The Grudge *** (2004, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, Bill Pullman) – Classic Movie Review 12,328

Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in a useful role for her as Karen Davis, an American care worker exchange student in Tokyo, in director Takashi Shimizu’s 2004 supernatural evil spirit horror film The Grudge, written by Stephen Susco. The Grudge itself is a curse born when someone dies in extreme rage or sorrow. Those who encounter the curse die, and the curse passes from victim to victim.

The Grudge (2004) is a creepy and stalwart though messy and inferior English-language remake of Shimizu’s 2002 Japanese horror film Ju-On. You could also say it is yet another unnecessary remake as it is so similar to the original film, though Shimizu said he was keen to work on the remake to improve on, and to fix problems and flaws in his own original film.

It is the first film in the American series The Grudge, based on the Japanese Ju-On films.

It also stars Jason Behr, KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, and Bill Pullman. Takako Fuji, Yuya Ozeki and Takashi Matsuyama play the characters Kayako Saeki, Toshio Saeki and Takeo Saeki from the original films.

The problem is not that The Grudge is not exciting enough, but that it is muddled and confusing, and somewhat frustrating, with its non-linear sequence of events and intersecting subplots. And Stephen Susco can’t keep clarity and focus, and sufficient involvement with the characters, though he does keep the shocks and scares coming, even if they are fairly mild. The direction is polished, with plenty of eerie atmosphere, effectively established and developed.

In 2004, the Williams family from America move into the cursed Saeki murder house in suburban Tokyo, but Matt (William Mapother) and Jen (Clea DuVall) are consumed by the curse. Care worker Yoko (Yōko Maki) arrives at the house to find their dementia-ridden mother Emma (Grace Zabriskie) alone and encounters the ghost Kayako Saeki (Takako Fuji), who drags her up into the attic. Yoko’s employer Alex (Ted Raimi) sends care worker Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar) to the house to take over Emma’s care. Karen discovers Toshio Saeki’s ghost (Yuya Ozeki) sealed up in a wardrobe and witnesses Kayako’s spirit descending from the ceiling to claim Emma.

Alex finds Emma dead and Karen in shock, and calls in Detective Nakagawa (Ryo Ishibashi) and his partner Igarashi, who find the bodies of Matt and Jennifer and a human lower jaw in the attic. Kayako pursues Matt’s younger sister Susan (KaDee Strickland) around her office building and then attacks her at home and she vanishes. While leaving work, Alex is killed by Yoko’s jawless corpse.

Of course we also have to have the setup of how the curse came about, with the jealous husband Takeo brutally murdering Kayako, along with their young son Toshio for walking in on the murder, and the pet cat Mar, back in 2001. So you can see the uphill difficulties original creator Takashi Shimizu and screen-writer Stephen Susco faced.

Principal photography began in Tokyo on 26 January 2004 for three months, with reshoots in July 2004 in Tokyo, Japan.

It was an unexpectedly huge hit, taking $187.2 million on a $10 million budget, making it the second-highest grossing horror remake of its era behind The Ring (2002).

It is followed by two sequels, The Grudge 2 (2006) and straight-to-video The Grudge 3 (2009). It was remade as The Grudge (2020).

The cast are Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen Davis, Jason Behr as Doug McCarthy, KaDee Strickland as Susan Williams, William Mapother as Matt Williams, Clea DuVall as Jen Williams, Grace Zabriskie as Emma Williams, Bill Pullman as Peter Kirk, Rosa Blasi as Maria Kirk, Ted Raimi as Alex Jones, Ryo Ishibashi as Det. Hideto Nakagawa, Yōko Maki as Yoko Sekine, Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki, Yuya Ozeki as Toshio Saeki, and Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,328

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