"The Grudge," directed by Takashi Shimizu and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, gives the viewer two things: goose bumps and sleepless nights. It's the ghost flick that keeps on scaring, thanks to two freaky looking dead people.
The film is a Hollywood remake of the Japanese thriller "Ju-On," also directed by Shimizu. This version goes beyond the standard number of scares found in modern horror films, separating it from the herd.
Karen (Gellar) is studying abroad in Japan as a home care nurse so she can be with her architecture student boyfriend Doug (Jason Behr). She becomes caught in a nightmare when she is assigned to visit an old zombie-like woman residing in a middle-class haunted house. The pre-credits explain: "When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is born." Karen soon discovers a web of murders and disappearances that seem to be related to the lingering spirits of a family murdered in the same home years earlier.
People who thought "The Ring" was a hair-raiser will think this "The Grudge" is far scarier. Most horror films these days resort to jolting frights accompanied by loud noises, but this one gives the sort of suspense that permeates all 96 of its minutes. The opening scene grabs the viewer instantly by showing brief cuts of what can be expected from the film.
Despite its capacity to terrify, the film has its faults. The cast does the best they can given their modest set. The script is not that well written and, at times, the dialogue between characters is too short, leading to confusion about the plot. Gellar is the star attraction, but she does not make her presence felt as well as she did in her past horror films, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scream 2."
The ghosts keep the film rolling along on their own and it makes the spectators wonder who is next to die. In this film, there is only one rule: Run for dear life.
Dry humor is discretely slipped into many of the scenes, giving necessary comic relief to ease the tension. There are humorous moments when the viewer can sense imminent doom. A woman in distress asks for help from a hopeless security guard whose only mode of protection is a battery-powered flashlight. A woman tries hiding under her bed covers, as if the ghosts aren't going to get around to looking there.
The sound effects attribute largely to not knowing what is going to come next. As in all horror movies, the music aids in the suspense. In "The Grudge," the "scary theme" plays just about every 30 seconds, making the encounters that much more frightening. The original sounds that came out of the ghosts are the finest point in the sound effects. These sounds will be imbedded in the viewer's heads for a long time to come and reoccur every time a phone rings.
This film is definitely worth seeing, perhaps with a date on Halloween night. "The Grudge" scares its audience and succeeds in defining what a horror film is all about. The viewer is forced to succumb to the terrifying nature of "The Grudge" as though it were a reality.
After viewing the film, still-horrified people were pouring out of the theater commenting on how they felt.
"After seeing this movie, I will definitely be looking over my shoulders for the next few days," said UB student Margot Seidman.
