The Grudge

[The Feral Underclass]

Has anyone seen it...It's one scarey ass film. I went to the cinema to watch it yesterday and I kept jumping at those fucking faces, but not your average little shock, i'm talking full blown nervous spasms!

Those faces man, that little kid!

Did anyone share my experience or am I just a pussy?

The only problem I had with it was Sarah Michelle "im a tit" Geller! She pisses me off that women...She's not a good film actress and she should realise that!

And for the record I think japense horror films are the best, if not their films in general. This one, although made for a western audience was fantastic, as was The Ring and Battle Royale !

[Fidelbrand]

I laughed my ass off when i see that little boy on tv ads. Btw, is this him?
http://www.planeta5000.com/newterror/lamaldicion/Lamaldicion2-B_rgb.jpg

I haven't seen the film yet, but i think it would be scary~

Am I being contradictory?

(P.S. I watched Omen I when i was a kid and it haunted me for days.)

[YKTMX]

I thought it was quite good. The original is just basically stolen bits from Dark Water and The Ring put together, but it was done prety poorly. I actually think the remake is better.

[RABBIT - THE - CUBAN - MILITANT]

I found that the original Japanese’s version ( Jun - On)was a bit better you should see it if you have a chance

[WhispersAtMidnight]

I didn&#39;t like it. It wasn&#39;t that scary. I jumped at a few parts, but overall, this movie is overrated. Sarah Michelle Gellar isn&#39;t much of an actress. <_<

[rebelred]

ugh, my sister-in-law works at the theater near by and we got to see it opening day for free....I was just happy that it was free because it wasn&#39;t even worth the money, the ending really pissed me off, knowing how demented I can be, I kinda laughed at the parts that everybody was screaming at (even with the movie "the ring"(classic comedy in my opinion)), the only scary part was at the beginning when that chick goes up in the attic.....and sarah michelle gellar...horrible actress..I think thats why I didn&#39;t take the movie seriously, I&#39;d rather see the old ones...


..and I thought the little kid was cute too

[truthaddict11]

it looked completly shitty, thats why I didnt see it, Sam needs to make another Bruce Cambell/ Evil Dead movie.

[che's long lost daughter]

If anyone notices, why does it seem that all the "ghosts" in all Asian horror movies are paper white?

[noland]

The thing about the movie is that it didn&#39;t show the real ending.
This is how it goes. The gargling woman and meowing little kid kill everyone who has any connection/contact with the house. So in about 20 years no one is left in Japan and in 100 no one is left in the world. Eventually there are no people left so they start destroying animals and plants. The ghost family joins forces with other ghosts, like Abe Lincoln, the headless horseman, the ghosts of Gettysburg etc. and rule the world. Eventually War breaks out between rival factions and since they&#39;re ghosts it lasts forever with a constant cycle of advances, retreats, Offences, defences etc.

[DarkAngel]

EWW The Grudge really? I hated that movie (liked the Jap. Version though)...now SAW that was a good movie.

[BOZG]

I didn&#39;t realise Michael Jackson starred in the Japanese version.

[ComradeChris]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26 2004, 11:31 AM
I didn&#39;t realise Michael Jackson starred in the Japanese version.
:lol: I was just going to say, did someone mess with that picture or what.

[Fidelbrand]

Originally posted by ComradeChris+Nov 27 2004, 02:21 AM--> (ComradeChris @ Nov 27 2004, 02:21 AM)
[email protected] 26 2004, 11:31 AM
I didn&#39;t realise Michael Jackson starred in the Japanese version.
:lol: I was just going to say, did someone mess with that picture or what. [/b]
oh, pls try to leave my M.J. alone~~ :(
Don&#39;t forget any genius has his/her odd ways, he had a bad childhood.

[Felicia]

I went to see the movie on a date a few weeks ago. It was cool......... it was his pick though. But I picked the next movie......... The Take, has anyone seen this yet? It&#39;s a great documentary.

[cubist]

it was shite, just so predictable, after seeing the face twice and hearing the noises you knew what was happening,

not a touch on the japaneese version of the ring

one day i will see a film which scares theshit out of me and i will regret seeing it,

the incrdibles was far better

[FriedFrog]

not a touch on the japaneese version of the ring

That is one SCARY film. You cant help but watch it, cos youve got to read the subtitles&#33; Scary creepy girl. *shudders*

[Hate Is Art]

Now SAW that was a good movie.

Saw was a fantastic piece of cinema, one of the best films of the year. The twist was brilliant.

I work at a cinema so I get to see pretty much every film for free, I reccomend Lemony Snicket&#39;s a Series of Unfortunate Events for the child in you. It&#39;s cool, and Emily Browning (playing violet) is well sexy (I check on the internet and she&#39;s 16 - so it&#39;s all fine.)

[noland]

How &#39;bout that, I work at a cinema and get to see movies for free too. But come on, Saw... Really. I thought it was too much of a rip off of Seven, which I though was far better. There was also some pretty shite acting in Saw.
Series of Unfortunate Events is really cool though.

[The Forum Idiot]

Okay, I haven&#39;t seen the Americanized (directed/written/shot by/in exactly the same person/place as the Japanese one) version but I loved the Japanese one...FAR scarier than Ring or Dark Water, neither of the 3 Ring movies I&#39;ve seen scared me (I&#39;ve seen the Japanese Ring 1, 2 and the American version)...Dark Water scared me a little but Ju-On just scared the shit outta me...Please now can everyone bear in mind I&#39;m 13 and I wasn&#39;t scared at all by the Ring movies (or manga, or novel for that matter) which all you old folks were scared of. Haha

I really don&#39;t think Ju-On ripped off Ring or Darkwater...I can see vague similarities but the original author of the Dark Water and Ring novels said he doesn&#39;t write his books to be scary so much as for the characters. Anyways, even though Ju-On is the scariest my favourite&#39;s Ring, which I am a die-hard fan of (want the box set, have all the manga released so far, has the first novel, wants the rest, reads up about Ring on websites).

[Comrade Marcel]

MIM reviews "The Grudge":

:lol:

You have gotta&#39; love these quotes from the review:


I persynally liked "The Grudge," but it was still a piece of shit politically.


This reviewer came across someone who said that they were going to get rid of their own cat when they got home from the theater. Were they also going to get rid of their own child? After all, behind that innocent exterior lies the untamed, wild animal within us all.


"The Grudge" probably won&#39;t be considered for a remake in a socialist people&#39;s republic. It is an inherently supernatural movie that is obviously banking on the sex appeal of its "Buffy" star. On the other hand, it might be interesting to see a Chinese (or Laotian or Thai), lesbian, teenage couple terrorized by ghostly, demonic, straight Euro-Amerikan men and wimmin.

October 27, 2004
*Movie review of "The Grudge" (2004)
http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/movies/long/grudge.html

Euro-Amerikan parasites take on Japan:
"The Grudge"


"The Grudge" (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge/)
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391198/)
Directed by Takashi Shimizu
Sony Pictures
PG-13 / Singapore:PG
2004

Reviewed by a contributor October 26 2004

"The Grudge" has been called the scariest ghost movie since "The Sixth Sense"
(1999) (soon to be reviewed). I am not going to dispute this point. The movie&#39;s
politics are more interesting. I persynally liked "The Grudge," but it was still
a piece of shit politically.

In "Sixth Sense," Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) has the peculiar ability to see
and communicate with ghosts. This time, the creepy child star is disturbed in a
different way. Yuya Ozeki plays Toshio Saeki, the small murdered son of a man
(Takashi Matsuyama) who kills his family and himself after he finds out that his
wife (Takako Fuji) has been fantasizing about another, Euro-Amerikan man (Bill
Pullman).

Toshio, along with his mother, becomes a ghost who lingers in his dead family&#39;s
house and brings horror after horror, and death, to its occupants. With the
exception of the elderly grandmother (Grace Zabriskie), all of the house&#39;s
residents after the murder are Euro-Amerikan u.&#036;. citizens who work in Japan.

"The Grudge" (2004) is a remake of the Japanese-language "Ju-On: The Grudge"
(2003). The remake replaces the originally Japanese protagonists with
Euro-Amerikans. However, the story remains set in contemporary Tokyo.

Some bloggers have picked up on the movie&#39;s xenophobia, a manifestation of
national chauvinism, and a manifestation of inter-imperialist rivalry in the
Japan-u.&#036;. context. However, reviewers have largely ignored the xenophobia, and
few people have articulated what exactly is reactionary about "The Grudge" in
terms of xenophobia.

In fact, the movie seems to be xenophobic precisely because it substitutes
Euro-Amerikans for the protagonists while leaving the diabolical ghostly
antagonists as Japanese and keeping the Japanese setting. Supposedly, this is
meant to retain the Japanese-mythological theme of the original movie, but "The
Grudge" makes a point of highlighting its Japanese setting, as indicated by the
conspicuous overhead shot of a crowded, super-wide crosswalk in downtown Tokyo,
and several shots of the Tokyo skyline during the day and night.

If the substitution of Euro-Amerikan characters (and actors) for Japanese
characters is meant to make the story more comprehensible and palatable to u.&#036;.
moviegoers, then why aren&#39;t Yoko (Yoko Maki) and the Saeki family Euro-Amerikan,
too? There is no reason for this discrepancy other than white children and
wimmin as ghosts would have seemed less unfamiliar and effectively less scary in
an Amerikan-in-a-foreign-land horror context. "The Grudge" inverts the
exotic-temptress stereotype of East Asian wimmin, replaces it with a long-haired
Japanese medusa, and has the nerve to give this representation legitimacy in a
u.&#036;. context through a Japanese director.

Through awkward attempts at speaking Japanese, discombobulating
Japanese-language food labels, incomprehensible Japanese written language
everywhere, and fearful body language, "The Grudge" sets up oppositions between
the main character, Kare Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and other Euro-Amerikan
characters, on the one hand, and Japanese people. This is not to mention Takeo
Saeki&#39;s violent response to his Japanese wife&#39;s (Takako Fuji) perceived
infidelity involving a Euro-Amerikan man.

Gender oppression

As a ghost, Toshio frequently mimics the appearance and sound of his former pet
cat, a black domestic cat. He flip-flops between his "cute" and monstrous
appearances. He even appears naked in one scene, which contributes to his
exaggerated animal-like appearance and behavior. This parallels how children are
currently represented in the united &#036;tates and the united kingdom (at least
these countries): as potential animals. Such representations are so widespread
now that they pass without comment. Not only do we have socially constructed
children "humorously" depicted as chimpanzees and gorillas in the movies, for
example, in "Mean Girls" (2004), adolescence and medical disorder are being
defined in terms of each other:

In the community of living tissues, the uncontrolled mob of misfits that is
cancer behaves like a gang of perpetually wilding adolescents. They are the
juvenile delinquents of cellular society. (1)
The explicit description of youth as potential animals seems to be a relatively
recent development(2). Of course, this animalizing tendency in the description
of youth isn&#39;t too surprising. As Stephen Jay Gould(3) pointed out
pseudo-scientists advocating a racist recapitulation theory described even white
children as apes in the late nineteenth century:

Recapitulation also provided an irresistible criterion for any scientist who
wanted to rank human groups as higher and lower. The adults of inferior groups
must be like children of superior groups, for the child represents a primitive
adult ancestor. If adult blacks and women are like white male children, then
they are living representatives of an ancestral [i.e., pre-humyn] stage in the
evolution of white males. (p. 144, emphasis in original)
This reviewer came across someone who said that they were going to get rid of
their own cat when they got home from the theater. Were they also going to get
rid of their own child? After all, behind that innocent exterior lies the
untamed, wild animal within us all.

The frightening depiction of children as animals, or as grotesque demonic
children, as with the Jewish children harassing Judas in "The Passion of the
Christ" (2004), has a bearing on the social control of children as a
gender-oppressed group. This is the case regardless of whether the context is
humorous, serious, Amerikan, Japanese, Jerusalem, or whatever. Even more than
books, movies are an important vehicle for propagating reactionary
representations of children and other gender-oppressed people.

Inter-imperialist investment

Like "Blade Runner" (1992), "The Grudge" represents a potential centrifugal
force for the settlement behavior of Euro-Amerikans. Depictions of long, lonely
office building corridors, bleak nighttime streets, "depersonalization" in the
city, "urban angst," etc., resonate with the angst of real-world
imperialist-country parasites who feel that they are unable to control
surrounding economic and social forces. (Although, angst is concentrated at not
just the urban extreme, but also the rural extreme as indicated by the
geographic distribution of reported ghost sightings, UFO sightings, etc.)

Interestingly, a connection may also be drawn between "The Grudge&#39;s" depiction
of Euro-Amerikan citizens working in Japan and the Japanese recession in the
1990s, and the alleged need for u.&#036;. investors to either come to the aid of, or
learn from, the Japanese. The Hoover Institution, for example, has brought
attention to the relationship between the recent Japanese recession and "the
rest of the world"(4), as an example of the urgent importance (for whom?) of
continuing IMF restructuring programs.

In the past, many Euro-Amerikan citizens working in Japan "had little knowledge
of Japan and regarded the country as a distant and even somewhat mysterious
place."(5) Seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar&#39;s character even try to speak Japanese
is somewhat unexpected. In fact, compared with Japanese citizens who work in the
united &#036;tates and speak fluent English, u.&#036;. citizens who work in Japan have
rarely spoken fluent Japanese.(6)

"The Grudge" deserves a negative rating for doing nothing to change the
imperialist-patriarchal status quo and, in fact, reinforcing it. Simple
depictions of intimate partner homicide are nothing new in the movies; although,
Takeo Saeki&#39;s murder-suicide happens to be in the theme of u.&#036;. entertainment
and news media portraying Japanese people as being uniquely sexist and suicidal.
"The Grudge" does nothing to combat or even really depict the nature of gender
oppression(7). At the same time, "The Grudge" stokes the fire of
inter-imperialist rivalry—or raises the prospect of job opportunities in an
economically stagnant Japan for Euro-Amerikan parasites.

"The Grudge" probably won&#39;t be considered for a remake in a socialist people&#39;s
republic. It is an inherently supernatural movie that is obviously banking on
the sex appeal of its "Buffy" star. On the other hand, it might be interesting
to see a Chinese (or Laotian or Thai), lesbian, teenage couple terrorized by
ghostly, demonic, straight Euro-Amerikan men and wimmin.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes

1. Sherwin B. Nuland, 1995, How we die: reflections on life&#39;s final chapter, New
York, Vintage Books

2. Some urban teenagers have been characterized as packs of wild animals. For
example:

Christine Haughney, 2002 September 6, "Central Park rape case convictions in
question," washingtonpost.com,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A...anguage=printer (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43265-2002Sep5?language=printer)

Lynnwell Hancock, 2003 January 16, "Coloring the Central Park jogger case,"
AlterNet, http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/14958/

Zener, Praez, and Chris Caruso, 1998 October, "The war on graffiti is a war on
the new class," Hiphop-Network,
http://www.hiphop-network.com/articles/gra.../warongraff.asp (http://www.hiphop-network.com/articles/graffitiarticles/warongraff.asp)

3. Stephen Jay Gould, 1996, The mismeasure of man, New York, W. W. Norton &
Company, Inc.

4. Stanley Fischer, "Lessons from a crisis,"
http://www.imfsite.org/recentfin/lessons.html

5. William A. Blanpied, 2002 August, "A brief history of the National Science
Foundation&#39;s Tokyo Regional Office," http://www.nsftokyo.org/History.htm

6. Paul Herbig, "Cultural influences on expatriate managers&#39; success and
failures," working paper,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/9158/paper18.html

7. "Revolutionary feminism," http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/gender/ ; MCB52,
1995 June, "The oppression of children under patriarchy,"
http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/mt/mt9child.html

[Hate Is Art]

How &#39;bout that, I work at a cinema and get to see movies for free too. But come on, Saw... Really. I thought it was too much of a rip off of Seven, which I though was far better. There was also some pretty shite acting in Saw.
Series of Unfortunate Events is really cool though.

I haven&#39;t seen seven so I can&#39;t say I&#39;m afraid, and yeah the acting was a bit crummy but I still really liked it. LSaSoUE is brilliant isn&#39;t it. Fantastic stuff. What kind of cinema do you work in? Multiplex or an indie one?

[rebelred]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2004, 09:06 AM
How &#39;bout that, I work at a cinema and get to see movies for free too. But come on, Saw... Really. I thought it was too much of a rip off of Seven, which I though was far better. There was also some pretty shite acting in Saw.
Series of Unfortunate Events is really cool though.
I took my brothers kids to go see series of unfortunate events, and I must agree with you, it was pretty good, I like demented movies like that. I&#39;m also happy because during the previews I saw that there coming out with a new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Mr. Depp himself.