The Grudge (American version)
I have seen both the Japanese version and the American version, but I am going to rate the American version, since I've seen it several more times and we were lucky enough to have all the same Japanese actors playing the scary characters. This film plays on cable television periodically, and even with the edits for TV, I still find it to be quite creepy.
The film opens on Peter, played by Bill Pullman, in his apartment with his wife. The next thing that we see is Peter jumping out the window of his apartment to his death. Well. That sucks. Especially because Bill Pullman always plays the sweet, goofy, romantic lead. Have no fear, Bill Pullman fans, he will appear again in the movie... not dead, thankfully, but in flashbacks. Though we sure as hell don't get an explanation for quite a while. Oh well... let's see what happens next...
The family (who we have not yet met... damn directors... making this all confusing) hires Yoko through a Social Work program at a nearby university to take care of Emma and to clean the house. She arrives to take care of the older woman with dementia and the house. Unfortunately, she hears some noises from the attic and decides to investigate. She briefly sees a face and then disappears into the attic.
Smooth move, Yoko. Check the attic when you hear a "death rattle". Surely nothing bad will come of that.
Enter Buffy, I mean, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen Davis, the next student to be sent to care for Emma and the house. So, Karen arrives to find the house in complete disarray (again, I need a new word...). The house is a huge mess. A hand slaps a window, and she finds Emma on the floor. Karen cleans up Emma and sets her in bed and then goes about cleaning the house. Upon encountering a taped closet door, and hearing meows from inside, she untapes it to find a little boy holding a cat. She eventually asks him his name, to which he replies that he is Toshio. Karen a short time later discovers Emma sitting up and talking to herself. As she tries to calm Emma down and lay her back in bed, only to have Kayako's spirit confront her.
Hmmm. This is not the strong, confident Buffy we know... Damn, sorry... The Grudge... errr... she's scared now, but just wait. She gets scareder. Hee hee. I know, it's "more scared". I like "scareder" better... more fun.
(Flashback!) Matthew, his wife Jennifer, his mother Emma, and his sister checking out the house. Emma disappears and his sister Susan looks for her, finding her staring intently at the ceiling with an odd look on her face. Meanwhile, the realtor looks around and discovers a tub full of black water... don't want the clients seeing that! He is grabbed as he tries to reach in and unplug the drain. We also have Jennifer sleeping on the sofa, awaking to a loud noise. She then sees ghostly arms pick up a cat on the staircase. She follows this apparition into her bedroom, which is the former bedroom of Toshio, the little boy who picked up the cat. When Matthew arrives home, the house is in complete disarray and he cannot find Jennifer. Eventually he discovers her huddling on the bed unable to move or speak. He attempts to get through to her but is interrupted by a horrible sound, what sounds like a cat howling, and then notices a little boy, Toshio in the corner. Toshio is making the noise and eventually hovers over Matthew in the corner before the scene cuts out.
More evidence that kids are the creepiest part of horror movies. And are his eyes crossed? Well that just ups the creep factor... I mean, really, if he can find you with crossed eyes... damn.
So.... Karen's boss arrives at the place since NO ONE will answer the phone. Jeez, people. There he finds Emma sitting up and confused. Yes, Emma is still alive. Woo! And then there is Karen, sitting the corner, frozen in fear. The police are called, and begin to search the house. At one point, they reach the room that Yoko disappeared from and notice slippers and hair in the closet. They climb up into the attic to discover... SPOILER the bodies of Matthew and his wife Jennifer. END SPOILER. The police also discover the lower jaw of someone. Now that is just freaky. And gross.
Over in another part of Tokyo, by the way, Matthew's sister has been done in by The Grudge curse. If you haven't seen it, I think it is much creepier not knowing. I will say that she is basically stalked by Toshio and Kayako while attempting to leave her office building. Unfortunately, even upon escaping this building, she is not safe. They stalk her at her apartment building and eventually kill her too, we imagine.
As the detective speaks with Karen (oh yeah... we're back to her now... she's in the hospital), he is interrupted by his colleague. This officer informs him of the strange disappearance of the sister Susan, the door was locked from the inside. Then.... she visits her boyfriends... gets a creepy extra hand in the shower. Oooh, we also get another visit from Yoko! I'll leave that one for you to watch! Anyway.... Karen decides to research the history of the house. This is when we learn that Kayako and Toshio were killed by their husband/father who then killed himself. Oh, and also that Kayako was obsessed with Peter. Remember Peter? Killed himself at the beginning of the movie? Yeah, him.
This is Kayako... damn, creepy. I hate those contortionist movements, it's what creeps me out. Apparently, the actress used her ballet skills to help her with all her movements. Proof positive that ballet = evil.
So, Karen goes to share the info with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, he has left a note in case she returns, saying he went to find her at the house. When she arrives, she experiences a residual memory of the house - walking through it behind Peter as he discovers the bodies of Toshio, Kayako, and her husband. When the memory fades, the house returns to its creepy state and Doug grabs her foot before she can leave. In an attempt to flee, she tries to drag him out, but crawls down the stairs and holds onto him.
Well... Karen realizes that she can't win. No one can. So she decides to burn the house down. While she is still inside. Somehow, she escapes or is rescued. We don't see it. Unfortunately... it is not the end.
Go forth in fear!
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