The Grudge

Ulkar Alakbarova

June 1

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.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

Karen Davis: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Doug McCarthy: Jason Behr
Kayako Saeki: Takako Fuji
Toshio Saeki: Yuya Ozeki
Matthew Williams: William Mapother
Jennifer Williams: Clea DuVall
Susan Williams: KaDee Strickland
Emma Williams: Grace Zabriskie
Peter Kirk: Bill Pullman
Maria Kirk: Rosa Blasi
Alex Jones: Ted Raimi
Det. Hideto Nakagawa: Ryo Ishibashi
Yoko Sekine: Yoko Maki
Takeo Saeki: Takashi Matsuyama
Igarashi: Hiroshi Matsunaga
Suzuki: Hajime Okayama
Guard: Yoshiyuki Morishita
Peter's Co-worker: Kazuyuki Tsumura
Policeman: Taigi Kobayashi
Mother: Junko Koizumi
Daughter: Nana Koizumi
Restaurant Manager: Yôichi Okamura
Morgue Detective: Eiji Ôki
Morgue Doctor: Katsuhiro Oyama

Film Crew:

Writer: Takashi Shimizu
Producer: Sam Raimi
Producer: Robert Tapert
Writer: Stephen Susco
Set Decoration: Tatsuo Ozeki
Casting: Nancy Nayor
Casting: Kelly Wagner
Production Design: Iwao Saitô
Art Direction: Kyoko Yauchi
Editor: Jeff Betancourt
Costume Design: Shawn Holly Cookson
Costume Design: Miyuki Taniguchi
Script Supervisor: Kathleen Thomas
Executive Producer: Doug Davison
Executive Producer: Joseph Drake
Line Producer: Satoshi Fukushima
Co-Producer: Aubrey Henderson
Producer: Takashige Ichise
Executive Producer: Nathan Kahane
Co-Producer: Michael Kirk
Executive Producer: Roy Lee
Executive Producer: Carsten H.W. Lorenz
Line Producer: Ray Quinlan
Co-Producer: Shintaro Shimosawa
Original Music Composer: Christopher Young
Director of Photography: Hideo Yamamoto
Assistant Art Director: Satoshi Kanda
Construction Coordinator: Jun Igarashi
Set Designer: Katsumi Kaneda
Standby Painter: Kazuya Watahiki
First Assistant Camera: Kiyoshi Itô
Grip: Tadashi Yokoyama
Still Photographer: Takashi Seida
Assistant Costume Designer: Eric Earl Aycock
Makeup Artist: Sachie Munemura
Set Dressing Artist: Tomoko Asai
Mixing Engineer: Robert Fernandez
Post Production Supervisor: Jack Schuster
Production Controller: Lorita Shepherd
Stand In: Jennifer M. Barr
Stunt Coordinator: Hideo Saito
Telecine Colorist: Anthony Motta
Unit Publicist: Cid Swank
Color Timer: Mato
First Assistant Editor: Yoshie Ishiguro
Executive In Charge Of Production: Shannon Gaulding
Production Accountant: Maureen Mottram
Production Coordinator: Tobin Adams
Production Manager: Katsuhiro Ogawa
Production Supervisor: Ed Licht
Music Editor: Thomas Milano
Music Supervisor: Darian Pollard
Orchestrator: Sean McMahon
Sound Effects Editor: Richard C. Franklin
Sound Mixer: Kiyoshi Kakizawa
Supervising Sound Editor: Paul N.J. Ottosson
3D Supervisor: Toyokazu Hashimoto
Digital Compositors: One Danny Yoon
Special Effects Supervisor: Shûichi Kishiura
Visual Effects Coordinator: Yoshiko Yasuoka
Visual Effects Supervisor: Kory Jones
Translator: Chiho Asada
Thanks: Izumi Evers
Visual Effects Producer: Danny Martinez
Dialogue Editor: Gloria D'Alessandro
First Assistant Director: Masanori Adachi
Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Marti D. Humphrey
ADR Supervisor: Carin Rogers
Foley Mixer: Darrin Mann
Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Kelly Vandever
Sound Effects Editor: Ai-Ling Lee
ADR Editor: Ryan Juggler
ADR Mixer: Michael J. Fox
Foley Artist: Joan Rowe
Foley Artist: Sean Rowe
Assistant Makeup Artist: Dianne Ensor
Second Assistant Director: Chikara Higami
Third Assistant Director: Makoto Meguro
Special Effects Assistant: Yoshitaka Makigi
VFX Artist: Peter Kleinsasser
Stunt Double: Shunsuke Gondo
Assistant Camera: Shingo Gima
Best Boy Grip: Daisuke Akazawa
Second Assistant Camera: Toshitaka Akaike
Lead Animator: Aaron Kaminar
Casting Assistant: David Bernad
Digital Colorist: Andrew Drapkin
Assistant Chief Lighting Technician: Hidenori nagata
Chief Lighting Technician: Masao Kanazawa
Dialogue Coach: Sean Muramatsu
Production Assistant: Jennifer Y. Craig
Rotoscoping Artist: James Payfer
Special Effects Makeup Artist: Yûichi Matsui
Makeup Artist: Veronica Lorenz

Movie Reviews:

The Movie Diorama: The Grudge begrudgingly latches onto croaky jump scares without logical cohesion. This, is an unusual horror to review. It's rather uncommon for the same director, in this case Takashi Shimizu, to remake his own original film for an entirely different audience. Most would push their original creation onto the masses and convince them, with glorified persuasion, to withstand subtitles and invest the time into the chilling ghost story.Yet Shimizu thought it would be apt to direct his own film again. Admirable? Yes, it ensured he received total creative control over the studio and producers. Necessary? No. Somehow, by remaking the exact story with essentially the same spine-tingling sequences, Shimizu downgraded the atmospheric aura of 'Ju-On', resulting in nothing more than a Japanese ghost boy releasing his inner cat and his ethereal mother croaking the life out of anyone who visits the cursed house. That's the plot synopsis, right there.
Well, there's a tad bit more to the mystery, however Shimizu's insistence on haphazardly fracturing the narrative between present day and the past week consequently confused audiences rather than enthral. There's no logic behind the structure. No foundational development. And certainly no characterisation. So the abrupt switching back and forth held no purpose, other than to illustrate a host of jumpy death sequences. Some effective apparitional imagery heightened the tension, particularly the surveillance footage sequence and bedroom scene that made me frightened of my own bloody duvet when I was an innocent boy, yet negated by the bland acting from every single actor.

Buffy has no more vampires to slay or Daphne has solved all remaining mysteries (take your pick...), and so she's left wandering aimlessly around Tokyo with just one facial expression. Confusion. Pullman contributed nothing. And even Kayako herself, Fuji, was grossly misused during moments of tension-raising buildup. The final expositional flashback sequence, revealing to us why the house is now essentially cursed, was rushed and overwrought. Then concluding the entire feature on a frickin' jump scare that looked cheaper than Kayako's mascara. By the time the credits roll, you'll be thinking to yourself "...why are these Americans in Tokyo anyway?".

I just...don't understand how Shimizu can make his remake so unprogressive in terms of quality. He had another shot at bettering his original, overcoming previous criticisms, yet failed miserably. I'm open to the idea that The Grudge is a product of its time, comprising of several horror traits that the previous decade had commonly exploited. And I appreciate it stuck to its J-horror roots. But damn, this has not aged well in the slightest. The core is there. I can visibly see the contents. Yet, either due to Shimizu's inability to improve in directorial control or studio interference, The Grudge growled like a ghoulish kitten instead of exhuming a ghostly lion's roar. Y'know, because Toshio opens his CGI mouth and a cat noise comes out? Urgh, whatever. Couldn't think of anything...