An American student (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in Tokyo, working part time as a care worker, is sent to look in on an old woman in a cursed house. A vicious murder occurred there three years ago, and now anyone who enters it, dies.
The Grudge is a remake of the Japanese new wave horror film, Ju-On: The Grudge. To make sense of how this film fits in, read my reviews of Ju-On 1 & 2 and Ju-On: The Grudge.
Like its brothers, The Grudge is a creepy piece of work. Directed by Takashi Shimizu, who directed the Japanese version, and using the same crew and some of the same actors, The Grudge varies little from its source material. It has the nonlinear story, weird contortionist ghost, mewing cats, and feeling of doom that made the previous entries more frightening than what’s being devised in the States.
The biggest change is switching in American actors for many of the major roles. The screenplay explains what all these U.S. nationals are doing in Tokyo, but doesn’t explain why they all happen to run into the house and its curse. I could buy that the American student care worker was sent to look after an American family, but tossing in yet another American, a college professor (Bill Pullman) was too much. I couldn’t forget that the real reason they were American was to sell the movie.
Other changes include more development for Gellar’s character (in the original, the only important thing about a character was that he was going to die), a slightly changed ending, and the addition of several elements from Ju-On 1 & 2. The first two harm nothing, and the third is an improvement.
But these are all little things. The Grudge has the same successes and failings as the Japanese version. It is slightly more coherent, but I can’t say that is an improvement. It’s an enjoyable film, but falls far short of the direct-to-video prequels. I would recommend it over Ju-On: The Grudge, though not by much. Better still, find copies of Ju-On 1 & 2. (Japanese DVDs with English subtitles can be ordered over the Internet from Asia.)