Ju-On: The Grudge Movie Review 2003

This is the third in the Shimizu's Japanese horror series, following "Ju-On: The Curse" and "Jun-On 2: The Curse 2," which all revolve around (in a convoluted manner) a horrific event occurring in the same house. Social worker Rika (Okina) discovers her elderly patient mute, terrified, and alone. Then Rika finds a ghostly boy hiding in a closet--the victim of previous violence. Premise is that great rage leaves an evil presence behind, which drives new inhabitants mad and causes them to commit more acts of violence, leaving more evil behind. Or something like that. Lots of interlocking flashbacks and intermittent shocks. Best left to fanciers of Asian horror; Japanese with subtitles. The 2004 American remake, "The Grudge," holds no surprises.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 92 minutes.
Originally from Japanese.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Supernatural Horror, Tokyo, Homicide, Ghosts, Ghouls, & Goblins, Cats

Screenplay

Takashi Shimizu

Cast

Misa Uehara, Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Yuya Ozeki, Takako Fuji

Cinematography

Tokusho Kikumura

Director

Takashi Shimizu

Music

Shiro Sato

Other

Masato Komatsu, Nobuyuki Takahashi, Toshiharu Tokiwa

Producer

Taka Ichise, Tom Hulce, Lions Gate Films