Ju-On: The curse of the one who dies in the grip of a powerful rage.
Word of warning...do not try to watch
Ju-On: The Grudge if you are tired or do not feel you can focus on it. If you do this, you will be confused and probably disappointed with the movie. Consider yourself forewarned...
Having said that, Ju-On: The Grudge seemed to me to be a film that had many different layers. The first layer was about a haunted house, the second layer was about possession, the third layer seemed to be a Japanese urban legend. At first I couldn't quite follow where Ju-On: The Grudge was going and to be quite honest, I had a hard time differentiating between the female characters. That was, until I realized that the writing that was flashing between scenes was actually character names. I was thick. It was one of those cases of looking around the entire house for your glasses then realizing they were on top of your head the whole time. Duh!
Once I got over my character hurdles, I watched
Ju-On: The Grudge a second time. I thought that would clear up a lot for me, but it still left me confused. This could be due to the fact that the movie jutted back and forth in time without letting you know what time frame you were in. Perhaps a third viewing would clear things up even more. It is just a little more work than the film may be worth.
Another problem is that when I watched the film I couldn't help but wonder why each victim of the grudge didn't just walk away from the ghost? They seemed to just sit and wait to be overcome. Maybe it is a Japanese thing not to disrespect the ghosts? You know, just like taking off the shoes when walking into the house. To be honest, if I walked into a house that messy, I think I would be afraid to take my shoes off. Especially after Rika saw what was left on Mrs. Sachie's mat...gross.
It scared me that the ghost "followed" people and got it's vengeance no matter where they tried to hide. The kid in the movie was just freak-a-delic. Every time I saw him come on screen it just brought goose bumps to my skin. He seemed to be a warning or a prelude of the horror to come.
If I were rating this movie on a scale of 1-10, after the first viewing I would have given it a 3 ½ ; after the second viewing a 6 ½. Maybe I need to watch the film a third time and the rating will go higher? I don't think so however, because the time line was just very hard to follow. I did really enjoy the look of the movie, but the story - or rather the telling of it - seemed to lack a little for me.
Ju-On: The Grudge Cast and Credits
Directed by
Takashi Shimizu
Writing credits
Takashi Shimizu
Cast (in credits order)
Megumi Okina .... Rika Nishina
Misaki Ito .... Hitomi Tokunaga
Misa Uehara .... Izumi Toyama
Yui Ichikawa .... Chiharu
Kanji Tsuda .... Katsuya Tokunaga
Kayoko Shibata .... Mariko
Yukako Kukuri .... Miyuki
Shuri Matsuda .... Kazumi Tokunaga
Yoji Tanaka .... Yûji Toyama
Takashi Matsuyama .... Saeki Takeo
Yuya Ozeki .... Toshio
Takako Fuji .... Kayako
Chikara Ishikura .... Hirohashi
Chikako Isomura .... Sachie, Katsuya's mother
Daisuke Honda .... Detective Igarashi
Hirokazu Inoue .... Detective Nakagawa
Tomomi Kobayashi .... Izumi (shôgakkôsei)
Aki Fujî .... Yôko Toyama
Risa Odagiri .... Saori
Akira Saito .... Sekine-sensei
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wendee Lee .... Rika (voice: English version)
Michelle Ruff .... Hitomi (voice: English version)
Hideo SakakiMore Ju-On: The Grudge Reviews and Information
Ju-On The Grudge Movie Official Site from Lions Gate FilmsReviews and Information on Ju-On: The Grudge from The Internet Movie Database
