Grisly ghost story lacks plot; not for tweens.

It's mechanical moviemaking, but when it works you're likely to quiver, cower and leap with fright.

Shimizu understands it is the unknown and the unseen that's scariest, resorting to gurgled growls and passing glimpses of greasy-haired demons to illicit shrieks and shouts from a terrified theatre.

The ghost looks extremely creepy in most scenes, with a face that genuinely terrified me as a kid, even before I had seen the movie. Its mark on pop culture is undeniable.