The Grudge (2004)

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writers:

Stephen Susco (screenplay), Takashi Shimizu (film "Ju-On: The Grudge")

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, William Mapother

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Karen
Jason Behr	...	Doug
William Mapother	...	Matthew
Clea DuVall	...	Jennifer
KaDee Strickland	...	Susan
Grace Zabriskie	...	Emma
Bill Pullman	...	Peter
Rosa Blasi	...	Maria
Ted Raimi	...	Alex
Ryo Ishibashi	...	Nakagawa
Yôko Maki	...	Yoko
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo
Hiroshi Matsunaga	...	Igarashi

Storyline

Karen Davis is an American Nurse moves to Tokyo and encounter a supernatural spirit who is vengeful and often possesses its victims. A series of horrifying and mysterious deaths start to occur, with the spirit passing its curse onto each victim. Karen must now find away to break this spell, before she becomes its next victim.

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Plot Keywords:

curse | american | japan | rage | nurse | 

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Taglines:

It never forgives. It never forgets.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Official site [ru]

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

22 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled 'Ju-on: The Grudge' Remake

Filming Locations:

Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$28,220 (Chile) (3 March 2006)

Gross:

$352,562 (Chile) (3 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Ghost House Pictures, Fellah Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 97 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The open-mouth gasping sound of the ghosts is made by director Takashi Shimizu.

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Goofs

When Karen is searching the net, she is on "www.tdn_japan.con" [sic]. This address wouldn't work. Also the Google bar spells "Imaegs" not "Images".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Maria: Good morning. Peter? Are you OK? You're up early today.

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Connections

References Ju-on: The Curse (2000)

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Soundtracks

Soundtrack on Varèse Sarabande

User Reviews

If you've seen the Japanese originals, you've already seen this film.

This review is really a word of warning, if you've seen any of the earlier Japanese versions of this story you've seen this movie before. If you've seen all four of the earlier films, you've really seen everything (except the frightening opening with Bill Pullman) and you'd best wait for home video.

I understand that the film makers wanted to make sure that this film worked and made them money, so they repeated what worked, even casting the same Japanese actors for the kid and other roles; but it would have been nice if they had done more that was new beyond the opening sequence.

This isn't to say that the film is bad, its not, rather, its just that unless you're walking in to the film fresh odds are you're going to be like me and know what each five or ten minutes is going to bring because of the set up of the sequence.

For me it was a 6 out of 10, for fresh eyes probably higher.