The Grudge

For other uses, see The Grudge (disambiguation).

The Grudge
The Grudge
Directed by	Takashi Shimizu
Produced by	Sam Raimi Robert Tapert
Written by	Stephen Susco
Starring	Sarah Michelle Gellar Jason Behr KaDee Strickland Clea DuVall Bill Pullman
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	Katsumi Yanagishima
Editing by	Jeff Betancourt
Studio	Ghost House Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 22, 2004 (2004-10-22)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Box office	$187,281,115

The Grudge is a 2004 American horror film, and is the first installment in the American horror film series of the same name. It is a remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge. The film was released in North America on October 22, 2004 by Columbia Pictures, and was directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of the original series) while Stephen Susco scripted the remake. In the same tradition as the original series, the plot of the film is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots.

As the first film in The Grudge series, it has spawned two sequels: The Grudge 2 (which was released on October 13, 2006), and The Grudge 3 (which was released on May 12, 2009), as well as a new film which will soon go into production as a planned reboot of the series.

Plot

The Grudge describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage or extreme sorrow. The curse is an entity created where the person died. Those who encounter this evil supernatural force die and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passed from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror. The following events are explained in their actual order, the film showing them in a non-linear narrative.

The Saeki family - Housewife Kayako, husband Takeo and son Toshio - were living in the Japanese suburbs when Kayako became attracted to her college professor, Peter Kirk (Bill Pullman). Kayako became obssessed with Peter, writing down her sexual feelings for him in her diary. Unfortunately, one day Takeo discovered the diary and he read the contents, learning of his wife's affair with Peter. Takeo went insane and beat his wife, torturing her and savagely breaking her neck. He then killed a stunned Toshio when Toshio saw this murder, by drowning Toshio in the bath. Takeo then wrapped up Kayako's corpse in plastic and hid it in the attic. This caused an evil entity known as a Ju-on to be born, manifesting in the forms of Kayako, who became an onryo and Takeo, who emerged as a Yurei, and the ghosts of the Saeki cat, Mar, and the son Toshio, who appear to warn inhabitants of the house about the evil there.

The Williams Family, Matthew, his wife Jennifer, his unwell mother Emma, and his sister Susan move to Japan, and move into the Saeki house with the exception of Susan who lives in an apartment in the city. Jennifer and Emma are both disturbed by the house, and soon Jennifer and Matthew are consumed by the curse. Yoko, a caretaker, returns to the house on one of her shifts to help Emma, but then hears a mysterious croaking noise from the attic. Yoko enters the attic but is attacked by Kayako's ghost, who drags her, kicking, into the attic. Karen Davis, an American caretaker, is sent by her boss Alex to cover for Yoko. Karen finds Emma alone in the house, but is shocked when she finds Toshio and the cat in the closet, and telephones Alex for help. Karen catches Emma talking to herself, but then sees Kayako descend from the ceiling and kill Emma. Alex and various police officers enter. Among them is Detective Nakagawa who finds Yoko's cell phone, bottom jaw, and the bodies of Matthew and Jennifer in the attic.

Karen finds herself haunted by Kayako and Toshio, and investigates the house's past. Meanwhile, Susan, who visited the house after Emma's death, is hunted by Kayako, who drags her into her bed when she attempts to take refuge inside. Alex is also killed when he encounters Yoko's corpse, possessed by Kayako's ghost. Karen confides to her boyfriend Doug, and then confronts Detective Nakagawa regarding the Saeki family's deaths. Nakagawa reveals three of his co-workers were killed while investigating the deaths, and the retailer who sold the house to the Williams is also dead. Karen returns home to find a message from Doug, informing him of Yoko and Alex's deaths, and how he has gone to the house. Nakagawa arrives at the house first and attempts to burn the house down to end the curse using gasoline, but is viciously killed by Takeo's evil ghost. Karen enters the house looking for Doug but to her confusion only finds Peter Kirk as the scene morphs into daylight hours. Karen watches Peter Kirk discovering Kayako's journal and reading about her obssession with him, and then Karen sees Peter finding Kayako's bloody, mutilated corpse in the attic, wrapped in plastic. Shocked and nuseated, Peter stumbles and flees from the house. Karen enters Kayako's bedroom and finds Takeo Saeki, hanging from his neck, with Toshio flinging him against the wall. The evil around Takeo makes Karen see an insight into his final moments wherein he kills his wife and son. Nauseated, Karen walks downstairs where the scene morphs into night. She finds Doug, incapacitated. Kayako's ghost crawls downstairs and kills Doug by sucking the life out of him. Karen fights back against Kayako and burns the house down by using Nakagawa's oil cans just as Kayako is about to kill her.

At the hospital, Karen learns that the house was saved from destruction and thus the curse is still alive. In the morgue, she visits Doug's corpse for a farewell. Kayako appears behind her, croaking, and Karen realizes that the curse is definitely not over.

Cast

Main article: List of The Grudge characters

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as the film's main protagonist Karen Davis, an exchange student who takes a job as a caregiver to obtain social studies credit.
• Jason Behr as Doug, Karen's boyfriend, who attends the University of Tokyo, and has a part-time job working at a restaurant.
• William Mapother as Matthew Williams, a "number cruncher" who receives a promotion from his superiors that requires him to relocate to Tokyo.
• Clea DuVall as Jennifer Williams, Matthew's lonely wife who is trying to adjust to a new life in Japan.
• Ryo Ishibashi as Det. Nakagawa, a detective whose colleagues all died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances during the investigation of the Saeki family murder case. He is all too aware of the house and its strange history.
• KaDee Strickland as Susan Williams, Matthew's younger sister, who resides and works in Tokyo, and who helps her brother, sister-in-law and mother choose and move into their new home.
• Grace Zabriskie as Emma Williams, Matthew's mother, who is suffering from severe lethargy with mild dementia.
• Bill Pullman as Peter Kirk, a teacher working in Tokyo, who receives a number of love letters from Kayako, a woman he does not know.
• Ted Raimi as Alex, the director of the care centre that Yoko and Karen are stationed at.
• Rosa Blasi as Maria Kirk, Peter's wife.
• Yoko Maki as Yoko, a Japanese care worker who speaks English, and is assigned to care for Emma Williams.
• Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki, a married woman who develops an attraction towards Peter Kirk.
• Yuya Ozeki as Toshio Saeki, the eight year-old son of Kayako and Takeo Saeki.
• Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki, Kayako's husband, who is angry when he discovers her feelings for another man. He murders Kayako prior to the film's events and puts a curse on the house.

Reception

The Grudge opened at 3,348 theatres in North America. The film generated $39.1 million in ticket sales in its first weekend (October 22–24, 2004). Ticket sales declined 43% on the second weekend earning $21.8 million, thereby becoming the first horror film to top the Halloween box office since House on Haunted Hill. The film made US$110,359,362 in North America alone and a total of $187,281,115 worldwide, far exceeding the expectations of box office analysts and Sony Pictures executives. Sony also stated production costs of less than $10 million, making it one of the most profitable movies of the year.

The Grudge received mixed reviews, earning a "Rotten" rating of 40% on Rotten Tomatoes (with 61 out of 154 film reviews counted fresh). Classic FM's film critic Simon Bates deemed it the scariest film he had ever seen.

Home release

The Grudge was released on DVD and UMD on February 1, 2005, as a standard version of the film with only a few special features. On May 17, 2005, the MPAA-unrated director's cut of The Grudge was released onto DVD in North America. The release included several scenes that were cut to achieve a lower rating from the MPAA, as well as others which were removed for pacing and plot reasons. This version of the film was used as the theatrical run in Japan. The release also contained new deleted scenes and commentaries, director Takashi Shimizu's original "Ju-On" short films, "4444444444" and "In a Corner", and more.

It was made available to purchase on iTunes in 2008.

The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in Germany in 2008 and in the U.S. on May 12, 2009, the same day that The Grudge 3 was released on DVD.

External links

• Official website
• The Grudge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Grudge at AllRovi
• Director Takashi Shimizu Q&A