History Film / Juon

In 2009, feelplus developed a UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} game based on the franchise known in the US as ''Ju-on: The Grudge Haunted House Simulator''. Storyline-wise, it is unconnected to any of the films or shorts, and it tells an original story about a family of four who find themselves facing Kayako and Toshio's curse in an episodic fashion.

* AndIMustScream: The fate of every single person who is taken by the curse.

* ApocalypseMaiden: [[spoiler: Kayako, quite possibly.]]
* AssholeVictim: Takeo ends up as one of the curse's earliest victims.
* AxCrazy: Takeo's a rather jealous sort of chap, can't you tell?
* BedmateReveal: Played for horror when Kayako appears in Hitomi's bed.
* BigBad: Kayako, with Toshio serving as her [[TheDragon Dragon]].
** In the reboots, [[spoiler: their roles are reversed.]]
** ''White Ghost'' and ''Black Ghost'' each have separate ones since their stories are unrelated to the Saeki family. Mirai serves as one in the former, while Fukie's EvilTwin does the job in the latter.

* BodySurf: [[spoiler: Toshio]] in the reboots, is revealed to have this.
* BreakTheCutie: Most of the characters, but particularly Rika, Izumi, Chiharu and Reo.
* BrokenSmile: Izumi (combined with a healthy dosage of SlasherSmile), during her FreakOut.

* CatsAreMean: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], given that said cat is a part of the curse.

* [[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Guy]]: In the novel, Takeo, before he became a full-blown GreenEyedMonster.

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler: Kayako does this to Nobuyuki in the second film.]]

* CuteMonsterGirl: Kayako. Toshio, too, though he's more on the adorable side (he's about 6, mind you).

* DeathByFallingOver: [[spoiler:Kyoko Harase]], although in her case it definitely ''wasn't'' an accidental death.

* [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether Everyone Went to College Together]]: Kayako attended college with Kobayashi and his future wife Manami.
* [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Even Creepy Dead Boys Love Their Mamas]]: Toshio to Kayako, especially in the first movie and the manga.

* EvilTwin: Fukie has one in ''Black Ghost''.

* FaceRevealingTurn: [[spoiler:Kanna.]]

* FeministFantasy: Swap fantasy with horror and replace ActionGirl with TheEveryman. More than 80% of the characters are female, either as heroes, victims, and background characters, and the main villain is also a female. Male characters do take part a few times as protagonists (and one is a GreaterScopeVillain of the series), but even if they are, all films are headlined by the females (Kyoko in both ''The Curse'' and ''The Curse 2'', Rika in ''The Grudge'', Kyoko (no relation to the first) in ''The Grudge 2'', Akane in ''White Ghost'', Kiwako and Mariko in ''Black Ghost'', Yui in ''The Beginning of the End'', and Mai, Reo and her mother in ''The Final''). All films of the series also passed UsefulNotes/TheBechdelTest. This seems to be a trend with J-Horrors in general.
* FetusTerrible: Used in the fourth movie.

* FryingPanOfDoom: Near the middle of the second movie.

* GenkiGirl: The films have several.
** Kanna.
** Tomoka. She's a presenter, after all. Her boyfriend, Noritaka, also has shades of this.
** Mirai.
** In the reboots, believe it or not, Kayako! At least before [[spoiler: her inability to have a child screwed her up and made her a mild AxCrazy.]]
* GhostlyGoals: The second type, though not by choice.

* HandInTheHole

* {{Housewife}}: Kayako (before she was murdered and became a really, really angry ghost, anyway).

* JumpScare: Many and varied.

* KillTheCutie: That is, kill ''all'' the cuties.

* KubrickStare: [[spoiler:Katsuya, during his DemonicPossession.]]
* LaughingMad: Takeo, at the end of his phone call to [[spoiler:Kobayashi.]]

* LicensedGame: The Wii game.
* MadeForTVMovie: The first two films.

* MarionetteMotion: Kayako almost exclusively moves like this.

* MirrorScare

* NightmareSequence: Rika has one in the third movie (involving lots of cats).

* OffWithHisHead: Poor [[KillTheCutie Mirai]]...
* OffscreenTeleportation

* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Chanting]]: Used a few times in the soundtracks, to disturbing effect. Examples include the scene from the third when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_FuzAX4Z0 Rika first encounters Kayako]] (ignore the fact that the video title is "Ju-On 2"), and the scene from the fourth when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etsF_CMei4A Chiharu is completely losing her mind]].
* OminousMusicBoxTune: Also used a few times in the soundtracks.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent

* PeekabooCorpse: The discovery of Kayako's body in the first movie.

* PsychoStrings: Used on a few occasions, most notably during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOmxor6I8Ms Megumi's unfortunate demise]].

* SayMyName: Happens quite a bit.
** "MARIKO!!"
** "Masashi! MASASHI!!"
** [[CreepyMonotone "Kobayashi-kun..."]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog
* ShoutOut: The ending to the fourth movie (Where [[spoiler: Kayako comes out of Kyoko's birth canal and slaughters the doctors]]), might be a homage to Film/ItsAlive.
* ShowerOfAngst: Rika takes one in the third movie. She isn't alone, however...

* StalkerWithACrush: Kayako towards Kobayashi.

* StylisticSuck: The FilmWithinAFilm that Kyoko Harase is acting in.

* UndeadChild: Toshi more or less. Likewise the ghost girls that haunt Izumi.

* [[WhamEpisode Wham Moment]]: The ending of the third movie, in which Rika realises just what the curse has in store for her. The ending of the fourth movie, also counts, when it reveals the reason why [[spoiler:Kyoko is still pregnant, and what - or rather ''who'' - she is pregnant with]]...

* [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Did It Have To Be Cats]]: Yuki has an intense phobia of cats. Mar (Toshio's cat) uses this to his advantage.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Kayako and Toshio.
* {{Yandere}}: Takeo is a rather {{Ax Crazy}} one.
** Kayako towards Kobayashi.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Likely the reason [[spoiler:Kyoko Harase]] is killed.

* DaylightHorror: A lot of the scarier scenes happen in the daytime.

The franchise was rebooted in 2014 with the release of ''Ju-on: The Beginning of the End'', which alters much of the background story. Shimizu did not have a hand in the production, nor did Mrs. Takako Fuji as Kayako, [[TheOtherDarrin who was replaced by Misaki Saisho]]. It was followed in 2015 with the release of ''Ju:on: The Final'', which, as the name suggests, serves as the franchise's GrandFinale. A crossover with ''Literature/TheRing'' series was released in 2016.

** [[spoiler: Toshio really was not Takeo's son. Kayako, who's frustrated by her inability to have a child with Takeo, suddenly became pregnant one day (a security footage showed that Toshio Yamaga somehow went inside her womb). So Takeo's killing became kinda justified.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fourth film continues the story of Izumi's friend Chiharu, who was a minor character in the third film. However, what happened to Izumi's other friend, Miyuki, is a mystery. Although given that Chiharu is a mess from the moment we see her and the [[KillEmAll general nature]] of the series the implication isn't good.

* OhAndXDies: Due to the AnachronicOrder of the series' chapters, [[spoiler:Rika]]'s death is mentioned in Izumi's chapter, quite a while before her death is even shown (her body is seen at [[spoiler:the end of the third film]]). Mind you, since [[KillEmAll there is no known way to survive the curse]], it's pretty much a ForegoneConclusion that she dies, but, still.

* DeathByLookingUp: Played with during [[spoiler:Kobayashi]]'s death scene - he doesn't die from anything falling on him, but he does die after he looks up and sees Kayako staring down at him, [[UncannyValley and she moves in for the kill with freakish speed]].

** Reo and her mother, [[spoiler: after their death]], do this to Mai in the eighth film. Combined with the lighting that turns their faces into ScaryFlashlightFace, [[UncannyValley it's incredibly unsettling]].

* AnyoneCanDie: More like everyone will die.

* CurseRelay: The movie features a curse caught by going into the house where it originated from. After which its only a matter of time before it comes for it's victim. In some cases, some of it's victims don't have to be by the house, just interacting with someone who has gone in it. A few have fallen prey due to trying to investigate what happened to previous victims.
* CuteKitten: Averted in the case of Mar.

* DownerEnding: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Single. Installment.]] Except, possibly, for ''White Ghost'', which is more [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] (see above).

* KillEmAll: There is ''no way'' to escape the curse. It may kill some characters quickly, in some cases it may wait (in [[spoiler:Rika's]] case, for ''years'' at a time), but it ''will'' eventually get them.

'''''Ju-on''''' is a Japanese horror film series, directed by Creator/TakashiShimizu. There are currently nine films in the series, including a crossover film, as well as two short films (''Katasumi''/''In A Corner'' and ''4444444444''), which were released prior to the first film (and are featured on the Director's Cut DVD release of the first [[Film/TheGrudge remake]] as special features).

** In ''Black Ghost'', there's something...off about Fukie, even before [[spoiler: her EvilTwin takes over.]] Once [[spoiler: the latter event happens, well, the creepiness turns UpToEleven.]]