This Japanese horror movie opens with a caption helpfully explaining that Ju-On is a curse held by somebody who dies in the grip of powerful anger, and that it gathers in the places frequented by that person in life, working its spell on those who come into contact with it and recreating itself anew.

The movie is structured as an anthology of overlapping stories, each named after the person who falls victim to the curse. It begins as Rika (Okina Megumi), a young social worker, arrives at the home of an elderly patient and finds her in shock and her house in a dishevelled state. As Rika sets about tidying up, she finds a closet sealed with tape and opens it to find a small boy and a black cat inside. A series of extended flashbacks explore the circumstances that led to this.

The movie is the third of five Ju-On ventures to date from director Shimizu Takashi, following a couple of low-budget direct-to-video productions that attracted the attention of Taka Ichise, the producer of Hideo Nakata's spooky Ringu movies. The international success of The Ring, Gore Verbinski's US remake of Ringu, has spawned a sequel set for release later this year, and encouraged Hollywood studios to remake Nakata's richly atmospheric Dark Water, to be directed by Walter Salles, and Ju-On: The Grudge, on which Shimizu will direct a cast led by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Despite his evident immersion in the Ju-On movies, Shimizu falls short of achieving the thoroughly unsettling mood that permeated the Ringu films and Dark Water, and their influence hangs heavily over his work, as he borrows from them freely. His other, similarly unoriginal attempts to ratchet up the horror involve exaggerating the effects on the soundtrack, pumping up the supposedly ominous score, and using shrill, piercing sounds that are more likely to irritate than to have audiences cowering in fear.

There are a few genuinely scary moments, but not enough to sustain tension or, indeed, any great interest in the viewer, given that the narrative is so fractured and confusing. There is the essence of a notable horror film here, and as Shimizu continues to rework his fascination with the curse that triggers all his movies, perhaps he will develop it more effectively in his fourth or fifth version.