Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in the remake of The Grudge (Columbia Pictures)
The Grudge (opening October 22 throughout San Diego) is the first American remake of a popular Asian film to actually employ the director of the original film. The Grudge is a remake of the Japanese horror or J-horror film, Ju-On directed by Takashi Shimizu. The title refers to a curse born of a grudge held by someone who dies in the grip of powerful anger. This evil presence gathers in the places frequented by the person in life, and it can be lethal to anyone unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. And each time it claims a new victim, it perpetuates itself even more forcefully.The remake is produced by American horror-meister Sam Raimi, and the decision was made not to transplant the story to America. The setting would remain in Japan and many of the original people involved would also repeat their duties: Takashi Shimizu would again direct, Taka Ichise would serve as a producer, and Takako Fuji and Yuya Ozeki would repeat their roles as the specters in the film. But American characters—and stars—would be added. So the resulting story now has Sarah Michelle Gellar (of Buffy fame) as Karen, a foreign exchange student volunteering at a care center in Tokyo to earn community service credits at school. She’s sent to check in on an older woman (Grace Zabriskie) whose regular caretaker has disappeared. When Karen arrives at the house, she not only finds the woman but also discovers a small boy who’s been shut up in the closet. The boy is cut and bleeding, and says his name is Toshiro (Yuya Ozeki). After some more strange occurrences, Karen encounters the dark, evil spirit that inhabits the house and the next thing she knows, the woman is dead.
