Back in 1998, Takashi Shimizu unwittingly created a monster when he debuted a couple of short films about a haunted house. Little did he know, a lingering horror franchise was about to be born. In 2000, a first feature film about the story, Ju-On: The Curse, arrived – and the rest is history. There are now thirteen Ju-On movies in the bank, including an initial 2004 Us remake, that run all the way up to this year’s Sam Raimi-produced ‘sidequel’ – it’s a perfectly cromulent word – which unfortunately debuted to a weary critical reception and a mere wisp of a western audience.

Now, Netflix has jumped on on the Ju-On bandwagon – the streaming service has just set a July release date for its foreign language TV series based on the ongoing myths surrounding the iconic Grudge house.

The show seeks to rejuvenate the franchise on the small screen, but objectively, the most...