The Grudge (2004) Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, William Mapother & KaDee Strickland Written by Stephen Susco & Takashi Shimizu Directed by Takashi Shimizu

Rage. Grudge. Evil. Boy who thinks he's a kitty cat. Woman with her jaw displaced. Remakes. Buffy actress not performing in a family movie like "Scooby Doo". Japanese horror (or J-Horror) movies. Remakes. Director's Cut. Unrated Version. Extended Cut. Dark Water. Remakes. Jennifer Connelly getting drenched in her apartment building. Franchises that don't die. Grudges that never forget or forgive. Rings. Ghost stories.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, of "Buffy" TV fame, stars as Karen. She also appears in "The Grudge 2" which came out a few years later. "The Grudge 2" did advance the story more and explained some things from the first movie. There is a "Grudge 3" that went straight to DVD. There are plans to make a "Grudge 4". The series' first film's tagline was "It never forgives. It never forgets." How about "It never ends."? We're stuck with a franchise that won't die, and a story that is not told in chronological order. Therefore, it can be all over the place. We may see this franchise go on for quite some time. As Shimizu's bio on IMDB says: As of 2006 he directed 7 movies of the "Ju-on/The Grudge" series. 2 video premiere movies, 3 Japanese movie versions and 2 American remakes. It seems like it's time to finally put this "Grudge" franchise to rest. It's a little like beating a dead kitty with a wet swatch of hair until it makes that eerie "AAAAAHHHHHHH" sound featured in this Grudge franchise.

Dark Water (2005) Starring Jennifer Connelly, Tim Roth & Ariel Gade Written by Kôji Suzuki, Hideo Nakata, Takashige Ichise & Rafael Yglesias Directed by Walter Salles

The mostly American cast of "The Grudge" features KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, Bill Pullman, Grace Zabriskie, William Mapother (Tom Cruise's cousin), Jason Behr, Ryo Ishibashi, Yoko Maki, Rosa Blasi,and Ted Raimi.

Since the story is not told in chronological order, a character might appear in the second act and you might get confused (e.g. you ask yourself, "Didn't that guy or girl die earlier in the movie?"). If you also view the American "The Grudge 2", it is told in this same fashion, and some parts of the story from part 1 are affirmed in part 2.

After viewing the Director's Cut of "The Grudge", it didn't seem much different than the theatrical version. The same could be said of the "Dark Water" unrated version. What about when the same film is released in other countries with some variations?

In the "Dark Water" remake, the main little girl in the film (she's Cecilia or "Ceci", Dahlia's daughter) wears a Hello Kitty backpack. In the Japanese version, it was a bunny packpack. Gellar's Karen is based on Rika Nishina in the "Ju-on" series. So, the similarities of the two remakes ("The Grudge" and "Dark Water") is evident. Both
feature popular American actresses as a main character. Both are remakes of J-horror movies. Both have this thing about kitties and little children who have some issues with dead evil spirits that haunt where they live...or where they resided when they were alive.

Both were rated PG-13 for their theatrical release. "Dark Water" was written by Koji Suzuki, who wrote "Ring" (the story that became "The Ring" -- another J-horror remake which also spawned a sequel). "Ring" could be considered a cousin to Ju-on/The Grudge, as the Grudge series and "The Ring" are a couple of the most recognizable J-horror movies to American audiences.

You can't birth a dead spirit horror film franchise with some American remakes of J-horror unless you get a great cast of actors. Both of these films show that by giving audiences some great acting, some creepy locations and some scares and jolts, you can breathe some life into horror movie fans.

The Ring (2002) Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman & Brian Cox Written by Ehren Kruger & Kôji Suzuki Directed by Gore Verbinski

If you can forgive that I'm not giving away spoilers of these films by going through their unique stories, I will be able to not hold any grudges against any readers. LOL (or insert the "AAAAHHHH" sound effect). Seriously, the less you know about some movies before you see them, the better. If you have seen these movies before and it's been a while, you might just rediscover something you didn't see there before.

I will add "The Ring" remake to this pair of J-horror remakes. It featured a great actress, Naomi Watts, and some scares and some creepy scenes and sounds. "The Ring" had a sequel too. I don't recall any extended director's cut or unrated version of "The Ring". However, I wouldn't put it past the studios to someday unearth such a version from the vaults...most likely buried along with Samara in the well. Yes, "The Ring" also had a child who suffered a horrible death and her spirit has remained in limbo. Amber Tamblyn had a brief role in it as well. Amber also appears in "The Grudge 2", so you can see another example of how all of these films seem to be very intertwined.

There is another connection with this trio of movies. Hideo Nakata, directed the 2002 Japanese version of "Dark Water" and the American film "The Ring 2". The movies were all released during the
early to mid-2000's. They all had popular actresses in the lead roles. They all deal with particularly unrelenting evil spirits. If you think you're having a bad day, spend some time with these supernatural beings and see why they are forced to fill their time with paranormal activities.

Remember (like "The Grudge" spirit that doesn't ever forget!) to watch these movies with the lights off, and at night, for the maximum effect. You'll be pleasantly surprised...and scared.

Now, what did I do with that Hello Kitty backpack holding my movie rentals? Oh, I remember. It's locked in the apartment where Jennifer Connelly had a bout with some bad plumbing. Ugghhhh!!! Now, the bloody DVDs are going to be damaged and the store will probably charge an arm, a leg and some swatches of hair for the replacements!