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While Japan's original The Grudge was a hit in Japan in 2003, it was re-filmed again in Japan as English-speaking. It has a decent set up of an American hospice student, Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), assigned to an elderly woman named Emma (Grace Zibriskie) in a spooky house. The previous hospice student from the day before never returned... The nice house is ominous from the get-go, but Karen tries to fulfill her duties of giving care to near-mute Emma. Strange noises and past images are thrown at a terrorized though curious Karen. But leaving the house certainly does not mean the bad energy will leave Karen. No, it's not bad Karma, Karen; someone has a grudge.

Beware that this film really flips time around; the film is nonlinear. But go with it, remember a phrase a character said, and trust that the unveiling story will be more natural and interesting this way. Knowing this little bit really helped me enjoy the film's smooth pace. For 91 minutes, writer and director Takashi Shimizu certainly shows talent for his material, helped by Jeff Betancourt's deft editing. Yes, some of the scares are cliches, like someone searching a dark room when all of a sudden the piercing "Reeoooowww!!" of a thrown kitty makes you jump out of your seat. These are a cheap scares for sure and borrowed from countless other cardboard horror films, like the beginning of Friday the 13th Part 2. Still, there are more than a few stabbing jolts that, with the help of the savvy score by Christopher Young (Swordfish, The Core), gave me Goosebumps. All of the actors were well cast and performed far better than in most horror films, except for the sour gal that played William Mapother's wife.

There are some minor spoilers and existentialism ahead, and even though they don't give away as much as other reviews I've read, to avoid them you can skip this paragraph and the next. Supernatural issues in storytelling are fine as long as they have decent plausibility and are integrated with some integrity (skeptics roll your eyes; believers, you know what I mean). However, I just never bought two of this film's ideas, even with my suspension of disbelief in the stratosphere! The first is that after a victim leaves the house, a spirit follows that person. Huh? It's a dreamy concept at best. Virtually all the spiritual ghost events that I've read about - and for which most investigators concur - specify that each distinct haunting remains at a unique geographical location.

The second was that I just didn't understand if the spiritual things were simply energy or literal earthbound spirits. Since they seemed to have a will of intent, I was inclined to think of earthbound spirits. I understand that the haunting spirits' deaths were traumatic, which is certainly the overwhelming basis for reported hauntings, but why are these spirits so hateful? The ghostly past-victims were not portrayed as hateful people except for the father, but he doesn't do any haunting or killings! And I didn't understand the little boy with the black kitty cat connection. Also, the villain's immediate capture of a victim often appears too posed with lurching grimaces for the camera. This was often unnatural and emotionally disconnected from the victim. It's more of a form of posing rather than engagement. Then again, the weakness of my objections is that supernatural beings are anything but predictable. So what do I know?

Anyway, beyond the ghostly high drama, creepy scenes, and questionable motivations, this film can get a person thinking about fear and spirits. And maybe every now and then that's a good thing. I didn't expect a spectacularly wild CGI film given it's reported budget (and I was glad for that), but given the film's hype, I was hoping it would be a bit better. Still, when all is said and done, this is one of those films that makes for a wonderfully spooky rental on a dark night.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

"Mastered in High Definition," this film is presented in its theatrical 1.85:1 widescreen ratio in anamorphic video. Last week I saw this film in a still(!) near-capacity discount theater (Movies 12 in Springfield, Oregon, for $1.50, if you want to know) and was surprised that the print still looked quite good. The DVD faithfully presents the film with its slightly muted tones of dusky blues and variations of grays. The film never intended to be that vibrant except for rare occasions. Resolution is quite nice on the DVD with pleasant detail of textures and hues. Though the consistent gradient of the film grain during outside sequences isn't as smooth as I expected. Occasionally, discerning eyes will detect the faintest grain flutter, barely noticeable, even during some still shots. While the 35mm film looked great on the big screen, the one thing that DVD can often do better is manage the black values. Contrast is very nicely balanced with controlled and generally sharp whites, and deep blacks that reveal some good shadow detail sometimes seemed richer than the theatrical presentation.

Skin tones are well done in this mix. The slightest edge halos around bridge structures were noticeable, but indoor shots didn't display such anomalies. Compression issues were never a problem. The worst part of the DVD was some blatant artifacts of black nicks and scratches near the first 20 minutes or so. You will notice them in the bottom-left corner of the screen (repeated!), and its simply disappointing attribute for such a fresh film. The rest of the film is well transferred, and looks very attractively composed in it's aspect ratio, but the film was never a razor sharp, snappy presentation to begin with. Aside from the artifact problem, this is a very respectable transfer. Despite being "Mastered in High Definition" (which can show a noticeable improvement in film transfer to DVD), perhaps a cleaned up Superbit reissue would warrant improvement and another look.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The theatrical presentation was terrific. The Movies 12 theater (with 12 screens) was built in 1989 or 1990; the particular theater in which I saw this film was in one of the larger rooms and utilized their best sound system. I got there late and didn't get the best seats, sitting one-third away from the screen; still, the audible dynamic range was exciting and comparable to the newest theaters. Balanced fronts and swirling surround sounds were quite engaging. So based on that experience, I expected a fun treat on the DVD in an even more intimate atmosphere. Certainly more details are evident from this DVD in a home theater, but overall there seems to be a lack of heft that I expected. Granted this film was low budget and simply was a surprise hit, but one would think... ah, well. Anyway, in the home theater version, the dialogue is well centered up front with slight pans for natural placement of the actors. Surrounds are discrete, with a few effects that smoothly panned nicely. But for the most part, the surrounds were simply exhibiting ambiance. What I really missed was a punchy.1 LFE; the bass wasn't as deep or exciting as I'd hoped. Bass is present and it's pleasant enough, but this isn't a pleasant movie, so the mix could have kicked us in the gut on a few occasions. Alas, deep bass content was the one element for which I forgot to make a mental note during the theatrical experience. Nevertheless, while my expectations were a tad higher than the DVD delivered, this is a solid mix. I just wish it had been a little spicier.

A 5.1 French Dolby Digital mix is included. English closed captions and subtitles in French, English, and Spanish are included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

A screen-specific audio commentary with Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, Sarah Michelle Gellar and a few other cast members is included. This is a party with lots of jokes and some added trivia. But let's face it; best commentaries do not include more than three people. And the best is usually the director and editor. This entertains with fascinating bits, but some viewers may feel that a more serious approach to the filmmaking would have made it a better commentary. Maybe a future commentary will simply include Sam Raimi and editor Jeff Betancourt and/or screenwriter Stephen Susco to give the commentary some meat.

A Powerful Rage: A Five-Part "Making-of" Documentary (47:36) is included. It's divided into: The Birth of the Grudge; The Myth of Ju-On; Culture Shock: The American Cast in Japan; Designing the Grudge House; and, A new Direction: Understanding Takashi Shimizu. All chapters are interesting and seem to work best with the convenient "Play All" feature. Designing the Grudge House is interesting because the house was literally done on Tokyo's largest film sound stage shared by the older Godzilla flicks! The filmmakers enjoyed that. Understanding Takashi Shimizu is enlightening, since the movie seemed to be a satisfying project for him to re-film for an English-speaking audience with American actors. He used his same film crew. The American people were impressed with how efficient and tuned- in the Asian crews were in setting up and breaking down shots, processes for takes, and consistently polite behavior. Film school in Japan anyone? All recount that the shoot was an exceptionally enjoyable experience in their film careers. This is a great featurette that fans and casual admirers of film will enjoy.

Next, we have an interesting featurette called, "Under the Skin" Featurette - A Medical Explanation of Fear Response in Film (12:25). Professor and author Joseph LeDoux leads this feature, and it's exactly what it purports. He has a particular fascination with the brain's response to fear and that is his focus; he relates that fear response to watching horror in films. An interesting piece.

Last, we have a collection of eight film trailers: The Grudge; The Forgotton; Guess Who; Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid; Boogieman; Riding Giants; Spider-Man 2; Man of the Horn; and, MirrorMask.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts