The Grudge

The Grudge (Director: Takashi Shimizu)

Back in August I watched the original film on which this release is based, Ju-On. Takashi Shimizu directed the first, so I thought this would be an interesting experiment, a man remaking his original work for American audiences. The changes are, not surprisingly, quite different.

The same premise is here: people go to a house where grisly murders have taken place and get offed by the victims one-by-one. A ghostly boy and her mom creep around the house and find the scariest places to pop up at any given moment. What I enjoyed about the original Ju-On was how relentless it was. It really never stopped. It was divided by chapter breaks, and there'd be a slight lull in the proceedings, but not long after there would be scary things. The sound in the original film, a creepy, throaty, metal-detector kind of sound, served as the chilling reminder of the proximity of the avenging victims. In The Grudge, that sound has been limited to a couple of uses, and I think it's less scary that way.

The Grudge also differs in that it offers more explanation, which is why I hate watching American remakes. Americans must be force-fed plot details or else a huge production company, ironically Sony, will consider the movie in need of revisions. So, in America we need more special effects (the better and glossier the effect, the less scary it is), more explanation, a little bit more of a lull inbetween the action.

Sarah Michelle Gellar takes over as the main character of the first film, who is not really the main character at all, but one that just so happens to survive long enough to have a character development. This is case-in-point about how Americanized this movie is. Even though roughly 95% of the cast is still Japanese, certain crucial characters are Americans living in Tokyo.

I will give The Grudge its due, however, as a better-than-average chiller. It certainly beats most horror flicks that come out nowadays, and the offer for the original filmmakers to make these films rather than some video or commercial director looking for a break is a plus. There are pleasures and frights to be had, even if you have the superior original in the back of your head while you watch.