31 Days of Halloween: Day Six

The Grudge (2004 – Rated PG-13 in the US for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality and some fucked up anger management issues)

Summary (from IMDB):

Karen Davis is an American Nurse moves to Tokyo and encounter a supernatural spirit who is vengeful and often possesses its victims. A series of horrifying and mysterious deaths start to occur, with the spirit passing its curse onto each victim. Karen must now find away to break this spell, before she becomes its next victim.

RB Wood’s Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Creepy Kids

Bill Pulman as Peter lasts only for the first few minutes of The Grudge, reminding strongly of the old Police Squad! TV Series where the guest stars died in the teaser each week. Set in Japan, the Grude is a curse formed from powerful rage that has manifested itself for years in the house where the murder/suicide of a couple occured while their young son watched.

This remake (The Japanese version– Ju-on– is much better, BTW) certainly has its scary moments and I won’t deny I jumped a few times despite seeing the setup coming.  The story is simple, but the cultural differences between Japan and America are so great that the sinister nature of a watching spirit is significantly diluted in the US.  It’s a great home rental/Netfix streamer for this Halloween and you’ll enjoy it–just don’t expect a masterpiece.

Oh, and Karen is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar…and I’ll pretty much watch her paint her nails all day and be happy.

Tomorrow: “Dummy nothin’. It was smart enough to scare me!”

Peace