Herald rating: * * *
This Hollywood-starred, hometown-crewed remake of a Japanese horror movie could easily have been lost in translation. It's a pleasant surprise. Well, an unpleasant surprise, perhaps, would be closer to the point.
Sarah Michelle Gellar plays an American care worker in Tokyo who visits a haunted house in the suburbs and then finds herself chased by evil spirits - a lad, Toshio (Yuya Ozeki), and his mother from hell, Kayako (Takako Fuji). These guys come out of the closet, the bathtub and the security cameras to chase Gellar and the other American stars in some impressively frightening moments.
Much of the DVD is taken up with features explaining the process of adapting a Japanese story for western actors and audience. Producer Sam Raimi and screenwriter Stephen Susco introduce director Takashi Shimizu, who was making this story for the third time, this time working with an English-speaking cast although he barely speaks the language. Gellar and her US pals Jason Behr, Ted Raimi and KaDee Strickland get plenty of opportunity to chat about the experience in a light-hearted range of behind-the-scenes items.
* DVD, video rental todays
The Grudge
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