When you think of long-running horror franchises, the first things that usually jump to mind are the classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, or the more recent ones that have churned out countless sequels to diminishing returns such as Saw or Paranormal Activity.
However, this is by no means a uniquely American phenomenon and one of the most prominent brands outside of Hollywood is Japan’s Ju-On, better known to Western audiences as The Grudge. Since debuting via two short films in a TV movie, the first feature-length Ju-On went on to spawn eight sequels over the course of nearly two decades.
If that wasn’t enough, the inevitable Hollywood remake that hailed from original director Takashi Shimizu starring Sarah Michelle Gellar in 2004 would get two sequels of its own, and a reboot that landed in January of this year to generally terrible reviews. Once again showing that no horror property with even the slightest hint of name recognition is allowed to lay dormant for any length of time though, the original Japanese timeline is getting the reboot treatment thanks to Netflix’s upcoming series Ju-On: Origins, and you can check out some newly-released images from the show below.
While there’s definitely a bit of buzz surrounding this series, I think it’s fair to say that the concept of the franchise was run into the ground a long time ago, and the generic Origins subtitle doesn’t exactly hint that there’s going to be much on display in the way of originality. It was also only announced in May but is set to arrive in less than two weeks.
Still, the streaming giant will no doubt be hoping that their horror-loving subscribers who are affected by the restrictions put in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic will be itching for some brand new content to binge their way through in one sitting.
