenage years...when some of her friends ask her to participate in a ouija-like game...because she has "special abilities" (that allow her to see and hear the dead).

It is through this "game", that she taps into the supernatural realm, which enables her to connect with the ghost of her deceased friend...who shows her how the curse was, inevitably, passed down to her father.

Thus providing us, as viewers, with the backstory we need to put the previous pieces of the puzzle together.

While also watching how the curse has affected the others who have come in contact with it.

And the aftermath that ensues, from thereon out.

It's all rather creepy, and convoluted.

Both of which play into the air of mystery the film exudes.

This could make things confusing for less attentive viewers.

However, it does make sense, in the end, if you are able to apply a little reflection to it.

You've got to commend writer/director Ryûta Miyake for constructing a rather complex storyline and plot structure...that works so well...in a film that is, quite literally, only an hour long.

It doesn't give you a whole lot of time to mess about.

And he makes every second count.

Tying up a majority of the loose ends.

While strategically leaving one part of the storyline open-ended, so as to leave room for a continuation of the series.

I'm, personally, not super knowledgeable about the whole Ju-On universe...however...I imagine the house- in which the curse originates here- ties back to one of the other Ju-On prequels or sequels.

This wouldn't surprise me at all.

And would make it an even more impressing endeavour than it already is.

I am aware that it ties in with it's counterpart Ju-On: Black Ghost...which, I'm hoping, will provide context for the only thing I didn't understand in this film...that being the shot of the ghost boy meowing at the dog toy.

That being said, White Ghost is a very solid- and extremely creepy- sequel, that greatly exceeded my expectations for it going in.

And, thus, is an excellent addition to the Ju-On series (which I should definitely go back and watch more of, after this).

7.5 out of 10.