If you're looking for a good scare this Halloween season, "The Grudge," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Bill Pullman, is your flick.
It's not a jumpy scare, but more of a tense, anxious scare. It's a very gripping film - as in you will be gripping your seat or hugging your knees the whole movie.
"The Grudge" is a remake of a Japanese horror film, "Ju-on." However, unlike "The Ring," this Japanese film has been remade for the United States with its original director, Takashi Shimizu.
The movie explains that a curse results when someone dies in a "grip of powerful rage." The curse spreads like a virus, stalking its victims, until it kills them.
The movie follows the lives of several different people who have all been inside the same house and encountered the grudge.
Gellar plays Karen, a college student studying abroad in Tokyo. Karen volunteers at a care center and goes to a house to take care of an elderly woman. While there, Karen meets more than just an old woman.
Fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" should not expect Gellar to turn around and kick some tail. Gellar has no superpowers in this movie; she is just a normal, helpless girl.
At times, line delivery is poor, but there is not much dialogue anyway. Most of the acting calls for fearful looks at the camera, screams and running away.
Pullman's character is brought into the drama when he receives letters from someone claiming to be an old friend. Unfortunately for him, he decides to look up this friend from his past.
Shimizu made a few alterations to the original script to better fit American movie-goers. Despite the changes, not all is explained. The movie seems to go straight from the climax to the ending credits.
Still, the images from the movie are haunting and disturbing. You might not jump out of your chair; but later, when you crawl into bed, you'll think of "The Grudge" and opt to sleep with the lights on.
