REVIEW — Ju-On: Shiroi rôjo (White Ghost) (2009)

Produced for the 10th anniversary of the Ju-On series, Ju-On: White Ghost follows eight storylines, all involving a spirit-possessed house. This film actually takes place after the Ju-On: Black Ghost movie, but I feel this one is more memorable (and better). As is tradition, White Ghost is told through anachronistic order, so full attention must be given. Fair warning, there’s some off-putting plot points in this one, including family annihilation and sexual abuse.

After a family is murdered (the Black Ghost movie), a new family moves into the now-haunted home. The eldest son is possessed, exhibiting some pretty gross and violent behavior towards his family members. Shit gets real and they’re all murdered, with the son committing suicide in a nearby forest. While drifting off to death, he records a cassette tape which also becomes haunted, now having the ability to possess others as the house does. Many others who have interacted with the family over the years suffer the consequences.

While I like to shy away from child abuse in the media I consume, I think it plays a big role in the general uneasiness of the movie. White Ghost is just weird. Every scene feels “off,” and I’m not sure if it’s because of the slow, subtle piano music, the way its filmed (it looks lower budget, as if produced for television), or just how all of the characters interact. From all of the Ju-On movies I’ve seen, this one sticks out a hell of a lot more than others. It has an overwhelming, cold sadness to it that I can’t shake off. It’s even more troubling because the abuse seems really out of character for this person to do, and I’m not sure why that was a result of the possession. It is a senseless and perhaps unnecessary plot point, but it sure does give me a bad feeling.

What I find most interesting about White Ghost — and J-horror in general — is how characters act in the presence of ghosts. I am absolutely enamored with the matter-of-fact way spirits are presented in this series. Take White Ghost‘s opening scene, for example. A Christmas-cake delivery driver goes to a house and has an exchange with a woman living there. After the woman keeps confusingly repeating herself, he discovers the woman is actually dead and he had been speaking to the spiritual stain she had left in this world.

White Ghost brilliantly displays a realistic way people might react to ghosts. It’s not all the time we are jumpscared by a flying demon; sometimes it’s slow and takes a moment to process.

But when it does finally process, it’s unbelievably gruesome. This same scene ends with the delivery man finding a headless child in her bed, blood absolutely everywhere. There are many times when we see gore just blending in with the pristine surroundings. It’s terrible to look at, but you still can’t look away. There are times when this is broken up though by slightly funny grandmother action. Ju-On also does this thing with old people and makes them so “out of it” (probably because of an aging brain) that it comes across as comical. The lines between heavier, more serious subjects and laughs is often blurred.

While you could say White Ghost is not very different from other Ju-On movies (in the same way people say all Friday the 13ths are basically the same), I think it is a crisp, easy to follow entry to the series. I remember first seeing this on a Sunday afternoon, and this is the kind of movie you’d probably watch during that time: nothing too heavy but will still pack a punch.

What did you think of Ju-On: White Ghost? Let us know in the comments!