The Grudge (2004)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

22 October 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

It never forgives. It never forgets.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Curse | American | Japan | Nurse | Death

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

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
Yoko Maki	...	Yoko
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo
Hiroshi Matsunaga	...	Igarashi

Also Known As:

Der Fluch (Germany)
The Juon (Japan)
Untitled 'Ju-on: The Grudge' Remake (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

92 min | South Korea:97 min (uncut version) | Japan:98 min

Country:

USA | Japan | Germany

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Iceland:16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40750) | Sweden:15 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Czech Republic:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Ireland:15PG (original rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Italy:T | Norway:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Poland:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Senator International

Trivia:

According to the DVD commentary by the cast and crew, the first of appearance of the cat right when Karen picks up Kayako's journal was not in fact a real cat, but a fake cat held a crew member, racing it in front of the camera.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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".

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)

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.