Remaking hit Japanese horror movies (c.f., The Ring) is Hollywood's latest plan to rake in big bucks without actually having to be creative. But while The Grudge is nothing more than a cultural twist on the standard haunted house movie, director Takashi Shimizu (remaking his own Ju-On) deserves credit for eliciting goosebumps…lots and lots of goosebumps. Truly chilling ghosts are the key: floating specters of inky black tendrils that form into gray porcelain faces, horrifically gaping mouths, and kohl-ringed, milk-saucer eyes. Shimizu also augments the frights with a unique structure that helps set the film apart, following a psychological (rather than chronological) narrative that patches together long flashbacks revealing the house's terrible history and ties the six-degrees-of-separation story to its latest victim--an exchange student played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Granted, the movie suffers from a lack of character development, several minor gaffes in its own internal logic, and a shameless setup for sequels, but unlike 99% of the other entries in the horror genre, it doesn't insult the intelligence or depend on cheap jump-scares to sustain its substantial tension. No, The Grudge earns its goosebumps honestly. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include an eight-person cast and crew commentary (with producer Robert G. Tapert, executive producer Sam Raimi, screenwriter Stephen Susco, and costars Ted Raimi, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clea DuVall, Jason Behr, and KaDee Strickland), the five-part behind-the-scenes documentary “A Powerful Rage” (47 min., including “Myth of the Ju-on” and “A New Direction: Understanding Takashi Shimizu”), the 12-minute “Under the Skin” featurette on fear (featuring Joseph Le Doux, PhD, Center for Neural Science at NYU), and trailers. Bottom line: a strong extras package for a better-than-average horror flick.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review--May 17, 2005--Sony, 98 min., not rated, $28.95--Making its second appearance on DVD, 2004's The Grudge: Unrated Extended Director's Cut features an extended version (roughly seven extra minutes of gore) of the film, along with new DVD extras: audio commentary by director Takashi Shimizu, producer Taka Ichise, and actress Takako Fuji, 15 deleted scenes (33 min.), Shimizu's original Ju-On short films “4444444444” and “In a Corner” (7 min. total), video diaries from costars Sarah Michelle Gellar and KaDee Strickland (23 min. total), an insider's tour walkthrough of “The Grudge House” (4 min.), the two art montages “The Sketches of Iwao Saito” and “The Storyboard Art of Takashi Shimizu,” and trailers. Bottom line: more gore doesn't necessarily make this a better film, but fans will appreciate the new extras, making this a strong optional purchase.][Blu-ray Review—Apr. 28, 2009—Sony, 91 min., PG-13, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's The Grudge features a great transfer and a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to those on the previous DVD release, including both the theatrical and unrated versions, two audio commentaries (the first with producer Robert G. Tapert, executive producer Sam Raimi, screenwriter Stephen Susco, and costars Ted Raimi, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clea DuVall, Jason Behr, and KaDee Strickland; the second with director Takashi Shimizu, producer Taka Ichise, and actress Takako Fuji), the five-part behind-the-scenes documentary “A Powerful Rage” (47 min.), 15 deleted scenes (33 min.), video diaries from Gellar and Strickland (23 min. total), a 12-minute “Under the Skin” featurette on fear (featuring Joseph Le Doux, PhD, Center for Neural Science at NYU), Shimizu's original short films “4444444444” and “In a Corner” (7 min. total), an insider's tour walkthrough of “The Grudge House” (4 min.), the two art montages “The Sketches of Iwao Saito” and “The Storyboard Art of Takashi Shimizu,” and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a popular if uneven horror film that launched a franchise.]
The Grudge
Columbia TriStar, 96 min., PG-13, VHS: $55.99, DVD: $28.95, Feb. 1 Volume 20, Issue 1
The Grudge
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