The Grudge (Unrated Extended Director's Cut) DVD Review (Sarah Michelle Gellar) Empire Movies

THE GRUDGE (UNRATED EXTENDED DIRECTOR'S CUT) DVD REVIEW

The Grudge (Unrated Extended Director's Cut)
(Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

7.5/10

Liam

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage watching the "Unrated Extended Director's Cut" of The Grudge since I've never seen the regular version. Not that it should make a difference - but that I can't really say what's different from one version to the next. I will say, however, that I was more than a little surprised to see this version released so soon after the first edition was released on DVD. It seemed a little to early to be double-dipping.

The movie tells the story of an American nurse (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who comes to Tokyo for work. She's sent on a work assignment to watch on a creepy old catatonic woman in an equally creepy little house. There, she encounters an evil unlike anything she's encountered before involving a woman with freakish black hair who can kill you just looking at you and her scary little son who's equally as likely to send you running in the opposite direction screaming your head off. We spend the rest of the movie finding out who these two are and why they're terrorizing this house.

I've gotta admit that this movie scared the pants off of me. I had nightmares after watching it the first time and, after re-watching it again the next night, I had to watch another two movies just to get the imagery of this one out of my mind. It's not a slasher horror movie - but more a horror movie that messes with your mind. And I find that more unsettling. And that's probably why I enjoyed the movie.

We get some great special features on this DVD. First an audio commentary by director Takashi Shimizu, producer Taka Ichise and actress Takako Fuji. Although it's in Japanese with English subtitles, it's still an interesting and rather funny commentary. Funny because of how they make fun of parts of the movie and interesting because of the comparisons they provide to the source material.

Next, we find 15 deleted scenes - also available with comments from those who provided the film's commentary track. I found the deleted scenes to be pretty good - and they almost would've made the movie a lot better had they been included. It's also fun again to listen to the audio commentary - hearing how some scenes were cut because "American" audiences didn't understand them.

The DVD also includes 5 featurettes. "The 'Grudge' House: An Insider's Tour" follows a camera in a single shot around the house showing us different rooms inter-cut with scenes from the movie. With a music-only audio track, this one's a little creepy. "Sights and Sounds: The Storyboard Art of Takashi Shimizu" takes us through one of the film's final scenes with audio from the movie following the director's storyboards for that scene. "Production Designer's Notebook: The Sketches of Iwao Saito" shows us some concept art of the house and, again, is set to a creepy music-only audio track. Finally, we get a couple of video diaries provided by Sarah Michelle Gellar and KaDee Strickland.

Finally, this DVD offers two short films by director Takashi Shimizu - "4444444444" and "In A Corner". By short, we're talking 2-3 minutes. So there's nothing to lose by watching.

Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed the movie. It scared me, and that's what it was supposed to do. So, if you're easily frightened or freaked out by horror movies, you might want to steer clear of this one. Otherwise, turn out the lights, sit back and enjoy. And if you don't like it, please don't hold a grudge.

Features
Feature Commentary by Director Takashi Shimizu, Producer Taka Ichise and Actress Takako Fuji, 15 Deleted Scenes with Optiobnal Filmmaker Commentary, Director Takashi Shimizu's Original JU-ON Short Films "4444444444" and "In a Corner", Video Diaries from Sarha Michelle Gellar and KaDee Strickland, The Grudge House: An Insider's Tour, Production Designer's Notebook: The Sketches of Iwao Saito, Sights and Sounds: The Storyboard Art of Takashi Shimizu

Video
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles
English, French, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
May 17, 2005

Rating
14A

Length
98 mins.

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