“Ju-On: Video Side” is the Dark Horse Comics Manga adaptation of the original Japanese film “Ju-On” which was remade for American audiences as “The Grudge”. While there are some similarities in the stories such as the house haunted by the spirits of a mother and son that were murdered, the Japanese version differs with respect to most of the rest of the plot. Like the original film, this adaptation jumps around in time which can serve to disorient the reader a little bit. The general gist is that a new family has moved into this house and strange things begin to happen. They start seeing the creepy little boy at various turns…and the action is less centered on the house than it is in “The Grudge”.
Here the oldest son disappears while at school, prompting his girlfriend to go in looking for him. The daughter has a savage encounter with some cats and returns home missing a rather important part of her face. If you saw the Grudge then you probably know what I am referring to, and even in comic format it is still an effective, terrifying scene. As we shuttle back and forth in time we’ll see the real estate agent trying to sell the house, even after his sister, a psychic, warns them about the evil in the home. When the new owner comes home from work one day he finds his wife cooking a rather grisly soup!
I found Ju-On to be pretty remarkable in its ability to convey the terror from the film into comic format. The palpable feeling of evil is there, especially in the scenes at the school where the mother’s ghost is encountered. This isn’t easy to do, especially without the sound effects which played such a vital, unsettling role in the film. It’s extremely well done although you may find yourself re-reading sections when the story jumps back and forth in time.
– Tim Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
