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[Ecrofirt]

I watched this movie today. Would someone care to explain the damn movie to me? It didn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

[Eggo]

No, it doesn't make sense, which is my one gripe I had with the movie. Some memorable scenes in it, but with no plot to hold it together, it's a bit of a letdown overall. I will still probably buy this movie though. The sequel makes about as much sense too (assuming you are talking about the theatrical releases and not the television, haven't seen those). Also check out The Eye, a creepy Japanese movie with a more cohesive story line.

 

[Ecrofirt]

I thought The Eye was a let down, but no where near as much as The Grudge.

There was no resolve or anything. The ending didn't seem to have any point.

 

[yoshifumi]

edit: ok i'm retarded

 

[yoshifumi]

so is the grudge that's coming out soon an american remake, or the original, and what the hell is it?

 

[BugCatcher]

This movie creeped me out, but it didn't make sense to me, either. I enjoyed it a lot more than Juon 2.

 

[fart]

it's just a bunch of horror vignettes involving a haunted curse/house thing

i am looking forward to the remake with ms gellar.

 

[Tainty]

I watched this movie... at 11pm... in the dark... on my projector..... it made my hate my staircase.

 

[mrkapawutzis]

It doesn't make sense because it uses a non-linear narrative. Rewatch with this in mind and it begins to make a lot of sense. Besides, the story isn't as important as the ambience, this is true for most horror movies.

 

[Particle Physicist]

i saw a preview of the "american version" and it looks awesome.. its too bad the title The Grudge sounds kinda stupid in english .

 

[El Papa]

The Eye is a Hong Kong movie, they are speaking Cantonese the whole time, except for the small english parts at the end. The ending of The Grudge is what I didn't understand, but the entire movie before is pretty easy to follow once you understand that it's not in chronological order, like the second chapter about the guy and his wife (Hiromi) actually happens first, the chapter with the social worker volunteer (Rika) happens the next day. Izumi's chapter acutally happens last, if you listen at the beginning of Izumui's chapter, you can hear the news caster girl say that Rika was found dead in the house that day.

Here's the breakdown of the basic plot, my friend who works at a chinese video store and watches a grip and a half of ghost movies helped me understand it:

Spoiler

Basically, the house is haunted by the spirits of the 3 people, the kid, wife and husband. The husband flipped out because he thought the wife cheated on him and that the kid was not his, so chop/slice, wife sashimi. Then he gets wacked by a car outside in his rage, his spirit sticks around. Asian beliefs about ghosts and such is that if you die with strong emotion about something, like grief or rage, or if you left something really important unfinished it consumes you and it doesn't let you go to the ghost world until the curse is broken or the deed is accomplished. You can see the thing kinda playing out again with the new owners. The wife (I think Hirumi) gets scared shitless and goes comatose, then the husband finds her and freaks, see the ghost kid, gets sorta possesed/influenced by the spirit of the murdering ghost husband. The interesting part is that Rika the volunteer actually lets the curse continue. Remember when she untapped the closet door and let out the cat/kid? The young husband was the one that originally taped it shut. His and hirumi's chapter happens first chronologically. So eventually everyone who is connected with the house in some way falls victim to it's malice. The only way to break the curse according to my taiwanese friend the ghost movie expert is usually to help the ghost in some way, or in this case burn the house down. The retired cop almost got it done. Rika almost did too, but the husband got her at the end. The ghost wife, Kayako, does most of the killing, but actaully wants help, she is afraid of the husbands spirit still. That's why at the end you see the wife as she actually was, with the whole hand over the face thing. Unfortunately for Rika, she stayed too long and the husband ghost got her. The husband's rage and the wife's grief is the driving force of the curse, hence the name of the movie.

That was rather long. The movie makes a lot more sense when you watch it a second time, but it still requires some knowledge of asian ghost superstition/lore to fully grasp and appreciate it.

 

[Trevelyon]

Spoiler

'Unfortunately for Rika, she stayed too long and the husband ghost got her. The husband's rage and the wife's grief is the driving force of the curse, hence the name of the movie.'

Spoiler

So.. Rika takes over the ghost spirit roll, as the ending implies? and exactly how did Izumi fit into the curse, was she ever in the house? her Dad was in the thick of things but how did Izumi and her two friends fit into it.

 

[El Papa]

Trevelyon:

Spoiler

In my opinion, Rika was sorta "imprinted" by Kayako, so in a sense, she was playing out the role of the murdered wife at the end. She had seen Kayako when she killed the old lady, the kid was always around her but didn't kill her, the scene at the end where you see Kayako as Rika when Rika passes by the mirror, then Kayako sorta comes out of Rika, she figures out the hand thing, is all innocent and all that. I think she's still an innocent victim though, I don't know if you've seen Juon 2 yet.

Izumi fits in two ways: Her dad was the retired cop that was on the first case of Kayako and her murdering husband, and he was driven mad after he tried to burn the house down. Remember that scene when he sees the light in the house as he's pouring gasoline? He saw the future, that is, Izumi and 3 of her friends checking out the house after a field trip. Izumi freaks out becuse of what she heard about the house and the feeling she gets, so she leaves and sees her dad. Then Kayako kills her friends, those 3 girls on the missing poster. So of course, her friends spirits are pissed because she left them to be killed by the ghost, that's why she gets all paranoid.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

The Eye is japanese? who the hell told me it was from Taiwan or something! Actually im pretty sure its not japanese .....

 

[El Papa]

Dude, The Eye is Hong Kong. Check my first post.

 

[Jugendstil]

Ju On's story was just kind of lame, but it did have some great scenes in it. My japanese friend told me that the student films (what she referred to them as, I always thought it was originally a made for tv movie) were even better.

 

[Eggo]

Whoops, sorry for referring to The Eye as Japanese. It's from Hong Kong. I was typing fast. If I understand my Ju-on history correctly, it was first made as a made for TV movie which got a sequel, then it was so popular it was made into a theatrical Japanese release (Ju-On the Grudge, which we are talking about here) which got a sequel theatrical release. Now, they're doing the fifth Ju-on movie, the American remake with Sarah Michelle Gellar.