Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writer:

Takashi Shimizu

Stars:

Megumi Okina, Misaki Itô, Misa Uehara

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Megumi Okina	...	Rika Nishina
Misaki Itô	...	Hitomi Tokunaga
Misa Uehara	...	Izumi Tôyama
Yui Ichikawa	...	Chiharu
Kanji Tsuda	...	Katsuya Tokunaga
Kayoko Shibata	...	Mariko
Yukako Kukuri	...	Miyuki
Shuri Matsuda	...	Kazumi Tokunaga
Yôji Tanaka	...	Yûji Tôyama
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Keibiin
Hideo Sakaki	...	Fukushi Sentâ Jimuin
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo Saeki
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Chikara Ishikura	...	Hirohashi

Storyline

In Japan, when the volunteer social assistant Rika Nishina is assigned to visit a family, she is cursed and chased by two revengeful fiends: Kayako, a woman brutally murdered by her husband and her son Toshio. Each person that lives in or visits the haunted house is murdered or disappears.

---

Plot Keywords:

shower | ghost boy | ghost child | ghost | bad guy wins | 

---

Taglines:

When a grudge from the dead passes to the living - Who is safe?

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 January 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Ju-on

Filming Locations:

Nerima, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,032, 30 July 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$325,661, 5 December 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pioneer LDC, Nikkatsu, Oz Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 103 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kayako and Toshio are based on the Japanese legend of the Onryo, a vengeful spirit that unlike western ghosts, can physically manifest to attack and kill victims whereas our ghosts are just energy and can't physically appear. They manifest when they are killed in a state of deep rage as explained by the opening title card.

---

Goofs

(at around 1h 18 mins) When Rika wakes up in bed to a room full of yowling black cats, several of the cats are obviously statues. Some of them are even clearly replicas of the same statue.

---

Quotes

[repeated line]
Hirohashi: Thanks for the effort.

---

Connections

Followed by Ju-on: Owari no hajimari (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Kagi ga akanai
Music by Hiroyuki Hamamoto
Lyrics by Kei Noguchi
Performed by Suitei Shôjo
Courtesy of Epic Records Japan

User Reviews

Disappointing

Before the film started, I read some quotes from famous American directors praising the Grudge and calling it one of the most frightening films of all time. I was a little nervous about seeing it, but excited that it had gotten such positive attention from filmmakers. That moment before the film started was much more frightening than anything in the actual film. To be generous, I have to say that some of the attempts to scare the audience are innovative. Sadly, nothing here is scary. I had a really hard time caring and was confused by the disjointed and tangential structure of the film. Sometimes the lack of logic in a horror film can work it's benefit. Not the case here. Seeing this film reminded me of why I hate formulaic slasher films. sure, there are some interesting things here, but nothing really gells. I love Asian horror films in general, but this seemed slight compared to the films of Miike, Nakata, K. Kurosawa and the Pang brothers which are getting easier to find in neighborhood video stores.