Review #84: The Grudge (2004)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Takashi Shimizu (Director): Ju-On: The Grudge 1 (2000), 2 (2003), 3 (2008), The Grudge 2

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Karen): Buffy

Bill Pulman (Peter): Spaceballs (1987), Independence Day (1996), Lake Placid (1999)

Jason Behr (Doug): Skinwalkers

Clea Duvall (Jennifer): The Faculty

KaDee Strickland (Susan): Anacondas 2 (2004), Fever Pitch (2005)

William Mapother (Matthew): Mission Impossible 2 (2000), The Zodiac (2005), Lost T.V. series
Ted Raimi (Alex): Spiderman 1 (2002), 2 (2004), 3 (2007), Candyman

Trailer:


Tagline:

When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage...
A curse is left behind
It never forgives,
It never forgets.

Movie beginning:
When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage...
A curse is born.
The curse gathers in that place of death.
Those encounter it will be consumed by its fury.

Plot:

An American nurse, Karen, has come to Tokyo to work and shack up with her boyfriend Doug who is currently going to college. Karen works for a care center (nursing home agency) that takes care of elderly patients at their homes. One case manager, Yoko, has disappeared and Karen has taken over her elderly patient, Emma.

Karen arrives at Emma's house and takes care of the old woman. Soon, Karen comes across a vengeful supernatural spirit that possesses its victims, claims their souls, and then passes its curse to another person. Kind of like chain e-mail. Those of have entered the house falls prey to the curse. Now Karen must find a way to break the curse before she is consumed by it and becomes its next victim. Bottom line: who ever goes in the house ends up dying.

This film is another Japanese horror film (BHA!) turned into a American version. I typically like the Japanese originals, but not in this case. Honestly when I watched the Japanese version...I didn't know what the fuck was going on. I don't want to sound racists, sexists, or any other "ists" when I say this. Part of the problem with the Japanese version is that they all looked alike.

I'm sorry and I know I'm going to hell, but I swear it's true. And I have even watched a pretty good fair share of Asian films, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc., and I haven't had a problem yet. But this one, I actually couldn't tell who was who, thus extending the confusion to an already bizarre film. For the love of God, I could not follow the story line because the chicks kept on looking the same. One would die and just like that another popped up, and I thought it was the same one. So hopefully you can see my confusion.

When the American version came out, I actually understood the movie a lot better. That's one of the reasons I liked the American version better. Another is pictured to the left. Yep. Buffy. Sarah Michelle Gellar (f*ck the Prinze at the end). The woman I thought for years would be the mother of my child.

As for the movie itself, Lone Star (Bill Pulman) jumps off the balcony to his death first thing. What a way to start the movie! Just minutes later we have our second death of the film. We're cruisin' now. And then we get into the slow, creepy vengeful spirit plot. Bizarre things start happening to Karen, drawing her over the line of insanity. But if you knew you were gonna die, wouldn't you be a little crazy.

As for the curse itself, I'll explain it in short terms. A Japanese woman (Kayako Saeki) stalks an American professor (Peter). Her husband (Takeo Saeki) finds out about it, and in a rage kills her, their child (Toshio Saeki) and family cat in his rage. He stuffs them in the attic and then kills himself. And now the house becomes "cursed" and anyone that comes into the house becomes "cursed" and eventually dies.

Favorite Parts of the Movie:
-Susan's demise. Actress KaDee Strickland pictured left. Susan leaves work late. As she walks in the hallways and staircases of a deserted building late at night, the curse decides to catch up with her. I think it's the eeriest part in the movie. The curse person chases after her in the stairwell, and hallway. Susan bolts into the security guards room and finds the building's security guard. She tries to explain whats going on, and he goes to check the hallways. After the guard leaves, she watches him from the hall's cameras and see the curse creeps up into the monitor and heads toward her. Susan freaks out and runs out of the building and heads for home. The curse tricks her to open the door and home and eventually gets her in bed. It was an awesome five minute sequence.

-Buffy shower scene. Duh. How can you not put this one on the list? Two words for the director: PAN DOWN! Or two other words: ZOOM OUT!
-Back to Susan's demise, the lead detective on her disappearance case decides to pull up the video camera footage from her work. He watches the video and sees the "curse body" slowly move down the hall towards the video camera and up to the camera. The "curse body" then stares directly into the eyes of the dectective watching the footage. It's pretty cool and clever.

I recommend watching the American version of the Grudge. Sure it's a little bizarre and confusing, but if you can't keep up with that, then the Japanese version will blow you away. It's a eerie good horror movie despite being rated PG-13. This is one of few cases that a lot of blood splattered wouldn't have made this movie any better. The creepiness alone makes it great. The sounds used for the creaking of the "cursed dead body" is just kick a**. Also the sharp and crisp cat me yow and high pitched scream of the little kid were great.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 22, 2004 and made $110.1 million at the Box Office ($39.1 million opening weekend)
-Based on a Japanese film Ju-On: The Grudge; also directed by T. Shimizu
-Selma Blair was the original choice for the role of Karen
-The house was built on a sound stage set