This is basically a compilation of killings by murderous spirits with enigmatic motives, which means that the entire film consists of horror sequences. The storytelling structure begins with the last segment (#10) and progresses backwards (to #1 and Prologue), but the stories and characters have little to no development so the setup seems like a gimmick.The score and sound effects are excellent and are the strongest positive of this movie, even using some chanting at times. The use of blurred images for ghosts is also effective. In some cases the entities will appear very subtly in the background, which is an impressive technique. The segments themselves range from mediocre to very good – Chapter 5 being the best with a really cool staircase scene. Atmosphere is dark and thick throughout. Yes, the onryo ghost girl is used at times (as well as the croaking noises from The Grudge), but this much maligned debut film from director Koji Shiraishi is better than its reputation suggests.

*****************Slight Spoilers****************Ju-Rei: You said review to come. Just a few facts about this movie. It isn't exactly unique and can get boring at times but one thing about this movie that is different is that it plays backwards from chapter 16 recceding to chapter 1. It's not the best shot movie and it seems low budget so don't expect fantastic special effects but it was quite a interesting movie. It starts out with 4 girls practicing their dance moves and as one of the girls begins to leave a dark mysterious figure appears infront of her and all of the other girls run away. The whole movie is about some Myth or legend that explains about a dark figure that comes and gets you and anyone that comes in contact with the person that has encountered that dark figure will also meet the dark demise. They don't explain the whole story behind the myth but it was a slightly entertaining film that was rather mishandled.3 out of 5 Stars - Not For everyone but entertaining enough to attract some.

Ghostly women with pale faces and long, dark hair? Check. Said ladies making vaguely comical cackling noises? Check. Creepy set-pieces leading to a confrontation with creepy long-haired, cackling, jittery ghost-women? Absolutely. Scary? Well...no.Anyone familiar with Japanese horror, and the Ju-on series in particular, will notice some similarities in the above description, and this isn't a brilliant coincidence. Ju-rei takes all of the best bits from Ju-on, and a few other films such as the out-of-focus spectres from Kairo, some of the sound design from the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre etc. and utilises them to almost zero effect. Every scare misses the mark because they have been done so much better so many times before. It's almost as if you are watching a parody of Japanese horror films - the way everything is constructed suggests a meeting with the filmmakers could have gone thus: 'Okay, so the girl hides under the covers but instead of having her come UNDER the sheet, she's waiting ON TOP OF IT!...and we'll use stock sound effect number 24b from the Ju-on catalogue of cackling.' As for the production values; there aren't any. Amateurishly shot on video with a total disregard for framing and lighting, most of Ju-rei looks too dark (in one case, a shot is obviously brightened up in post) and the quality of the transfer (on Pathfinder DVD) is poor, to say the least.I wouldn't recommend this film to anybody interested in Asian horror. It's dull, repetitive, derivative and completely unrewarding on any level. Avoid.

This movie is different in that it plays out backwards. We start at chapter ten and work our way to a prologue. As you watch it, you begin to see how all the people are interconnected. However, I wasn't really impressed with chapter one or the prologue. This movie seems to be racing towards some sort of dark secret, I could not wait to find out what it was, but in the end it never really revealed anything. I am still not sure what the urban myth was, it was a bit vague, and I never understood why the wife at the end did what she did. I am also unclear where the wife and her daughter were killed. Still though it was creepy enough to overcome this flaws. If you watch this movie, however, keep in mind it is very low budget. The effects are not going to awe you and the film is not very high quality. Still worthy of a look see if you like Japanese horror.