The Grudge (2004)
It never forgives. It never forgets.
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, William Mapother, Clea DuVall, KaDee Strickland, Grace Zabriskie, Bill Pullman, Rosa Blasi, Ted Raimi, Ryo Ishibashi, Yoko Maki, Yuya Ozeki, Takako Fuji, Takashi Matsuyama, Hiroshi Matsunaga, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Kazuyuki Tsumura, Taiki Kobayashi, Nanna Koizumi, Yôichi Okamura
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Running Time: 92 minutes
US MPAA rating: PG-13UK BBFC rating: 15
Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
On DVD To call Gore Verbinski's The Ring (2002) a 'reimagining' of Hideo Nakata's extraordinary Ringu (1998) would be to imply that there was any imagination at all in the Hollywood retread. Instead, there were some second-hand frights, a few entirely gratuitous new scenes (mostly involving spooked horses), and some misplaced exposition that stripped away all the uncanny irrationalism of the original. Still, what The Ring proved was that there is a lot of money to be made in repackaging (i.e. dumbing down, essentially) the East's new wave of horror for Western audiences - and with Hollywood rip-offs of Dark Water, The Eye, A Tale of Two Sisters and 'Ringu 2' still in the works, the latest example is 'The Grudge'.
Yet this is a remake with a difference, for although it now features a mostly American cast, this new version of Takashi Shimizu's Ju-on: the Grudge (2003) has been refashioned by the original Japanese director himself - something which, to my knowledge, has only ever happened before with George Sluizer's remake of his own haunting 'Spoorloos' (1988) as the more sanitised 'The Vanishing' in 1993 (although Nakata himself is now directing the American sequel 'The Ring 2'). What is more, 'The Grudge' is still set in the same universe as the original (same Japanese neighbourhood, same house haunted by same curse, several Japanese actors reprising their original rôles, etc.) - a universe which, after all, has already been painstakingly created and recreated by Shimizu not just in Ju-on: the Grudge, but also in two previous straight-to-video telemovies, as well as the inevitable sequel, 'Ju-on: the Grudge 2' (2003). In other words, this is material which Shimizu has been honing for years with great success in Japan, and here he applies the principle of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', revisiting most of the spooky set-pieces from the original feature film, and even throwing in a few less well-known scenes from the earlier telemovies. The special effects have been tweeked a bit, the labyrinthine plotting of the original is somewhat simplified, there is far more explanatory dialogue (unlike Japanese cinema, Hollywood apparently dislikes leaving viewers space to think for themselves), and there are one or two surprises, but at heart this is exactly the same film with one significant twist - that a disparate community of American outsiders (as well, of course, as American viewers) has now been drawn into the implacable, self-replicating curse of the Saeki family.
So if this is your very first encounter with Shimizu's grudge, this film will scare the pants off you, whereas if you have seen the original(s), it might all seem like a pointless rehash - but at least there is a real attempt here to present in dramatic form something that is essential to this film's very nature: the strange, often awkward trafficking of ideas and emotions between East and West. For the American émigrés that populate 'The Grudge' are portrayed as struggling with the basics of Japanese language, confused even by the products on a Japanese supermarket shelf, and generally lost and out of place - and it is a mutually uncomprehending relationship between an American and a Japanese which turns out to have engendered the curse at the heart of the film. Shimizu, it seems, is not only exploiting this cultural clash to amplify his characters' alienation, hopelessness, and terror, but also to comment wryly on the bizarre love affair between America and Japan which makes a film like this possible. It is as though the original 'Ju-on' had been merged with Lost in Translation, and the result is an intelligent reflection on Hollywood's flawed attempts to recreate Oriental horror in its own image - as well as a great scare or three for the uninitiated West.
DVD Extras: Audio 5.1; English language, optional English subtitles; scene selection; full audio commentary (with optional subtitles) by producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, co-writer Stephen Susco and actors Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, KaDee Strickland and Ted Raimi, who discuss (amongst other things) the fact that the entire house was built on the same Toho soundstage where Akira Kurosawa's classic 'The Seven Samurai' was filmed, that Yuya Ozeki, who has played Toshio in all the different versions of 'The Grudge', actually hates cats, that director Shimizu would show off his incredible moonwalking skills between takes, that the scene where Kayako descends the staircase was done without special effects or wires, and that the final sequence was filmed in a real, rat-infested morgue in LA County; 'A Powerful Rage: Behind the Grudge' (48min), featuring interviews with producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, co-writer Stephen Susco, director/co-writer Takashi Shimizu, production designer Iwao Saito, and actors Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bill Pullman, Jason Behr, Ryo Ishibashi, Yoko Maki, Ted Raimi, William Mapother, KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, Grace Zabriskie and Rosa Blasi, and divided into sections devoted to the rationale behind an American remake, the film's Japan-specific mythology, the on-set dynamic of a half-Japanese half-American production, the design of the haunted house, and the talent (and humour) of Shimizu; 'Under the Skin' (12min), a neurological and psychological account by Professor Joseph LeDoux of the fear response and its exploitation in film.
Version reviewed: Universal Pictures Video, Cat. No. 8232433
It's Got: American guests proving to be just as easily haunted as their Japanese hosts; a family of furious Japanese revenants all played by the actors from the original (one of whom still meows like a cat); a narrative structure that confounds normal chronology and logic (but with far more verbal exposition than the original); and Sarah Michelle Gellar for once NOT kicking demon butt.
It Needs: Less exposition - the confusing irrationality of the original is part of what made it so haunting, whereas all this mollycoddling explanation just serves to remind us how dumb we subtitle-and-subtlety-averse Westerners can be.
Alternatives: Ju-on: the Grudge, The Ring, Lost in Translation
Summary: Japanese director gives his own horror film a surprisingly intelligent Hollywood makeover - pointless self-replication perhaps, but that is the nature of curses.
Review Date: 6th November 2004
External Links
Official Web Site
The Grudge at the IMDB
Comments42 Comments |
| This movie was abosulute suck. I looked at how highly everyone rates this movie, but it was horrible, it made no sence, had only one scary point in the whole movie, and just left a lot to be desired... It was crap. I'm upset that I wasted the money to see it. |
| Comment by:- Ferris | | 11 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| The grudge was garbage. It didn't make any sense and it wasn't scary more of suspense. It was very predictable and seemed more of a rip off of the ring which was much better. |
| Comment by:- Yoko | | 11 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Unlike most of you people, I think this movie was really good. It left me wondering what was gonna happen and had me screaming the whole time. This was one of the scariest movies i have ever seen and was much better then "the ring". That movie was a dissapointment and could of had a lot better ideas. With a little bit more thinking that movie could have been excellant. |
| Comment by:- That Girl | | 14 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Scariest movie iv ever seen |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 14 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I live for terror, and I like nothing better than to sit down to a good horror flick and have myself scared to the brink of incontinence. I was a HUGE fan of The Ring, despite the fact that many of the folk I have talked to about that movie were quite unimpressed with the work on the grounds that they felt it was an uncreative re-hashed rip-off of the original Japanese film Ringu. The fact of the matter is, remake or not, it was effective, it scared me me right straight, and though that is but my humble subjective opinion, I feel that it was a great film, not only for being effective, but also because it brought Japanese-horror-flick rhetorics to a much broader audience than the original could have (despite the fact that it was Gore Verbinski who directed The Ring). Japanese horror filmmakers are the absolute masters of protraying psychological terror in the face of the supernatural, bar none, and what made The Grudge so exceptional is the fact that even though it is a remake targeting the larger American audiences, it wsa actually directed by Shimuzu (I think that's his name), the one responsible for the original Japanese film Ju-On, upon which The Grudge is based. A number of cast members from Ju-On (mainly the ghosts) actually appear in the The Grudge. This was an absolutely brilliant horror movie, and anyone who complains about it being rehash can kiss my still-trembling behind. The point of The Grudge wasn't merely to capitalize on the monetary success the original film saw in Japan by remaking it for a broader market, but to SHARE this blood-curdling vision with more PEOPLE, a broader AUDIENCE. IF IT WERE MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING MORE MONEY, IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN GOOD, and it WAS good. Aspirations of greater monetary gain weren't the director's motivations, THINK ABOUT IT (it doesn't make any sense)! Absolutely the scariest movie I have ever seen, and anybody who says they were not scared in the slightest by this film, well, too bad for you. |
| Comment by:- Pneuma Phantasmagoria | | 14 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Shamone bo selecta, adriano, carlos tevez, chip shop t jays |
| Comment by:- mark m | | 19 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I thought this movie was boring, the acting by Sarah Michelle Gellar was juvenile, and the movie was not all it was hyped up to be. I saw the Ring, as well and was not impressed with that. "The Grudge" was very confusing, and it left me feeling like I had not even seen a movie at all. I could have stayed home and watched tv. |
| Comment by:- Norm | | 21 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i think its the scariest horror movie out WARNING: it will scary the hell out of you the best award winning horror movie yet |
| Comment by:- donna | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i dont understand why sarah had to die thatv just wrecked it |
| Comment by:- oma | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i cant sleep i cant eat and i cant think i regreted watching the movie the ring was not realy scary but this movie please dont talk about it |
| Comment by:- jessica | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| it was the crapest movie ive seen i waste my money and my tv time |
| Comment by:- george | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| the director realy did a good job of scaring the hell out of US!!!! i *@#$% cant sleep i always have a feeling its behind me AHHHH!!!!!!! |
| Comment by:- sonya | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I LOVE TONY |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I recon the movie was great it has been the scariest movie i have ever seen! I have seen 'the ring' aswell and that was just as good. i can't wait till 'the ring 2' comes out hope it's going to be better! :) |
| Comment by:- Gabby | | 23 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| it was very creepy i was the only on in the hole theater that night and it freaked me out big time many times i had chills |
| Comment by:- slash | | 24 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I LIKED IT i went to go watch it with a few friends and we all were scared ****less Fantastic movie |
| Comment by:- leah | | 25 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| I LIKED IT i went to go watch it with a few friends and we all were scared ****less Fantastic movie |
| Comment by:- leah | | 25 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| very confusing at times and you have to think about the movie, but for fear it has got to be the scariest movie iv seen, constant jumps and so scary, well worth it!!! |
| Comment by:- Daz | | 26 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| i went potty |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 27 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Well, um I love scary movies but this one had myself, my husband and most of the theatre audience giggling, not gasping in horror but giggling! I could only guess they thought it was as stupid as we did. It barely scared me and I thought the whole movie was just a joke! I did hear comments of 'Is that it?' when the movie finished, and that's pretty much what I thought. I agree with someone elses posting that it was a waste of my money, it's a TV movie not the big screen. The scariest movie out??? I don't think so, give me 'The Ring' any day, now that movie scared the begeebers out of me ! ! ! |
| Comment by:- Chelle | | 27 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| you guys are retarded, most of you just want to act like your all big shots and say you werent scared and saying that u didnt like it. it was very scary and overall i think it was a very good movie |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 27 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| you are all sad, why cant you just watch a film without rushing to the computer and putting your thoughts about it on the internet. GET A LIFE! |
| Comment by:- Bonkey | | 01 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| i havn't seen it yet but i think i will tomorrow, it sounds good from what i have read from reviews, plus the official website is awesome. It gave me the meanest fright! |
| Comment by:- nikstar | | 02 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| Put it this way I'd rather watch all the Freddie Kruegar movies in one night than watch The Grudge once, it puts Freddie to shame, the grudge is the scariest horror i've seen! |
| Comment by:- Dee | | 05 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| This is stupid and unrelated to the topic........... here goes...... BITE ME! |
| Comment by:- Bite Me | | 07 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I WILL FEEL THIS SIRE WID SENESLESS CRAP! Oh... AND THE GRUDGE WAS CRAP! |
| Comment by:- Bite Me | | 07 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I hate reading all these reviews criticizing the crap out of a movie I thought was a)superiorly stylish; a very attractive piece of cinema b)intelligent, a plot not only with a brain of its' own but one that leaves room for the imagination of an unweary audience which, being an unweary audience member, i enjoyed and finally c)scary. No, scary would be an understatement, ****en horrifying!!! It had me leave a little something for the cleaners on my chair, and I was most definitely in the market for a nightlight afterwards. |
| Comment by:- scared ****less | | 09 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| um im from nz i was jst looking at ur comments and u guys need to get a life i mean it was a good movie. keep it to yourself do u really need to tell the whole world! geez |
| Comment by:- NEOW | | 09 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| Really scary!!! It didn't make any sence to me though. I think this was a bad choice for the first horror movie i have seen. |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 13 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| like most horrer flicks, the people in it acted stupid. for instance, if there are people disappering and you hear a noise in the attic...YOU DONT GO LOOK IN IT!!!! i mean is anyone REALLY that stupid. plus, if in a movie such as this, when someone hides somewhere, what happens? spoky hands come out of nowhere, grab them and pulls them god knows where. once again going back to "people disappering" who here would go ANYWHERE without a gun or somthing when you hear about somthing like this happening...i mean the people in movies like this just DONT THINK. their idiots. and "the ring"...dont get me started, it was stupid and im not going into it or this thing will never end. but "the grude" made little to no sence...i mean what the HELL WAS THE STUPID BOY DOING EVERYWHERE!?! and it dosent say ANYTHING about why that silly lady isnt dead all the way. usually its a revenge thing but wtf, is she like to stupid to die. and that whole "im in the attic, come find me" was stupid and predictable. the woman getting her jaw riped off was good, but WHY was it. all my problems are "WHY are they stupid in there" "why is she still around" "why is that silly kid hanging around her" etc. the plot left alot to be desired. |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 13 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| The key to a great horror flick is don't think about it too much. It's made to scare you. If you think too much, it'll lose its intensity. I laughed a bit here and there, but overall I got some great frights. Very similar to 'The Ring' but it had more scary stuff. This is how Hollywood should make its horror flicks but Japan and England (i.e. Shawn of the Dead) are showing the way. |
| Comment by:- bad yaki | | 15 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| THE CRAPEST MOVIE EVER, THE ENDING WAS POINTLESS AND CONFUSING...NOT SCARY AT ALL...CONCLUSION: A WASTE OF MONEY!!!!! |
| Comment by:- MARY HILL bILLARD | | 15 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| Its definetely the scariest movie ive ever seen...since Exoricist when i was like 10 or something. For those people who say it sucks and it wasnt scary then i really do wonder what would scare you. People in the theatre when i was there were jumping and screaming and all that, definetely got the heart racing!! Even the part where the sister gets the phone call and the ghost is going ahhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhh gave me the chills (great surround sound used with that) |
| Comment by:- Brent | | 15 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I think that the movie was Awsome. It scared me and my friends to death. And you people that say you weren't scared, PLEASE! you know you was b-c if your scared 2 tell the truth then god knows your scared of a dead girl! |
| Comment by:- Savannah Y | | 17 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| ... For the people who did not like the movie.... how did that not scare the sh*t out of you? did you close your eyes when a scary part would come up or what? Boo-Hoo! poor lil baby! |
| Comment by:- Savannah y | | 17 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| wow chelle thinks the ring was scary. the ring was just a rip off of japanese movie. whats up with american directors copying japanese horror films?! wtf get your own ideas. if you guys didnt get the storyline, maybe watch it again. true the ending sucked. i bet the ju on is scarier, since its the original version. altho the ending sucked, i guess they did an okay job with the make up and ****. |
| Comment by:- Ji | | 21 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| this movie was sooo crap. didnt make much sense. didnt really explain much. wasnt scary. boring!! very boring!! the end was awful. waste of money watching it. only decent thing was sarah michelle gellar. shes sexy.. hehe.. anyway. the movie was the worst iv seen for about 10 years! |
| Comment by:- manzy | | 23 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I'm an older horror movie fan and this movie is the scariest I've seen in a long time. Lots of scenes that will make you jump out of your seat, as well as a creepy, eery feeling that will stay with you after the movie was over. It is NOT a confusing movie unless you are retarded or a little kid or something (my 9 year old had a little trouble understanding it, but what's your excuse,retards?) and explaining it to you in one sentence would ruin it for the people that haven't seen it yet. If this movie is not scary, I don't know what movie is. |
| Comment by:- Travis | | 24 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| For people who didn't get it. The husband killed the wife out of rage, and then the son and he hung himself. The rage was passed on to the wife and she became "the grudge". Anyone who enter's the house, will be haunted by the grudge until they die out of shock of seeing her. This movie was horrific, but the plot of "the ring" was a lot better. But this movie was a lot scarier. |
| Comment by:- Explanation. | | 27 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| this movie was lame, predictable and not really scary..except for tha freaky boy....it was a rip off of the Ring tho..but i dont know why they left room for Pt2... |
| Comment by:- darrell | | 02 January 2005 | ip: logged |
| I haven't seen the "Grudge" it. But all my friends and co-works say that it is a good movie. I have heard lots of people say that they "Grudge" is better than the "The Ring" and also the other way around. I didn't think "The Ring" was all that scarey. After it came out on DVD/Video...I went and spent the day with my little bro, and on the part when the phone rings, when the girls start freaking out...the mintue the phone on the movie rang...so did mine. It was freak ****. But over all..I really didn't like "The Ring". Hopely the "Grudge" is better. Well let you all know what I thought of "Grudge" after I see it. |
| Comment by:- babygirl425 | | 20 February 2005 | ip: logged |
| Overall, The Grudge is a good film. It didn't get a lot of press, yet it probably deserved some. I would recommend this film... |
| Comment by:- gilletbd1977 | www.thedvdreport.com/dvd_revie... | 12 July 2005 | ip: logged |
