The Grudge

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Karen Davis: Sarah Michelle Gellar
• Doug McCarthy: Jason Behr
• Kayako Saeki: Takako Fuji
• Toshio Saeki: Yuya Ozeki
• Matthew Williams: William Mapother
• Jennifer Williams: Clea DuVall
• Susan Williams: KaDee Strickland
• Emma Williams: Grace Zabriskie
• Peter Kirk: Bill Pullman
• Maria Kirk: Rosa Blasi
• Alex Jones: Ted Raimi
• Det. Hideto Nakagawa: Ryo Ishibashi
• Yoko Sekine: Yoko Maki
• Takeo Saeki: Takashi Matsuyama
• Igarashi: Hiroshi Matsunaga
• Suzuki: Hajime Okayama
• Guard: Yoshiyuki Morishita
• Peter’s Co-worker: Kazuyuki Tsumura
• Policeman: Taigi Kobayashi
• Mother: Junko Koizumi
• Daughter: Nana Koizumi
• Restaurant Manager: Yôichi Okamura
• Morgue Detective: Eiji Ôki
• Morgue Doctor: Katsuhiro Oyama

Film Crew:

• Writer: Takashi Shimizu
• Producer: Sam Raimi
• Producer: Robert Tapert
• Writer: Stephen Susco
• Set Decoration: Tatsuo Ozeki
• Casting: Nancy Nayor
• Casting: Kelly Wagner
• Production Design: Iwao Saitô
• Art Direction: Kyoko Yauchi
• Editor: Jeff Betancourt
• Costume Design: Shawn Holly Cookson
• Costume Design: Miyuki Taniguchi
• Script Supervisor: Kathleen Thomas
• Executive Producer: Doug Davison
• Executive Producer: Joseph Drake
• Line Producer: Satoshi Fukushima
• Co-Producer: Aubrey Henderson
• Producer: Takashige Ichise
• Executive Producer: Nathan Kahane
• Co-Producer: Michael Kirk
• Executive Producer: Roy Lee
• Executive Producer: Carsten H.W. Lorenz
• Line Producer: Ray Quinlan
• Co-Producer: Shintaro Shimosawa
• Original Music Composer: Christopher Young
• Director of Photography: Hideo Yamamoto
• Assistant Art Director: Satoshi Kanda
• Construction Coordinator: Jun Igarashi
• Set Designer: Katsumi Kaneda
• Standby Painter: Kazuya Watahiki
• First Assistant Camera: Kiyoshi Itô
• Grip: Tadashi Yokoyama
• Still Photographer: Takashi Seida
• Assistant Costume Designer: Eric Earl Aycock
• Makeup Artist: Sachie Munemura
• Set Dressing Artist: Tomoko Asai
• Mixing Engineer: Robert Fernandez
• Post Production Supervisor: Jack Schuster
• Production Controller: Lorita Shepherd
• Stand In: Jennifer M. Barr
• Stunt Coordinator: Hideo Saito
• Telecine Colorist: Anthony Motta
• Unit Publicist: Cid Swank
• Color Timer: Mato
• First Assistant Editor: Yoshie Ishiguro
• Executive In Charge Of Production: Shannon Gaulding
• Production Accountant: Maureen Mottram
• Production Coordinator: Tobin Adams
• Production Manager: Katsuhiro Ogawa
• Production Supervisor: Ed Licht
• Music Editor: Thomas Milano
• Music Supervisor: Darian Pollard
• Orchestrator: Sean McMahon
• Sound Effects Editor: Richard C. Franklin
• Sound Mixer: Kiyoshi Kakizawa
• Supervising Sound Editor: Paul N.J. Ottosson
• 3D Supervisor: Toyokazu Hashimoto
• Digital Compositors: One Danny Yoon
• Special Effects Supervisor: Shûichi Kishiura
• Visual Effects Coordinator: Yoshiko Yasuoka
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Kory Jones
• Translator: Chiho Asada
• Thanks: Izumi Evers
• Visual Effects Producer: Danny Martinez
• Dialogue Editor: Gloria D’Alessandro
• First Assistant Director: Masanori Adachi
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Marti D. Humphrey
• ADR Supervisor: Carin Rogers
• Foley Mixer: Darrin Mann
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Kelly Vandever
• Sound Effects Editor: Ai-Ling Lee
• ADR Editor: Ryan Juggler
• ADR Mixer: Michael J. Fox
• Foley Artist: Joan Rowe
• Foley Artist: Sean Rowe
• Assistant Makeup Artist: Dianne Ensor
• Second Assistant Director: Chikara Higami
• Third Assistant Director: Makoto Meguro
• Special Effects Assistant: Yoshitaka Makigi
• VFX Artist: Peter Kleinsasser
• Stunt Double: Shunsuke Gondo
• Assistant Camera: Shingo Gima
• Best Boy Grip: Daisuke Akazawa
• Second Assistant Camera: Toshitaka Akaike
• Lead Animator: Aaron Kaminar
• Casting Assistant: David Bernad
• Digital Colorist: Andrew Drapkin
• Assistant Chief Lighting Technician: Hidenori nagata
• Chief Lighting Technician: Masao Kanazawa
• Dialogue Coach: Sean Muramatsu
• Production Assistant: Jennifer Y. Craig
• Rotoscoping Artist: James Payfer
• Special Effects Makeup Artist: Yûichi Matsui
• Makeup Artist: Veronica Lorenz

Movie Reviews:

• The Movie Diorama: The Grudge begrudgingly latches onto croaky jump scares without logical cohesion. This, is an unusual horror to review. It’s rather uncommon for the same director, in this case Takashi Shimizu, to remake his own original film for an entirely different audience. Most would push their original creation onto the masses and convince them, with glorified persuasion, to withstand subtitles and invest the time into the chilling ghost story.Yet Shimizu thought it would be apt to direct his own film again. Admirable? Yes, it ensured he received total creative control over the studio and producers. Necessary? No. Somehow, by remaking the exact story with essentially the same spine-tingling sequences, Shimizu downgraded the atmospheric aura of ‘Ju-On’, resulting in nothing more than a Japanese ghost boy releasing his inner cat and his ethereal mother croaking the life out of anyone who visits the cursed house. That’s the plot synopsis, right there.

  Well, there’s a tad bit more to the mystery, however Shimizu’s insistence on haphazardly fracturing the narrative between present day and the past week consequently confused audiences rather than enthral. There’s no logic behind the structure. No foundational development. And certainly no characterisation. So the abrupt switching back and forth held no purpose, other than to illustrate a host of jumpy death sequences. Some effective apparitional imagery heightened the tension, particularly the surveillance footage sequence and bedroom scene that made me frightened of my own bloody duvet when I was an innocent boy, yet negated by the bland acting from every single actor.

  Buffy has no more vampires to slay or Daphne has solved all remaining mysteries (take your pick…), and so she’s left wandering aimlessly around Tokyo with just one facial expression. Confusion. Pullman contributed nothing. And even Kayako herself, Fuji, was grossly misused during moments of tension-raising buildup. The final expositional flashback sequence, revealing to us why the house is now essentially cursed, was rushed and overwrought. Then concluding the entire feature on a frickin’ jump scare that looked cheaper than Kayako’s mascara. By the time the credits roll, you’ll be thinking to yourself “…why are these Americans in Tokyo anyway?”.

  I just…don’t understand how Shimizu can make his remake so unprogressive in terms of quality. He had another shot at bettering his original, overcoming previous criticisms, yet failed miserably. I’m open to the idea that The Grudge is a product of its time, comprising of several horror traits that the previous decade had commonly exploited. And I appreciate it stuck to its J-horror roots. But damn, this has not aged well in the slightest. The core is there. I can visibly see the contents. Yet, either due to Shimizu’s inability to improve in directorial control or studio interference, The Grudge growled like a ghoulish kitten instead of exhuming a ghostly lion’s roar. Y’know, because Toshio opens his CGI mouth and a cat noise comes out? Urgh, whatever. Couldn’t think of anything…