(Here's a thought, jackasses: leave the fucking house. What's that you say? That won't do any good? Because the ghosts will just follow you to the ends of the Earth? And kill you there? Sorry. Never mind...)
CAST: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Kadee Strickland, William Mapother, Clea Duvall, Ted Raimi, Rosa Blasi, Bill Pullman, Takako Fuji, Grace Zabriskie.
DIRECTOR: Takashi Shimizu.
WARNING: Minimal SPOILERS and more freaky Japanese bug-eyed ghost chick antics.....
"It never forgives. It never forgets..." goes the tagline for THE GRUDGE, the smash-hit American remake of JU-ON, the 2002 Japanese horror film that, itself, was a worldwide success. Throwing out the usual conventions of the Haunted House genre (ghosts just looking for peace, safety outside the house, benign endings) JU-ON essentially ripped up the rulebook and gave us: (1) a never-ending curse, (2) a vicious trio of ghosts who (3) relentlessly target and terrorize anyone who disturbs their space, and (4) an extended network of characters who are linked by the fact that they are so very, very fucked.
The setting is still Tokyo, and the basic framework is still the same, but with Americans in most of the major roles. As with JU-ON, the plot revolves around an ordinary-looking Tokyo house that was the scene of a gruesome murder-suicide three years ago. The house then becomes the source of a virulent curse that ensnares: (1) a social work student (Sarah Michelle Gellar), (2) the American family now living in the house (William Mapother, Clea Duvall, Grace Zabriskie), (3) the executive sister (Kadee Strickland) of the head of that family, (4) the social work student's boyfriend (Jason Behr), (5) a college professor (Bill Pullman), (6) the professor's wife (Rosa Blasi), (7) and the Japanese detectives who investigated the original slayings.
The setpieces are the same as the original - but somehow even more frightening. If you've seen JU-ON then nothing about the American remake will surprise you. But it's still a terrifying ride. Will any of these characters escape the curse? Will the ostensible heroine (Gellar) somehow placate the ghosts and escape their wrath? Don't hold your breath...
See for yourself. But don't watch it alone. And, for the love of God, don't watch it with your cat. You see, one of the ghosts is a cat - and everytime that fucking thing yowled onscreen I had to endure Casper, my own little furry demon, jumping on my neck - claws bared - and screaming "Who dat?! Who dat!?" right in my ear. Bastard.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Essentially, THE GRUDGE is JU-ON with mostly Americans in the role. As good as JU-ON is, though, I prefer the American remake because of: (1) a more polished presentation, (2) a more streamlined plot, and (3) more relatable characters, due to their being American. Having lived in Japan for over 2 years, I could sympathize with their disorientation in the sometimes strange and often surreal world of the Land of the Rising Sun. Indeed, this sense of dislocation as felt by the foreign characters adds another layer of unease to the proceedings.
Also, by paring down some of the plot threads, director Takashi Shimizu (who also directed JU-ON) creates a more elegant and seamless story. JU-ON had so many different threads that the plot got a little confusing here and there. That might have been Shimizu's intent back then, but he now creates a stronger film by focusing on a slightly smaller group of characters. The result is a film that is non-linear, hypnotic, but never confusing. And all the more frightening because of the sharper clarity of focus.
The cast of American actors is skilled and confident. I have never been warm to Sarah Michelle Gellar, but I liked her take on Karen, the social work student. She's quietly strong, with just the right amount of spunk and vulnerability. As her increasingly-confused (and terrified) boyfriend, Jason Behr does well in his limited role. William Mapother, Clea Duvall, and Grace Zabriskie are all good as the doomed family that moves into the cursed house. Bill Pullman and Rosa Blasi are equally solid in their pivotal roles as, respectively, the professor who inadvertently triggers the events leading to the haunting, and his bewildered wife who ultimately tries to help Gellar unravel the cause of the curse.
The best character - for me, anyway - is Kadee Strickland as the sleek and savvy executive who is also the sister of William Mapother's character. The sequence that shows her being terrorized in her deserted office high-rise, then in her apartment building's elevator, and finally in her locked apartment, is probably the most terrifying sequence in both JU-ON and THE GRUDGE - or any horror film of recent memory. This chilling set-piece further drives home the point of both films: once you're in the crosshairs of these ghosts, nowhere is safe...
THE GRUDGE is that rare remake that is actually better than the already-good original. It's a modern masterpiece of horror. And makes me think twice about going back to Tokyo on holiday.....
And, just like the original, do not watch this movie with your cats.
