I just saw the commercial for “The Grudge”, a new horror movie. I was just hanging out browsing the Dope when it came on. 30 seconds later I had to turn on the light, it really creeped me out for some reason…
I mean, what was that thing with the back of the girls head?
The web site is kinda creepy as well.
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge/
Slee
I had the same reaction to the commercial, sleestak, especially the part where what looks like a drowned girl’s corpse comes crawling down the stairs. I thought “JEEZ, I’m glad it’s not night and I’m not alone in the house!” It looked similar to The Ring, which I enjoyed. So I went to the website to see if I could find out anything more about the movie. Found the game and played it, and even though I couldn’t really figure out what was going on, it really freaked me out.
Does anybody know the basic plot of the movie beyond what is revealed in the trailer (i.e., “When somebody is killed in a state of [anger or terror, depending on trailer] a curse is born and it will grow until it kills you too!!!”) and is it really as scary as it looks?
Oh, and it looked to me like that thing on the back of Sarah Michelle Geller’s head was somebody’s fingers or hand.
Hey, IMDB has a thread on why this movie looks like The Ring: they’re both remakes of Japanese horror films originally made by the same producer, Taka Ichise, and use similar themes.
I’ve only seen the trailer once. I got a few chills from it. 
It looks like The Ring, I’m guessing, because both came out of Japan originally. Ju-On: the Grudge was a film that featured a sequel, and in addition, there was Ju-on: the Curse (which also had a sequel) that was made for television. I have seen parts one of each and while the stories are close, they are different enough to warrant watching each.
As far as terror goes, Ju-on: the Grudge scared the ever-living crap out of me. Even in the middle of the afternoon, I had to have the wife there with me to watch the thing, it was that creepy.
My only concern about the US version is that in the Japanese version, the movie takes place in 15-25 minute vignettes that fall out of sequential order. Having Gellar ‘star’ in the film seems to make this impossible to happen. On the bright side, the director for the Japanese version had a big hand in the creation of the US one.
Yes, [url=“http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1234345/”]he directed
[/quote]
both the Japanese original and the US remake, and was co-writer of the remake.
I think this is a great example of how jumping on a hot-selling property and milking it for all it’s worth isn’t just an American phenomenon. It happens in Asia just as much if not moreso. I haven’t seen Ju-On or The Grudge yet, but from everything I’ve heard, it’s just a near-shameless attempt to cash in on the success of Ringu.
If I’m going to be getting all sanctimonious, I really need to get my coding down. Here’s how that first sentence should’ve read:
Yes, he directedboth the Japanese original and the US remake, and was co-writer of the remake.
On a semi-related note, the guy who directed the original Japanese Ringu, Hideo Nakata, will direct the American sequel The Ring 2.
The recent oneupsmanship in Japanese horror has shaken up the horror genre like nothing since Halloween. Expect more coolness.
I read somewhere that the American Grudge is considered by the director to be another sequel, a continuation, of the previous Ju-On films. That is, the horror that began in the Japanese films has now infected the life of Gellar’s character, an American living in Japan.
If true, it’s an interesting thought, and quite a challenge, to have one film make sense for both the faithful Asian audience and the newbie American audience.
Oh, and I interpreted the thing in the back of Gellar’s head in the trailer to be a set of white fingers. shudder
They are!
Hmmm… makes much more sense than what I thought I saw. I thought it was a tiny…ass. Pasty white leprechaun ass. Fingers are, indeed, much more scarifying.
Does anybody know if the previous Ju-On films are available in the US? I looked at several of my local Borders stores, which have a pretty good selection of foreign films (that’s where I got Ringu, too), but their computers list only Ju-On: The Grudge and say it isn’t out yet. Best Buy sometimes has things like this, but I haven’t been able to check them yet…
And I’m glad other people say that the weird thing coming out of the back of SMG’s hair were fingers. Horror-wise, a leprechaun heinie just doesn’t cut it. 
The Region 1 version of Ju-On will be out on DVD on Nov. 9th and the sequel Ju-On 2 on Dec. 14th. If you have a multi region player then you can get the R3 version. The special features aren’t subtitled though.
Was SMG in the shower in that scene? 'Cause in the original version, the woman had three hands shampooing her hair (two of her hands and an extra one from the ghost).
Yeah. The scene is very similar.
Will the Region 1 version have an English dub too, or will it only be subtitled like I assume the R3 version is? I have multi-region players, but maybe I’ll just wait for the R1 version if it is significantly different.