Ju-on: The Curse (2000)

I don't often recommend TV movies, but I thought that Ju-on was a real corker. Despite an almost-zero budget and an extremely slow pace, Takashi Shimizu still managed to produce a very edgy and eerie ambience, not unlike Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 'Kourei', which really sucks you in and builds gradual tension beautifully.

The acting quality is pretty darn good too, with some reasonably big names (Yuurei Yanagi, Chiaki Kuriyama, Yoriko Douguchi), all of whom do a very fine turn, and the soundtrack was very reminiscent again of 'Kourei', which doesn't exactly surprise me, knowing that Kiyoshi Kurosawa participated in the production of the much-anticipated 2003 remake of Ju-on...

Basically, if you're a fan of that kind of slow-moving, atmospheric horror that Kurosawa and Nakata Hideo do so well, you'll love this too... now I just want to compare this one with the remake! ;-)