The Grudge

Sarah Michelle Gellar. Takashi Shimizu, dir (based on his characters and drawn from his original Japanese film Ju-On) 2004, Sam Raimi/Columbia Pictures/Ghost House Pictures.

Apart from the eeriness of the movie, the Gellar parts I kept thinking that Scooby and Shaggy were going to come traipsing in at any time.

Which really detracts from the film, sadly, because the rest of it is rather macabre. Interesting take on the skipping back and forth through the timeline, because I had to view it a second time to determine the plot. Note: there's a space of 3 years, but in the present time, which you might think the action is separated by several years, really only takes place over the space of a few days.

However, the theme of the piece is intriguing - that of a place that takes on the "stain" - of someone who died in a state of intense emotional as well as physical pain - that can transfer itself onto any living being that comes inside the place, leading them to suicide or something even more gruesome. That definitely is an idea worth being explored.

That, and I'm finding a similarity in tone with the horror movies of Japan - this one reminded me of The Ring and The Eye (which is Chinese, I know!) - so let's just say that Asian horror movies seem to explore more of the emotional aspects of horror, whereas the American ones simply deal with dismemberment.

Oh yeah - and this movie also suffers from "creepy child" syndrome - which always freaks me out. But other than that, this is more of a psychological thriller rather than a scare-you-outta-yer-pants.

Also, Bill Pullman . . . speaks Japanese. Only a couple of lines, but it sounds cool anyway.


VG