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30-536: The Grudge is a 2004 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu , written by Stephen Susco , and produced by Sam Raimi , Robert Tapert , and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge , it is the first installment in The Grudge film series . It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar , Jason Behr , KaDee Strickland , Clea DuVall , and Bill Pullman . Takako Fuji , Yuya Ozeki, and Takashi Matsuyama portray

60-656: A ghost... psychological horror, on the other hand, does not involve violations of physical law, but features naturalistic (if often implausible) menaces and scenarios." Paul Meehan also distinguishes supernatural horror films from psychological horror, "The threat to societal order comes from something preternatural or anomalous: a haunted house, a curse, or a monster like a vampire or a werewolf." Charles Derry, writing in Dark Dreams 2.0 , contrasted supernatural horror and pseudoscientific horror as "two basic methods of explaining things away" in horror stories. Derry wrote, "Into

90-567: A movie that came out only two years ago... it's a tough obstacle to overcome." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "A convoluted plot makes it hard for the viewer to track the action and to become involved with any of the characters, including Gellar's perfectly nice, perfectly ordinary student. This makes it all the harder to go along with all the haunted house horrors that ensnare her". He ended his review with, " The Grudge

120-423: Is The Exorcist (1973). It has an unadjusted gross of over $ 441 million with the original release and 2000 re-release combined; the estimated adjusted gross in 2019 is over $ 1.04 billion . The highest-grossing supernatural horror film, unadjusted for inflation, is It (2017) with a worldwide gross of $ 701 million . In 2013, Variety ' s Andrew Stewart said supernatural horror films grossed more at

150-874: Is a fairly faithful adaptation of Shimizu's Ju-On , which in turn was based on his direct-to-video version, which in turn also spawned a direct-to-video sequel. More than anything, The Grudge suggests that it's time for Shimizu to move on. Scott Foundas from Variety wrote, "Project might have been more successful if Shimizu had style and/or atmosphere to substitute for his canned scares, cardboard compositions and flaccid cutting". Supernatural horror film For such films and other media, critics distinguish supernatural horror from psychological horror . Mathias Clasen writes in Why Horror Seduces , "Supernatural horror involves some kind of suspension or breach of physical law, usually embodied in or caused by some kind of supernatural agency such as an uncanny monster or

180-469: Is killed by Yoko's jawless corpse. Kayako begins haunting Karen, who informs her boyfriend Doug of the situation. Karen researches the house, eventually confronting Nakagawa, who explains that the curse consumed three of his colleagues investigating the Saeki deaths. That night, Nakagawa carries gasoline into the house to burn it down but is killed by Takeo. Karen races there after learning Doug has ventured to

210-625: The Motion Picture Production Code (or the Hays Code). The Haunting featured a female protagonist interested in another woman, and she was a queer coded character. Such characters were commonplace in the history of supernatural horror films. Sue Matheson wrote of Rosemary's Baby , "[It] popularized depictions of witchcraft, demonic activity, and the Devil on screen and generated a wave of supernatural horror movies." By

240-685: The University of Notre Dame in 1995 and from USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1999. Susco appears as a character in Jonathan Maberry 's Ghost Road Blues trilogy, alongside Ken Foree , Jim O'Rear , Tom Savini , and Debbie Rochon . Susco also wrote the 2008 film Red and then he wrote Texas Chainsaw 3D , which released in 2013 by Lionsgate . He wrote the storybook to the Paramount Pictures project The Butcherhouse Chronicles . He also co-wrote and co-produced

270-567: The original film , was hired to direct The Grudge , from a screenplay by Stephen Susco . Sam Raimi produced through its Ghost House Pictures banner, alongside Robert Tapert and Takashige Ichise. Principal photography on the film began on January 26, 2004, with reshoots occurring in July 2004 in Tokyo, Japan . Sarah Michelle Gellar filmed her scenes in Tokyo within three months before returning for

300-434: The 1970s, the films The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976) revived the supernatural horror genre. Literature was used as source material like with the earliest films, with the written works of Stephen King being adapted into Carrie (1976) and The Shining (1980). The film Poltergeist (1982) was also a genre highlight in the 1980s. In the 2000s, violent horror films called " torture porn " were popular. By

330-423: The Saeki house to look for her. She finds Doug paralyzed and attempts to flee with him. Kayako crawls down the stairs and latches onto Doug, who dies of shock. As Kayako closes in, Karen sees the gasoline and ignites it. Karen survives and in the hospital, she learns that the house also survived the fire. Visiting Doug's body, Karen realizes that Kayako still haunts her. Takashi Shimizu , the director and creator of

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360-804: The Spanish Civil War, Colombian armed conflict, and Guatemalan genocide, respectively. Films like Host (2020) reflected contemporary fears, with The Others (2001) and Insidious (2010) revisiting haunted house narratives, and The Conjuring (2013) grounding its story in real-life paranormal investigations. The genre also blended horror with comedy, as in Housebound (2014) and Extra Ordinary (2019), to explore similar themes. The films employed various techniques, such as jump-scares, tension-building, and emotive performances, to examine deep-rooted fears and societal issues. The highest-grossing supernatural horror film, adjusted for inflation,

390-726: The United States and Canada, with $ 76.9 in other territories, for worldwide total of $ 187.3 million. The Grudge was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on VHS, DVD, and UMD on February 1, 2005. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in the US on May 24, 2009. The film made $ 9.24 million from DVD sales in its first week, debuting at #2 in the sales chart behind Ray . On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 41% of 163 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "There's some creepy imagery to be found, but not much in

420-473: The Williams family from America moved into the Saeki house for Matt's job. While Matt is thrilled with the house, his wife Jennifer and dementia-ridden mother Emma feel uncomfortable, the former experiencing culture shock and feeling lost as she can't speak Japanese, and the latter sensing that something is wrong with the house. The curse quickly consumes Matt and Jennifer. Matt's sister Susan is also haunted, as

450-403: The bodies in the house, Kayako's ghost hangs him with her hair. After receiving a letter from Kayako, Peter visits the Saeki house only to find her and Takeo's corpses and Toshio's ghost. Shocked and horrified, he flees the scene and commits suicide the next day. The remainder of the Saeki family rises again as restless ghosts due to the curse, notably Kayako, who appears as an onryō . In 2004,

480-1063: The box office than other horror sub-genres. He advised that filmmakers interested in tapping into the profitable market of low-budget horror should focus more on stories about ghosts and the supernatural, as movies about slashers and extreme horror tend to have less consistent commercial success. Joe Tompkins wrote that following the 1950s, many "Gothic and supernatural horror movies utilize dissonance, atonality, and unusual configurations of instruments to signify all sorts of anomalous, paranormal activity". He wrote that Black Sunday (1960) and The Haunting (1963) "make use of atonal clusters, which operate in sharp contrast to tonal music and thus provide antagonistic symbols for supernatural evil and good (respectively)". He also highlighted that The Amityville Horror (1979) and Poltergeist (1982) "employ various thematic materials ranging from soft-sounding lullabies to atonal outbursts". According to Janet K. Halfyard, supernatural horror-comedy films deploy various strategies to using music "to simultaneously locate

510-400: The ceilings to claim Emma. Alex arrives at the house and finds Emma dead and Karen in shock. He calls the police, who come with Detective Nakagawa. In the attic, Nakagawa and his partner Igarashi find Matt and Jennifer's bodies, along with a human's lower jaw. Meanwhile, Susan is pursued by Kayako around her office building. At home, Kayako attacks her and she vanishes. While leaving work, Alex

540-523: The characters Kayako Saeki , Toshio Saeki , and Takeo Saeki from the original films. The plot is told through a nonlinear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots . The Grudge was released in North America by Sony Pictures Releasing on October 22, 2004, and grossed $ 187.3 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews from critics. The Grudge is a curse, born when someone dies in extreme rage or sorrow, and lingers where

570-411: The curse follows her back into her apartment. Yoko, a care worker, arrives at the house to find Emma alone before she encounters Kayako, who drags her up into the attic. Concerned about Yoko's disappearance, her employer Alex sends another care worker, Karen Davis , to take over the care of Emma. Karen discovers Toshio sealed up in a wardrobe at the house and later witnesses Kayako's spirit descending from

600-534: The dominant cinematic mode of the genre between the release of Dracula (1931) and House of Dracula (1945). In the early 1940s, supernatural horror films had more contemporary settings, but the genre was ultimately superseded by psychological horror films. By the end of World War II, the supernatural horror genre "met its demise", being overshadowed by the atrocities of the war. By the 1950s, science fiction horror films had replaced supernatural horror films, and psychological horror films also became more popular in

630-829: The end of the decade, supernatural horror reclaimed their popularity. The found footage film The Blair Witch Project had achieved fame in 1999, and in the late 2000s, Paranormal Activity succeeded with the same film technique, which led to a film series that lasted until the mid-2010s. In the first two decades of 21st century, supernatural horror films explored a variety of themes and styles. Movies like Martyrs Lane (2021) focused on grief and loss, while Oculus (2013), Personal Shopper (2016), and Hereditary (2018) explored unfinished family business and personal trauma. The genre also incorporated real historical events, as seen in The Devil's Backbone (2001), Los Silencios (2018), and La Llorona (2019), which draw on

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660-483: The film within—or at least close to—the horror genre, while at the same time encouraging the audience to laugh instead of scream". Stephen Susco Stephen Susco (born October 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for writing horror films such as The Grudge , The Grudge 2 , and Texas Chainsaw 3D . His directorial debut film, Unfriended: Dark Web , had its premiere at SXSW on March 9, 2018. Susco graduated from

690-412: The fragmented time structure and said he "eventually lost all patience". Brian Rentschler of Screen Rant gave an overall positive review but in the end, unfavorably compared the film to The Ring , writing: "Writer/director Takashi Shimizu (who also wrote and directed the original) does a decent job of setting the mood of the film and (to a lesser extent) developing the storyline, but to be so similar to

720-496: The person dies. Those who encounter it will die, and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passing from victim to victim in an endless growing chain of horror. In 2001, Kayako Saeki , a housewife in Tokyo, is in love with her college professor, Peter Kirk, obsessively writing about him in a diary. Her jealous husband Takeo discovers the diary, and believes Kayako is having an affair. In a fit of rage, he brutally murders her, their young son Toshio , and their pet cat Mar. After Takeo hides

750-417: The reshoots. The Grudge was theatrically released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on October 22, 2004, and opened at 3,348 theaters. The film generated $ 39.1 million in ticket sales in its first weekend (October 22–24), exceeding the expectations of box-office analysts and Sony Pictures executives. Ticket sales declined 43% on the second weekend, earning $ 21.8 million. It grossed $ 110.4 million in

780-490: The same decade, ultimately eclipsing supernatural horror. The few supernatural horror films that were produced in the 1950s were often set in haunted houses , a continuation of haunted-house films prevalent in the 1940s. In the 1960s, horror films like The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963), and Rosemary's Baby (1968) used supernatural elements but were not directly about the paranormal. Other horror films used supernatural themes to code elements being censored by

810-428: The supernatural group one could fit all the monsters and horrors that are somehow involved with religions and ritual," highlighting witchcraft, Egyptology and reincarnation, and zombies. Aaron Smuts considers horror "to be a genre with two main sub-types, supernatural horror and realist horror" and that they "have different charms". While fictional horror-themed literature, theatre, and other visual culture had existed,

840-467: The supernatural such as The Gray Ghost (1917) with no actual narratives involving supernatural events. The supernatural horror film had what author Paul Meehan described as "its genesis" in early German expressionism in the 1920s and early 1930s with films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu . During the Universal Studios first horror film cycle, supernatural horror was

870-417: The terms "horror film" and "horror movie" as known in a contemporary term did not become common place until 1931 and 1932. Film serials became popular in the United States in 1913. Supernatural events and characters in 1910s film serials were rare. Only two serials explored the supernatural at length, with The Mysteries of Myra (1916) and The Screaming Shadow (1920) while most serials which suggested

900-499: The way of logic or truly jarring scares." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one star out of four, writing "I'm not sure how most of the scenes fit into the movie. I do, however, understand the underlying premise: There is a haunted house, and everybody who enters it will have unspeakable things happen to them." He criticized

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