The Grudge
The Grudge | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Takashi Shimizu |
Produced by | Sam Raimi |
Written by | Stephen Susco |
Starring |
Sarah Michelle Gellar Jason Behr KaDee Strickland Clea DuVall Bill Pullman |
Music by | Christopher Young |
Cinematography | Hideo Yamamoto |
Edited by | Jeff Betancourt |
Production company | |
Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures (US) Universal Pictures (UK) Roadshow Entertainment (AU/NZ) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language |
English Japanese |
Budget | $10 million[1] |
Box office | $187.2 million |
The Grudge is a 2004 American supernatural horror film and a remake of the Japanese film Ju-On: The Grudge. The film was released in North America on October 22, 2004 by Columbia Pictures,[2] and was directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of all previous Ju-on films)[3] while Stephen Susco scripted the film. The plot is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots. The film was a box office success, making over $187 million against a $10 million budget, though it received only mixed reviews from critics.
It was followed by two sequels: The Grudge 2 (which was released on October 13, 2006) [4] which was also directed by Shimizu, and The Grudge 3 (released on May 12, 2009),[5] directed by Toby Wilkins.
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 original film is presented in a non-linear narrative.
The Saeki family lived happily in suburban Tokyo, but housewife Kayako Saeki fell in love with her college professor, Peter Kirk, obsessively writing about him in her diary. However, her husband Takeo discovered the diary. Believing Kayako was having an affair, he became mentally disturbed and murdered his wife by pushing her off the stairs, snapping her neck to a 90 degree angle and crushing her throat. He then drowned his young son Toshio - who witnessed the act - in the bathtub to cover his tracks, along with the pet cat, Mar. Takeo hid the bodies in the attic and closet, before Kayako's ghost murdered him by hanging him with her hair in Toshio's bedroom. Peter came to the Saeki house to speak to Kayako after receiving a letter from her, only to find her corpse. Shocked, he fled the house, killing himself the next day by falling over the balcony of his building complex in front of his wife. The Saeki family rose again as ghosts due to their rage and sorrow, notably Kayako, who appears as an onryō ghost, leaving the curse on the house.
The present timeline starts a few years later with the Williams family moving in from America. While husband Matt is thrilled with the house, his wife Jennifer and dementia-ridden mother Emma feel uncomfortable. Jennifer is quickly consumed by the curse. Matt returns home to find the house trashed, Emma upset, and his wife dying. Matt and Jennifer are killed by Toshio. Yoko, a careworker, arrives at the house the next day to find Emma alone, and encounters Kayako, who attacks her. Concerned about Yoko's disappearance, her employer Alex sends another careworker, Karen Davis, to take over the care for Emma. At the house, Karen is shocked when she finds a seemingly alive Toshio and Mar in the closet, and contacts Alex for help.
Alex finds Emma dead in the house and Karen in a state of shock after her first encounter with Kayako, and summons the police, including Detective Nakagawa. Nakagawa and his partner Igarashi explore the house, finding the bodies of Matt and Jennifer in the attic along with a human's lower jaw. Matt's sister Susan disappears after being followed and attacked by Kayako, and Alex is killed when visited by a Kayako-possessed Yoko missing her lower jaw. Karen begins to be haunted by Kayako herself, informing her boyfriend Doug of the situation. She researches the origins of the house, eventually confronting Nakagawa, who explains three of his colleagues investigating the Saeki deaths all were consumed by the curse. That night, Nakagawa goes to the house and tries to burn it down, but is killed by Takeo.
Karen races to the house upon learning Doug has ventured there to look for her, experiencing a vision in which she sees Peter visiting the house and finding Kayako's corpse. Karen finds Doug paralyzed by fear, and attempts to flee the house with him, only to witness Kayako as she drags herself down the stairs and crawls on Doug, causing him to die of fright. Karen spots the petrol and manages to ignite it with Doug's lighter just as Kayako is about to kill her. Karen is whisked to a hospital, but learns the house survived the fire. Visiting Doug's body, Karen realizes she is still haunted by Kayako, who appears behind her as the camera circles to reveal her wide staring eye.
Cast
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen Davis, an exchange student
- Jason Behr as Doug McCarthy, Karen's boyfriend, who attends the University of Tokyo
- William Mapother as Matt Williams, who relocates to Tokyo for a promotion
- Clea DuVall as Jennifer Williams, Matt's wife
- KaDee Strickland as Susan Williams, Matt's younger sister
- Grace Zabriskie as Emma Williams, Matt's mother, who suffers from severe lethargy with mild dementia.
- Bill Pullman as Peter Kirk, a teacher working in Tokyo
- Rosa Blasi as Maria Kirk, Peter's wife.
- Ted Raimi as Alex Jones, the director of the care centre where Yoko and Karen are stationed.
- Ryo Ishibashi as Det. Nakagawa, a detective
- Yoko Maki as Yoko, a Japanese care worker assigned to care for Emma Williams.
- Yuya Ozeki as Toshio Saeki, Kayako and Takeo Saeki's eight-year-old son.
- Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki, a married woman who is attracted to Peter Kirk
- Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki, Kayako's husband
Reception
Box office
The Grudge opened at 3,348 theaters in North America.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] The film is recognized as the second highest grossing horror remake of the past 40 years behind The Ring, however in front of horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and One Missed Call; the former two had successful franchises and were expected to be far more successful whereas the latter is also an Asian horror remake and did far less in terms of box office.[9] It is also second in Japanese remakes but seventh in the highest openings for an October and Fall release, being beaten by family movies.[9]
Critical reception
The Grudge has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 39%, based on 157 reviews (with 61 out of 157 film reviews counted fresh), with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "There's some creepy imagery to be found, but not much in the way of logic or truly jarring scares". On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10] Classic FM's film critic Simon Bates deemed it the scariest film he had ever seen.
Home media
Formats
The Grudge was released on VHS, DVD and UMD on February 1, 2005 as a standard version of the film with only a few special features.[11] On May 17, 2005, the unrated director's cut of The Grudge was released on 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.[12] The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in Germany in 2008 and in the US on May 12, 2009, the same day that The Grudge 3 was released on DVD. It was made available to purchase on iTunes in 2008.
Sales
The Grudge made $9.24 million from DVD sales in its first week, debuting at #2 in the sales chart behind Ray. It has made an estimated $20 million since.[13]
See also
References
- ↑ IMDB (October 20, 2006). "The Grudge production budget". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ IMDB (October 5, 2006). s "The Grudge release date". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ IMDB (October 20, 2006). "Grudge 2 directed by original Ju-on director". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ House of Horrors (October 5, 2006). "Grudge 2 release date". House of Horrors. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ Shock Till You Drop (October 16, 2007). "Screenplay sent in to Ghost House Pictures". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo (October 20, 2006). "Grudge opens on 3,348 theatres". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo (October 20, 2006). "Grudge tops box office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ Box Office Mojo (October 20, 2006). "The Grudge was expected to generate 20 Million". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- 1 2 http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrorremake.htm
- ↑ The Grudge at Metacritic
- ↑ Amazon (October 20, 2006). "Standard Version release". Amazon. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ Amazon (October 20, 2006). "Uncut Version release". Amazon. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
- ↑ http://www.movieweb.com/news/ray-and-the-grudge-top-the-dvd-charts
External links
- The Grudge at the Internet Movie Database
- The Grudge at AllMovie
- The Grudge at Rotten Tomatoes
- Director Takashi Shimizu Q&A