“The Grudge” (Sony Pictures)
What is it about Sarah Michelle Geller She isn’t the most beautiful woman in Hollywood; she isn’t the best actress in Hollywood. But there is that indefinable something that draws audiences to her movies. Her latest effort, “The Grudge,” is a prime example.
In “The Grudge” Geller plays Karen Davis, an American living and studying in Japan. One of her courses involves working with “shut-ins.” She goes to where Emma Williams (Grace Zabriskie) lives and that is where her troubles begin. It seems something horrible has happened at this house and anyone who comes into contact with it suffers a horrible fate.
Karen wants to get to the bottom of “the mystery” and to do this she goes into places in the house where she should not be. This is the kind of movie where people wander up into attics or into darkened rooms, knowing they shouldn’t be there alone but always plowing on when common sense should tell them to stay away.
There is enough suspense to make this the perfect movie for the Halloween season. But it isn’t horrific enough to turn off a portion of the audience. You might feel a little bit afraid but it isn’t severe.
Geller plays her role believably and Jason Behr is also satisfactory as her fianc’. Zabriskie is a standout as usual as the bedridden Emma. William Mapother, Tom Cruise’s cousin, plays Emma’s son Matthew, and Clea DuVall plays his wife. KaDee Strickland plays Emma’s daughter Susan. Bill Pullman and Rosa Blasi play a couple who appear at the start of the film. So you can see there is a lot of acting talent connected with this movie.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
“The Grudge” is an Americanized version of the Japanese film “Ju-On,” which was directed by Takashi Shimizu. He also directed this new version of his film. He has managed to make the simple act of walking through a door a menacing event.
There are a lot of elements of the plot left unresolved. This frustrates the viewer and robs the film of some of its entertainment value BUT it also causes the viewer to ponder the film for long hours after it is over.
I scored “The Grudge” a hardheaded 5 out of 10.
