Time: 92 Minutes
Age Rating: M – horror scenes
Cast:
Megumi Okina as Rika Nishina
Misaki Ito as Hitomi Tokunaga
Yui Ichikawa as Chiharu
Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki
Director: Takashi Shimizu

A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.

My first experience with The Grudge was the American remake, which was in fact one of the first horror movies I watched. I was going to check out the original Japanese movie, but I quickly learned it was the third installment of the Ju-on series, and checked out the previous two movies called The Curse and The Curse 2. After catching up I finally checked out the original film, and while I can see why it was influential and iconic, I can’t say that I loved it as much as most people.

Much like the previous Ju-on movies, The Grudge employs episodic storytelling, with each section being linked from the fact that they are haunted by the same ghost in the same location. There are multiple narratives that are a bit jumbled as the story is told in a non linear manner. The premise is certainly interesting, and I can admire the unconventional structure. However the structure does work against the movie somewhat; the narrative is sloppy and after a while the story becomes a little familiar. It also has the same problems as the last movies with the cast of characters being changed after each section, it gets repetitive and dull after a while. You could also say that about anthology films, but at least there are some distinct differences between each short film. After a while the plot lost me and I found it confusing and a little boring. It doesn’t help that I just wasn’t interested in any of the characters that showed up.

There’s not a whole lot to say about the characters and actors, but Kayako the central ghost is the stand out character. Takako Fuji brings such physicality and emotion to the character, she is creepy in her scenes but also comes across as effectively tragic.

Takashi Shimizu returns to direct The Grudge after making The Curse 1 and 2 and at the very least he’s working with a considerably higher budget. Everything from the cinematography, lighting, production design and effects are noticeably improved. His direction is also pretty solid. There are some memorable imagery and creepy sequences, and Shimizu clearly knows what to show and what not to show. The sound design is pretty good, with Kayako’s death rattle immediately setting you on edge, and the score is pretty creepy. I also admire the commitment to not being reliant on gore or violence, leaving the majority of the scares to be generated by the atmosphere and imagery. That being said, I can’t really say that I was scared. While the first movie had much worse production value, I feel like that had at least a couple of moments that had me more on edge than The Grudge, if only because the low budget and bad visuals gave it a lost/cursed film feel.

Ju-on: The Grudge is certainly a well directed, atmospheric and memorable horror film, but the jumbled and meandering story structure and uninteresting plot prevented me from liking it as much as I wanted to. To me, it just felt like a better and higher budget version of Ju-on: The Curse. If you’re a horror fan however, I would still recommend checking it out.