Ju-On: The Grudge - Opening analysis

The Grudge starts with a tracking shot leading down a dark,isolated,narrow alley shrouded by a gathering of leaves on one side-however only one side of the alley is dark whereas the other half has a pure white wall to display a combination of good vs evil which then fades out. A fade in(using a jolty handheld camera) produces an establishing shot of a colorless sky again with the constant theme so far of natural objects-trees. This perhaps conveys to the reader that despite seeming innocent, the actual reality is far from it, already building up tension. At this point editing is medium paced to start the film off as they want to scare the watcher gradually not quickly as well as an absence of sound which makes you feel uneasy and on edge. Again the camera fades out and then fades in again,transcending into a point of view closeup of a door, a hand opening it to go into the house.This makes the audience feel perplexed as the ambiguity of the frames so far to suddenly jump into this particular one seems quite random but overall is a typical convention of a horror genre.

An introduction of sound begins which almost seems as though it is a wind effect which has been enhanced (as it seems quite naturalistic)following a synchronization of footsteps adding a creepy effect to the film so far. What is quite intriguing is the fact that throughout the opening you never see the actual person which again adds to the pervading atmosphere. Alongside the footsteps is new non-diegetic sound which is sinister and jagged(it seems quite familiar as it is a piece of music used often in horror films) as though it was playing the wrong keys on the piano( this is what it sounds like)and when coupled with the quick shot of the ceiling makes you feel quite disturbed as you don't know what is happening and quite unaware of the consequences which will follow.

Tieing into the whole theme of isolation and darkness is the house bathed in an almost sepia type lighting which makes the film seem quite authentic as well as a traditional conventionialisation of old fashioned horror movie discourse. The film then fades in to a frame which has a centered shot of a window highlighted by the blue lighting. This is to emphasize the window in accordance to the dark shadows lurking in the background which slowly transforms into a surprisingly light closeup shot ( pure white lighting which is seemingly innocent) of a tap dripping ( the enlargement makes the tap seem almost grotesque again another clue that something negative is going to happen) There is also an absence of other sound here, with the artificially enhanced sound of the water dripping being the only sound apparent.

From here on the editing becomes extremely fast paced as there is a short,sharp sound to implement the introduction of a mystery silhouette- a long haired girl- followed by a quick snaphot of the kitchen utensils hanging on the ceiling .The lighting is extremly significant here as it has a bluish almost alien like tint to the shot which makes it seem very unnatural as well as giving us the admittedly wrong impression that like Paranormal Activity they are going to 'mysteriously' clatter to the floor but we are proved wrong. Quickly as we see this shot we are into the next ,with the person ( who has no face to identify with) going round the rest of the house before we are jolted unpleasantly by the victims view of a face pressed against the window( the glass is steamed up and still keeps the continuity of the blue lighting).

The person then moves away from the window following a shot of a door slamming shut, the victims breathing becoming heavy and hoarse as though they are very frightened of what is about to happen and the inevilibilty of something bad happenng. Music is hugely tense here to reflect the victims state of mind as the piano key is banged heavily offkey which is very unsettling as the victim runs up the stairs- breathing ragged the further he goes up and then sees spatterings of blood.He then spins around and sees the girl with long dark, eerily flowing hair before a juxtaposition shot sequence begins which sees the pattern of the following: spattered blood on the ceiling, the  girl and her eye which repeated several times and is an extremely effective technique but one that would be hard to replicate.

Mise-en-scene then changes with a transformation of setting(a blue sky flowing into white) before clearing into a fade out and fade in of the girl surrounded by childish crayon drawings ( implemented further by the childish yet hauntinly eerie background sound of children laughing). On both these drawings are an image of person but the difference being that one of them is scribbled out given the pragmatical comprehension that death and destruction will follow which is proved correct by the next frames. A mid-shot of a sleek black cat with yellowish slanted eyes hunched follows into the girl again which gives the impression that she is the 'grudge' perhaps. We then see a shot of a guy covered in vivid blood which quickly goes into a closeup of a hanging noose again the pragmatic suggestion being that someone is going to die. To me it represents a loss of a life cut short- not suicide but murder.

The same shot of the stairs is then used again but this time with the girl crawling up the stairs in an animalistic, unhuman manner coupled with a slow creaking of the stairs as she makes her way up  before ending with a side angled shot of the guy which in my opinion suggests that she is going to kill him and perhaps he is the person who went into the house.Another perception could be that he is someone else and has seen all this happen before him, meaning that he is next to die, so the picture which has not been scribbled on will be next .