[Kitsa]

One of the themes of Ju-On that creeped me out was that the curse sort of dragged you in regardless of whether you were an innocent bystander or not. From what I've read, that's how Onryo (vengeful spirits, e.g. Kayako) operate. Like in classical pieces, the spirit bypasses the husband who murdered her and kills the new wife. That's a lot dimmer view than the standard "if you aren't a prick, you're probably safe" format of Western horror movies.

It used to be very rigid. Enter Kayako's old house, you're doomed, regardless of whether or not you had anything to do with it. Set foot inside and eventually a wild-eyed croaking woman was going to find you and...something. Usually something with hair.

Then when Shimizu started grasping at straws, the rules got looser and looser, and that's when they started losing my attention. The ghost started drawing people into the house when they hadn't had any intention of going there. The ghost started appearing and killing off buddies of the afflicted. That sort of reached its pinnacle when the Grudge movies made their leap into the Hollywood versions, particularly with the HORRIBLE Grudges 2 and 3.