| 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 |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million[1] |
| 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,[2] and was directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of the original series)[3] 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),[4] and The Grudge 3 (which was released on May 12, 2009),[5] as well as a new film which will soon go into production as a planned reboot of the series. [6]
Contents |
The Grudge describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage or extreme sorrow. The curse gathers in the place where that person died. Those who encounter this murderous 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 curse in particular has consumed the Japanese suburb home of the deceased Saeki family. Housewife Kayako Saeki had an obsessive crush on American teacher Peter Kirk, spilling her emotions into a private diary. Unfortunately, her husband Takeo Saeki discovered it and went ballistic, murdering Kayako by snapping her neck. His son, Toshio Saeki, who witnessed the murder, and the family cat are also killed. Peter visited the house looking for Toshio, found Kayako's body and later committed suicide. However, the curse caused the family to re-emerge as ghosts, most notably Kayako as an Onryō, and kill anyone who entered the house.
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. A caregiver named Yoko visits the house to look after Emma but follows Kayako's death rattle to the attic's entrance, and is dragged into the attic by her jaw. Karen Davis, an American caregiver, 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 stalked by Kayako and flees to her apartment where she too is killed. Alex is also killed when he encounters Yoko's jawless 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 lured to his doom by Toshio and Takeo. Karen arrives next, and the house reveals to her a flashback where Peter visits and finds Kayako's body. Karen is seen as Kayako while Peter turns to Doug who enters the house looking for her, implying that she is next. The real Kayako then emerges from the attic and crawls her way down the stairs to kill the two. Doug is killed while Karen fights with Kayako to drop a lit match into some spilled gasoline.
Karen awakens in hospital to learn the house was saved, but mourns Doug's death. However, Kayako's ghost pops up behind Karen, implying she still is a target for the curse.
The Grudge opened at 3,348 theatres in North America.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
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.
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.[10] 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.[11]
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.
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||