Grudge (2004)

"More terrifying than The Ring  Paul Fischer, DARKHORIZONS.COM
"...really scary.  Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"...It's enough to send you home with jiggly knees...  Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
"One of the flat-out creepiest films ever released by a major American studio.  Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide
"More terrifying than The Ring.  Paul Fischer, Dark Horizons
"This is an eerie, inventively mounted movie: It's a shivery fun time, filled with dark corners, deserted hallways and sudden apparitions.  Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
"...a scary psycho-horror that effectively replicates [the original's] bleak and crisp shocks.  Richard James Havis, The Hollywood Reporter
"...[Shimizu leads you] on a celluloid leash to his pitch-black attic of horror, inviting each hair on the back of your neck to stand up.  Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune

Editor's Note A remake of the Japanese horror hit JU-ON (widely considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made), THE GRUDGE is helmed by its original director Takeshi Shimizu. Like its predecessor, this Hollywood version of the film takes place in Tokyo, but most of the main characters are American, including Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), a young social worker, and her peers. When Karen enters a seemingly abandoned home to look after a mentally disturbed resident, she soon discovers that there's an evil--and very aggressive--presence in the house, and it's lashing out at every person that sets foot inside. Having directed both the original JU-ON and its sequel in Japan, Shimizu was very familiar with his own tale of terror by the time he directed its 2004 incarnation. Using many of the key actors from the previous films (including Takako Fuji and Yuya Ozeki who have unforgettable roles), Shimizu recreates the story with the added advantage of a Hollywood budget (acquired with the help of producer Sam Raimi of SPIDER-MAN fame, who is also a noted horror-movie director). As with many Japanese horror films (particularly the original RING, which strongly influences this movie), THE GRUDGE relies on atmosphere over plot, resulting a series of utterly chilling moments that will leave viewers fascinated and unbelievely frightened.

	Bill Pullman
	Clea Duvall
	Jason Behr
	KaDee Strickland
	Sarah Michelle Gellar
	William Mapother
	Christopher Young - Musical Score
	Doug Davison - Producer
	Jeff Betancourt - Editor
	Joseph Drake - Executive Producer
	Lukas Ettlin - Cinematographer
	Stephen Susco - Screenplay
	Takashi Shimizu - Director
	Takashi Shimizu - Writer

USA Today
"THE GRUDGE varies the program some by occasionally getting its apparitions out of the central digs to make mischief elsewhere." 10/22/2004 p.5E

Sight and Sound
"[Gellar] is surprisingly good as a harrowed heroine..." 12/01/2004 p.49-50

Uncut
"[M]ostly it's just Raimi and Shimizu gleefully delivering the B-movie basics: sudden jumps, shocks, bangs, screams, eye-poppers and gore shots, and at a rate that's thick and fast enough to satisfy the most jaded horror fan." 12/01/2004 p.177

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "Shimizu retains the Tokyo setting and most of the spooky details..." 10/01/2006 p.118

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 5 of 10
Perhaps it's just that I don't "get" Japanese horror. I wasn't a big fan of The Ring or its i - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
Sarah Michelle Gellar, the nominal star, has been in her share of horror movies, and all by herself - Roger Ebert

ReelViews 6 of 10
Perhaps it's just that I don't "get" Japanese horror. I wasn't a big fan of The Ring or its inspiration, Ringu, and, while I have never seen the original Ju-On, The Grudge doesn't impress me as especially scary or coherent. The director of this English-language remake is Takashi Shimizu, the force behind the Japanese version. This is the second time in recent memory that a foreign director has been asked to take control of an American re-working of his movie. On the other occasion (George Sluzier and The Vanishing), it was an unmitigated disaster. At least in Shimizu's case, I can find a few nice things to say...The Grudge managed to hold my interest for about 30 minutes. But it's pretty much a one-trick pony, and, after a while, that trick loses its ability to impress. This is a haunted house film, and is packed to the rafters with horror movie cliches. "Boo!" moments abound. There's a cat that jumps out at an inopportune moment. Weird sounds and musical zingers punctuate the soundtrack. Characters go places where they shouldn't and do stupid things for no reason other than that this is a horror movie and that's the way people are supposed to react in horror movies. We get lots of shots of things that are there one second, and gone the next. Dead people often look like they have spent several weeks reclining on the deck of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean. The atmosphere is one of relentless gloom. Based on anecdotal evidence, it's night about 21 hours per day...As a movie, this isn't much, but as an excuse to clutch someone's hand in a darkened theater or to let out an occasional yelp, it works well enough. Generally speaking, I like a little more plot with my "Boo!" moments, but for those who aren't quite as picky, The Grudge may fit the bill. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 7 of 10
Takashi Shimizu's The Grudge is a direct adaptation of '03's Ju-On, also directed by Shimizu. Apparently executive producer Sam Raimi saw some potential in recounting the creepy ghost story with an American cast, and while it's not a shot-for-shot retelling of the original, it's pretty darn close. Like the Japanese version, the story isn't told in a linear style; it jumps backwards and forwards in time, with the ghostly occupants of the unassuming house terrorizing several different characters...Police detective Nakagawa (Ryo Ishabashi) doesn't fare much better when he comes up against the spooks, and it's eventually made clear (sort of) what brought the curse down on the house in the first place...As in the original, Shimizu doles out the horror in small doses, with only occasional glimpses of a largely unseen terror, and relies more on dreamlike atmospherics for scares. Unfortunately, there's something missing this time around, and it's hard to put one's finger on what exactly it is. Maybe it's the casting--it's hard to look at Gellar and not think "Buffy" or associate her with teen-oriented nonsense like Scooby-Doo or Cruel Intentions. It's admirable that she wants to move on to roles that offer more depth, but she doesn't bring a lot of gravitas to her character here. Pullman, on the other hand, is somewhere between "haunted" and "somnambulistic." Unlike the original, the origins of the horrible event that turned loose the ghosts isn't revealed until towards the movie's end, and then it's only related in sketchy detail...Though something is definitely lost in translation, The Grudge still retains a lot of the creeping uneasiness of the original Japanese version. You really should see both, though, for a fair A/B comparison (although the order in which you see them is optional). Be sure to draw the curtains and shut out the lights first. - Jerry Renshaw