fnorgby I've watched a fair amount of J-horror, and I think this movie falls short even by that standard. I'm not afraid of or offended by stories that portray Americans/Westerners as foolish, rude or rash. Generally, when we're in a foreign place, we act like we're at home and don't bother to try learn or follow local ways.My problem with the story is that it telegraphed itself continuously. It's obvious, when Christopher finds the book that Seito is connected to it and the temple. It's even more obvious when Seito appears at points that make it easier for the Americans to get there. There are lots of stories in any culture that don't need to be suspenseful or challenging to be good, and where it doesn't matter that you already know everything that's going to happen. Where the focus is on how well the story is told.I don't think this is one of those stories. I think that the low ratings aren't about Westerners not knowing that Japanese movies develop and pace differently. I'm used to at least being left with something to think about, some point about life that the movie wanted to call attention to. Temple failed even at that.Despite the high ratings from some viewers, I do not think this is the movie the film's producers had in mind. If I had to guess, I'd guess that *this* is the movie that they salvaged with editing when they realized they'd spent all their money and didn't have enough working pieces to make a successful ghost story."Okay, we get it, Christopher is Seito or Seito is a ghost or Bruce Willis really has been dead the whole time". This was not subtly told, and we're never given context for this particular group of people getting sucked into their fate. So ultimately at the end, we don't really care anymore. Not because the characters are unlikeable. We don't care because we've seen the same story told much more effectively. Though not so beautifully, that much is certain. It's worth the time spent for the cinematography and settings, and for the generally spooky atmosphere. Not much else.

arabken Honestly im utterly convinced my 8 year old daughter could offer a better effort than this pile of garbage ! ... how do these movies get funded and put together when they are simply awful ! ... doesn't anyone involved have the awareness of mind to think , wow we really are making the biggest pile of horse manure imaginable ! ... This turd of a film makes no sense and it thinks its being so clever with an utterly bizarre conclusion ! ... Hang you heads in shame all those involved in this shockingly bad effort !

Raymond Once in while, not very often luckily, comes along a movie that makes zero sense. This is one of those movies. I actually liked it a lot until the ending tho. Cinematography is really nice, locations beautiful both rural and urban Japan. Acting isn't bad either and even music is pretty good.But then the finale and ending, what a mess. There is one key (?) scene where a character is about to tell something to another, but even tho I had subtitles on and watched the scene many times I still didn't understand what she meant. Maybe I missed something earlier or was too tired, but the ending didn't make much sense anyway. I got the impression that this one scene was important to the story, maybe the ending would've made sense if I had understood it.Shame as it looked really good.

ejamc I love this movie! I don't really see what the negative reviewers are talking about, but I think that using Japanese folklore and the Japanese countryside to instill terror is an excellent idea! I was terrified for the three Americans, and I thought that something wasn't right about that little boy right from the moment I saw him! So when I saw that he was one of the kids that disappeared, I realized that he was a ghost!