Has THE GRUDGE Director Takashi Shimizu Found His Mojo Again? The Trailer For 7500 Says Yes.

It's been a rough few years for Japanese director Takashi Shimizu. The former protege of Kiyoshi Kurosawa burst on to the international scene in 2002 with Ju-On, the terrifying theatrical expansion of his previous two part video series. Shimizu would cement his reputation in 2004 with the one-two punch of the eerie Japanese indie Marebito and the big budget Hollywood remake of Ju-On, The Grudge. The J-horror movement that Shimizu had been a leader of was already fading at that point but it didn't seem to matter, he was a director on top of his game who seemed - thanks to Marebito - to have some diversity to his voice and some variety to the stories he wanted to tell.

Well, it's eight years later. And in those eight years Shimizu has struggled mightily to regain the heights of his early work. Years spent recycling the Ju-On films didn't help, not did the rushed production of his 3D effort The Shock Labyrinth.

But Shimizu is back in the US now, with haunted plane story 7500. And if the trailer is anything to judge by the lapsed master has found his mojo again. Like the theatrical Ju-On this appears to be Shimizu doing what he does best - packaging slickly executed jump scares in the most entertaining package possible. Check the trailer below.