Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6733 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's not the scary hit that The Ring was in 2002, but The Grudge makes a similarly convincing case for American remakes of popular Japanese horror films. Barely a year passed between the release of Takashi Shimizu's creepy ghost story Ju-On: The Grudge and the production of this American remake, set in Tokyo and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar in her first post-Buffy horror film. About the only significant difference between the two films is the importing of a mostly-American cast (including Bill Pullman, Clea DuVall and Grace Zabriskie), but The Grudge was reconfigured (by screenwriter Stephen Susco) to allow Shimizu to refine and improve the spookiest highlights of his earlier version, which enjoyed previous incarnations as a short film and two made-for-Japanese-video features. Surprising box-office analysts with a $40 million opening weekend, The Grudge may disappoint hard-core horror fans because it lacks gore and graphic violence, but as a creepy tale about a very haunted house, it's guaranteed to send a few chills up your spine. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
A remake of the Japanese horror hit Ju-on (widely considered to be one of the scariest movies ever made), The Grudge is helmed by its original director Takeshi Shimizu. Like its predecessor, this Hollywood version of the film takes place in Tokyo, but most of the main characters are American, including Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), a young social worker, and her peers. When Karen enters a seemingly abandoned home to look after a mentally disturbed resident, she soon discovers that there's an evil - and very aggressive - presence in the house, and it's lashing out at every person that sets foot inside. Having directed both the original Ju-on and its sequel in Japan, Shimizu was very familiar with his own tale of terror by the time he directed its 2004 incarnation. Using many of the key actors from the previous films (including Takako Fuji and Yuya Ozeki who have unforgettable roles), Shimizu recreates the story with the added advantage of a Hollywood budget (acquired with the help of producer Sam Raimi of Spider-Man fame, who is also a noted horror-movie director). As with many Japanese horror films (particularly the original Ring, which strongly influences this movie), The Grudge relies on atmosphere over plot, resulting a series of utterly chilling moments that will leave viewers fascinated and unbelievably frightened.

Customer Reviews

Genuinely scary film!
I was a little sceptical of this film before seeing it as I thought that it was trying to ride on the back of the ring and similar films that have been hits in Japan and then remade for the western audience; however I'm pleased to say that this film did exactly what it said on the tin; scared me!

I must of seen a thousand 'scary' movies and it has to be said that only about 2 or 3 percent of them were actually scary. This is one of those rare releases. It will make you jump, and it will probably dissuade you from going downstairs in the dark for a late night cup of cocoa!

The cast play out the film well, but as with most horrors, there's little chance of any oscars being thrown their way. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy, IKWYD Last Summer, Scooby Doo) plays Karen, an exchange student who volunteers at a care centre. She gets assigned to a patient whose normal carer has not turned up for work that day. Once she gets to the house of the patient she finds the patient collapsed on the floor, with the place looking a tip. Her life will never be the same again! Ted Raimi (whose been in everything from Evil Dead to Candyman to Wishmaster to the Spiderman movies) plays a rather geeky manager, he appears to be the manager of the care center where Karen works. He doesn't add much to this movie and it seems as though he was an afterthought in the writer or directors mind...he's not so convincing as the other characters which include Jason Behr (from the TV series 'Roswell') as Karen's boyfriend Doug, and William Mapother (Minority Report, Vanilla Sky, Swordfish, Mission Impossible II) as Matthew Williams.

The whole movie shifts about in time, we start at one point, then at the end of that scene, we switch to a few days earlier, then we switch to another time, then another time...but it's not done in a complicated 'Donnie Darko' way, it's easy enough to follow the movie.

If you're looking for a thought provoking, intellectual movie, this isn't for you.

If you're looking for a horror that's got plenty of irony, sarcasm and wit in it...this film also isn't for you.

This film is for those that just want plain horror and something to make you and your mates jump!

I enjoyed this movie, it was refreshing to find a horror movie that did it's job. :)

Baz

The Scariest Film I Have Ever Ever Seen
I have searched high and low for a good scary horror film. I watched Japanese versions and US versions of The Ring. Not Scared. I watched every horror film going, nothing really got me. Then I saw this at the cinema. I am never ever looking for a scary film again. This frightened me so much that I had to sleep with the lights on for days and I had a nightmare about it 2 weeks after seeing it, and no, I am not a wimp or generally of a nervous disposition. It is NOT the cleverest film in the world, the basic plot concerns your average haunted house farce with maybe an attempt at a storyline that doesnt really explain itself. The acting is not the best either, but then it doesnt take much skill to act terrified when a scary ghost making horrible horrible noises is chasing you through a house. After watching this, lifts, empty office buildings, stairs, old houses, buses and many other places will become out of bounds to you. I am especially scared of attics now.
After i saw the Ring, Iwatched the Japanese version as someone told me it really frightened them. It didnt. However, I wont be venturing into Blockbuster to rent out the original of this. Ever.

Terrifying!!!!
This has to be one of the most terrifying movies I have ever seen. Like a few other reviewers I don't understand why so many people have rated it so poorly. I couldn't sleep for ages and wouldn't stay in my flat on my own! Not a blood and guts movie, this is more the sort of film where nightmare situations involving the supernatural become reality. This film will stay with you for a very long time, do not watch it alone!