Not since The Ring - a movie that can definitely be called a kissin' cousin to The Grudge - have I been so thoroughly spooked by a movie. (As an aside - before The Ring the creepiest, most chilling movie I'd ever seen was The Changeling, a 1980 chiller starring George C. Scott. I highly recommend you check this movie out if you like the two more recent films I'm talking about.)
Much Japanese culture that's currently popular in America I don't necessarily get into. I'm not interested in Manga, or anime, or hentai, for god's sake. But if movies like The Ring and The Grudge are any indication of a growing influence by Japanese directors and writers on Hollywood, particularly horror movies, then I say import more ideas and do more re-makes, because directors like Takashi Shimizu, the director and original screenwriter for The Grudge, make horror movies good again.
What's so good? The storytelling, for one thing. The tale is told in non-linear fashion, and in a lesser creator's hands this would have made it a confusing, annoying experience. In Shimizu's hands it's like a beautifully well-designed, engrossing puzzle. He unveils layer after terrifying layer with the skill of a magician, each scene transition perfectly timed to let you absorb what you've just learned before.
The acting by all involved is good, perhaps a little better than average for any horror flick - Sarah Michelle Gellar is billed as the star, but it feels more like an ensemble film by the end, not a star vehicle. Nuanced performances by Ryo Ishibashi as a Tokyo homicide detective and Bill Pullman in a surprisingly small but crucial role add to the ensemble feel. Izumi first created and filmed this movie in 2000 in Japan under the title Ju-on, and it's easy to tell by this equalizing of the importance of each role that he is firmly guiding the movie in favor of the story, and not concerned with making a star vehicle.
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1 - tasha
sarah michelle geller is a hard working strong woman who is a role model to young women everywhere