Movies - The Grudge

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	Movies - The Grudge

The Grudge is an American horror/thriller film released in 2004 (see 2004 in film), a remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge
(2003). It is directed by Takashi Shimizu, who wrote and directed the original film, while Stephen Susco scripted the remake. In the same tradition as the original, the story is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots. In the upcoming 2006 film, Scary Movie 4
, The Grudge will be parodied in many ways.

Plot

The Grudge is the curse of one who dies in the grip of a powerful rage. Those who encounter this murderous supernatural curse die and a new one is born, passed from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror.

The Saeki Family and Peter Kirk

A young Japanese woman, Kayako Saeki (Takako Fuji), is unhappy in her marriage to her husband, Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama), and slowly develops an unhealthy obsession with an American college professor, Peter Kirk (Bill Pullman), who is working in Tokyo. Despite the knowledge that he, unlike her, is happily married, Kayako continues to hold a torch for this man that she does not know, and keeps a secret diary which she uses to chronicle her fantasies about him. She stalks him regularly, and even sends him love letters informing him of her feelings. When she returns home one day, she discovers, to her horror, that her husband has read her diary, and knows all about her affection towards the other man. In the grip of a powerful rage, Takeo brutally murders his helpless wife, along with their young son, Toshio (Yuya Ozeki), by drowning him along with his beloved pet cat. Upon arrival at the Saeki residence, Peter finds Toshio seemingly alive but bruised and shaken, and then discovers Kayako's body stuffed into a crawlspace in the attic upstairs. He instantly leaves the house in a state of shock. The next morning, in front of his wife, Maria (Rosa Blasi), he commits suicide by jumping off the balcony just outside his apartment.

The Williams Family

After he is given a promotion by his superiors, Matthew Williams (William Mapother) moves to Tokyo, and takes his wife, Jennifer (Clea DuVall) with him, along with his slightly ailing mother, Emma (Grace Zabriskie). Matthew's sister, Susan (KaDee Strickland), who has been living in the city for some time, helps them in their search to pick out their new home. Matthew, Jennifer, and Susan decide on a house located in the suburbs, although Emma, however, feels a great sense of unease when she ascends the staircase to the second floor of the house. This continues when the Williams family finally move in, and Emma sleeps fitfully, while Jennifer has quickly gone off her new life in Tokyo, feeling lost and lonely as she hasn't the faintest grasp of the language, and chooses to spend most of her time in the house. One day, when Matthew is out at work, Jennifer goes to investigate some strange noises and occurrences within the house. When Matthew returns, he finds his wife laid out on their bed, struggling to breathe. A young boy appears in the bedroom and confronts him with strange cat-like sounds. Meanwhile, Susan, worried about her mother, phones the Williams residence, leaves a message on the answering machine, and prepares to leave work. As she does so, she notices she is being followed by someone, and when she manages to catch a glimpse of the woman, she leaves her workplace as quickly as possible. Thinking she is safe in her flat in the city, Susan finds out she is wrong, as the woman later appears in her home and kills her.

The Social Workers

Yoko (Yoko Maki), a young social worker, goes to the cursed house to help take care of Emma and possibly help with house cleaning. She enters the house listening to her walkman and walking around the building until she goes upstairs. There, she takes off her headphones after hearing something and looks around the room. She opens a closet at one side of the room and looks up at the top of the closet to a trap door. She opens the trap door and lights her lighter looking around in the attic until she comes apon the face of a ghostly woman and the camera cuts out to her legs shaking and spasming in the closet. (In this closet scene there is apparently a mistake in the editing where a crew member is visible in the shadows of the attic.)

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