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Note: This page is for the American films only. For the Japanese series of films, see Ju-on.

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When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage... a curse is born.

The curse gathers in that place of death.

Those who encounter it will be consumed by its fury.

The Grudge is an American horror film series consisting of four films, based on the Ju-on series. Its first installment was the 2004 American remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge, with added elements from Ju-on: The Curse and Ju-on: The Grudge 2. The film was released in North America on October 22, 2004 by Columbia Pictures, and is directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of the original series) while Sam Raimi produced and Stephen Susco scripted. In the same tradition as the original series, the plot of the film is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots. The film has spawned two sequels: The Grudge 2 (which was released on October 13, 2006) and The Grudge 3 (released direct-to-DVD on May 12, 2009, after having the original release date pushed back), this time directed by Toby Wilkins with Shimizu as executive producer. A sidequel set during the first two films, The Grudge (2020), was released on January 3rd, 2020, with Raimi again producing.

There is also a collection of short films, entitled Tales of the Grudge, which were used to promote the second film. These shorts are included on the Director's Cut edition of The Grudge 2 DVD.

An animated graphic novel short, The Grudge 1.5, was also created as an Interquel between the first two films, exploring Eason's first contact with the curse.


Provides Examples Of:

  • Abusive Parents: Mrs. Davis is emotionally abusive towards Aubrey, clearly favouring Karen over her. Also, Kayako's mother "fed" evil spirits to her daughter when she was a child. The former's death at the latter's hands could be seen as Kayako's revenge for what her mother did to her.
  • Alpha Bitch: Vanessa is a pretty, popular girl who also happens to be a smug, spiteful bully towards Allison, and even treats her supposed best friend Miyuki like dirt.
  • Apartment Complex of Horrors: In The Grudge 2 (one of the segments) and The Grudge 3, the curse is carried over from a Japanese house to a Chicago apartment complex, and begins to affect its residents.
  • Anachronic Order: As in the Japanese originals, the first two films consist of segments shown out of chronological order. The third movie follows a standard linear narrative instead.
  • And I Must Scream: The fate of every single person who is taken by the curse - they become puppets of the curse, never finding peace, and forced to claim more victims. It becomes a lot worse when the curse is unleashed on the planet and becomes The Virus, which causes serious Paranoia Fuel of Inferred Holocaust since history is doomed to repeat itself and soon all human beings will become an undead vengeful onryo army hunting down and killing everyone on the planet until all humans are six feet under and trapped in a terrifying and horrible Fate Worse than Death.
  • Asshole Victim: Played with, in that most of the curse's victims are generally decent, unassuming people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, some victims, such as Takeo (who has the dubious honour of being the curse's very first victim) and Vanessa, qualify for this trope.
  • Ax-Crazy: Takeo, after discovering his wife's diary. He remains just as violent after death.
  • Bedmate Reveal: Played for horror when Kayako materialises in Susan's bed.
  • Beauty Is Bad: Vanessa is gorgeous but is also a cruel and manipulative bully who unwittingly causes the deaths of dozens of people with her actions.
  • Blood from the Mouth: Kayako after having her neck snapped. The same later applies to Aubrey after her death.
  • Blood Magic: Kayako's sister, Naoko, claims the curse can be lifted via an exorcism ritual that ends with a willing witness consuming Kayako's blood. It doesn't work as she hoped.
  • Blood-Splattered Innocents: Not only does poor Aubrey actually witness Karen's death, but she gets partially splattered with her blood as well. Ouch.
  • Bloodier and Gorier: Many of the deaths in The Grudge 3 are bloodier than the deaths in the previous installments (not counting Yoko from the first film, for obvious reasons).
  • Body Horror: Similar to the original Japanese movie series, a particular type of Body Horror is used for the death of Yoko - her jaw gets torn off. A similar example of Body Horror is seen in the deleted epilogue of the sequel (in which Karen and Aubrey's mother dies in a very similar way to Yoko).
    • The death of Gretchen in the third movie. The poor woman has her jaw torn off and eyes gouged out, with black paint pouring from the wounds.
    • The brief sight of Kayako's fingers emerging from the back of Karen's head in the first movie.
    • At the beginning of the the third film, Jake ends up a twisted, bloody mess after Kayako snaps almost every bone in his body.
  • Break the Cutie: Several characters, but most notably Allison.
  • Break the Haughty: Vanessa starts out as a smug bully, but the curse gradually changes that...
  • Bring My Brown Pants: Vanessa wets herself after being menaced by Kayako in her school changing room (and who can blame her, really?).
  • Broken Bird: Peter Kirk's wife, Maria, by the time Karen seeks her out. Losing her husband in an apparent suicide was evidently not kind to her.
    • Karen in the second movie.
    • Brenda, a minor character in the third movie being haunted by the curse, is pretty traumatized from the moment she appears onscreen.
  • Butt-Monkey: Susan in the first film. The hauntings that lead to her death all happen one after another, in just one night.
    • Also, Allison and Jake in the sequels.
  • The Bully: Vanessa. Not even her fellow bully Miyuki is safe from her cruelty.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Towards the end of The Grudge 2, Aubrey finally tells her mother how she really feels. Sadly, it's the last time they ever speak.
  • Cassandra Truth: Dr. Sullivan doesn't believe Jake's claims that his family was killed by a curse - until Jake himself dies under unexplainable (and downright horrible) circumstances.
  • Cat Scare: Considering that Toshio's pet cat is also part of the curse.
  • Chase Scene: Kayako pursuing Karen through the hospital in The Grudge 2; the former also pursuing Dr. Sullivan in The Grudge 3.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Kayako's diary, the Saeki family photo, and the photo of Peter found in Kayako's diary.
  • Chest Burster: Used in the deleted epilogue of the second movie. Kayako ejects herself violently from Mrs. Davis' mouth.
  • Composite Character: Detective Nakagawa shares the name and profession of Detective Nakagawa from the original Ju-on film series, but his personality and actions are closer to that of retired detective Toyama, also from Ju-on. Like Toyama, he lost his colleagues to the curse, and also tries to burn the house down.
    • Yoko seems to be a combination of three Ju-on characters: Yuki and Kanna from Ju-on: The Curse, and Rika from Ju-on: The Grudge. Like Yuki, she is dragged into the house's attic by Kayako; like Kanna, her jaw is torn off; like Rika (with whom she was originally going to share a name), she is a social worker.
  • Continuity Nod: From The Grudge 2 to its prequel: "This is where the girl from the international college killed her boyfriend two years ago." There are also a few nods to the previous films in The Grudge 3.
  • Convenient Photograph: Played with. Kayako has a picture of Peter Kirk and his girlfriend in her belongings but the important part is torn away and not revealed until later: that she's in the background (because she was stalking him).
  • Creator Cameo: Kayako's death rattle is in fact the voice of director Takashi Shimizu.
  • Creepy Child: Toshio is the very definition of this trope. Kayako seen as a child in flashbacks is also somewhat creepy, although pretty adorable at the same time.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: The death of Mrs. Davis, as seen in a deleted epilogue from the second film, definitely qualifies - after a tearjerking scene in which she mourns Karen and Aubrey, she not-so-coincidentally comes across Kayako's diary...before having a much more severe coughing fit than usual, which results in her coughing up Kayako in the form of a giant hairball-come-eyeball, which rips her jaw off. The fact that you can actually see her face start to rip makes it a lot squickier.
    • The death of Gretchen in the third movie could also qualify. Yes, it's an offscreen death, but the state of her corpse when it is discovered by Max is just plain horrific - it seems that she's had her eyes gouged out and her jaw ripped off (Kayako really likes doing that to people, doesn't she?).
    • The death of Jake. Having nearly every bone in your body twisted and snapped has got to suck.
    • Kayako's death, too. Her own husband snaps her neck and leaves her to die (and it is also a possibility that, like in the original films, he slashed her with a utility knife, given the amount of blood on her when her body is discovered). By extension, Aubrey's and Naoko's deaths also apply.
    • Max's death. Naoko bites his throat out. Considering how the latter died, it can be assumed that this is her prime method of killing.
  • Curiosity Killed the Cast: Anyone curiously entering the house will end up dead thanks to the curse. Until the curse spreads, which means that anyone unlucky enough to unknowingly interact with a cursed location or individual is in for a bad time.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: The curse targeting innocent unrelated people, also turning said victims into puppets of the curse to let history repeat itself.
  • Darkness Equals Death: Although a lot of the deaths happen in bright daylight, some occur in the attic of the house, and in assorted dark rooms. In addition to that, the curse also seems able to cause electric lights to suddenly stop working.
  • Dead All Along: The ending of The Grudge 2 reveals that Aubrey died mere days after Karen, and was therefore dead during Allison and Jake's storylines.
  • Death by Irony: Vanessa rolls up her school uniform skirt to an extremely high length and encourages Allison to do the same so that she can show off her legs more and become popular. Later, Toshio incapacitates Vanessa by grabbing her highly exposed legs.
  • Death of a Child: Toshio, and Jake. Also when Kayako possesses Rose at the end of The Grudge 3.
  • Demonic Possession: How Kayako, Toshio, Takeo, and the cat seem to affect the apartment residents in Chicago.
    • There is a deleted scene from the first movie in which Matthew is possessed by Takeo. This is a recreation of a scene from the first Japanese theatrical movie.
    • In the third movie, Rose becomes possessed by Kayako after consuming her blood.
  • Determinator: Karen and Naoko really do give it their all to try and best the curse. Sadly, their attempts only make things worse.
  • Disconnected by Death: Vanessa in the second movie.
  • Downer Ending: Every movie (with the possible exception of The Grudge 3). It's impossible to survive the curse; it's only a matter of time before it claims your life.
  • Driven to Suicide: Peter, after discovering just what happened in the Saeki house. It is later heavily implied that he was under the curse's influence when he killed himself.
    • Subverted with Takeo. Although it was reported that he hanged himself, the Director's Cut of the first film reveals that his death was Kayako's doing.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Subverted with Kayako and Toshio - both have jet black hair. Add that to most other dark-haired characters who are seen after becoming curse victims (such as Aubrey, Miyuki and Naoko).
  • Elevator Snare: A supernatural example in the first film. Susan flees Kayako into an elevator and appears to be safe. That is until Toshio is seen on the passing floor, and the next, and the next, and so on and so forth... getting closer with each passing floor.
  • Evil Phone: The sinister phone calls Vanessa receives in The Grudge 2. Susan also receives similar phone calls in the first film.
  • Eye Scream: In the third movie, Kayako kills Gretchen (offscreen) by, amongst other things, gouging out her eyes.
  • Face-Revealing Turn: When Alex encounters Yoko's ghost, who slowly turns around to reveal her bleeding, jawless face.
  • Facial Horror: Yoko ends up with her lower jaw torn off, as does Gretchen.
  • Fan Disservice / Fanservice: The shower scenes in the first and second movies and the bath scene in the third movie contain a combination of both tropes. Max's Shirtless Scene in the third movie also counts, given that Takeo is possessing him at the time.
    • Vanessa is incredibly beautiful and a major source of fan service as she likes to roll her uniform skirt very high to show off her legs and flaunts her beauty in the locker room to her friends in her underwear. However, she pees herself in her underwear in the locker room soon after, has her facial beauty gradually deprived by the curse (in a deleted scene), is trapped in the phone booth when Toshio was able to grab her exposed legs that she loved to flaunt because her skirt was rolled so high, and becomes an ugly, horrifying onryo that wears the same school uniform and short skirt that Vanessa flaunted her beauty in before she had lost her beauty and was still gorgeous.
      • Lacy shows how pretty she looks in her cheerleader uniform, which is immediately followed by the milk scene...
  • Femme Fatalons: To an extent. Miyuki has extremely long, blue-painted fingernails, and this carries over into her ghost form.
  • Final Girl: Karen in the first film and Lisa in the third.
  • Foreign Remake
  • Foreshadowing: In the second movie, when Aubrey pays a visit to Kayako's mother, we see the latter, through her eyes, suddenly witnessing Kayako's spirit taking the place of Aubrey, who comes and kills her. This could possibly be foreshadowing the ending.
    • Also, in the third movie, Gretchen's portrait of Rose is slashed and splattered with red paint, resembling blood, by Kayako. This could be foreshadowing Kayako's eventual possession of Rose. In addition, the eyes of Rose in the painting have been damaged - foreshadowing the fact that Gretchen will soon lose her eyes to Kayako.
    • Early in the first film, Karen finds Kayako's journal and curiously looks through it, coming upon a torn photo of Peter Kirk slotted inside. It seems somewhat unassuming at first, but that same photo is seen later on - revealing that Kayako was in the background of the photo the whole time.
  • Freak Out: Takeo has one of deadly proportions after discovering Kayako's huge crush on Peter.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Two occur during Susan's vignette: When Susan is in the taxi, look at one of the adverts on the back of the front passenger seat. There's a staring eye printed on one of them. Later, when Susan discovers she has a very unwelcome bedmate, look at the wall. For about a second, you can see Susan's shadow and... the shadow of Kayako, even though she isn't above the bedcovers.
    • An in-universe example occurs in the second movie, when Eason is watching an old taped interview with Nakagawa as part of his investigation. On the recording, he notices a very brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it shape in the corner of the door behind Nakagawa, as well as a strange noise. Cue Eason rewinding the recording and playing it in slow-motion...
    • Another one from the second film: as Karen runs through the hospital she freezes in terror as a group of employees just stare at her. While many viewers write this off as a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, if you look close and freeze in as the camera moves over their faces you can see the blurry figure of Kayako staring at her in the crowd.
  • From Bad to Worse In the end of the first film, Karen tries to burn down the house using the kerosene Detective Nakagawa left there. Not only does she fail to burn the house down completely, the sequel proves that all this did was make the curse worse. Now not only is anyone who steps foot in the house is haunted and killed, but those killed by her become Vengeful Ghosts just like her and they haunt wherever they died, the curse spreading to Fridge Horror levels.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: The Saeki family, really. From the information presented in the first two films, they were fairly normal: Takeo was an illustrator, Kayako was a housewife (but studying at a college) and Toshio was a cheery school boy. Kayako's past of "eating" spirits thanks to her spiritual mother aside, they just were a typical Japanese family who unfortunately due to rage and pain made them into a never ending Curse.
  • Frying Pan of Doom: Unfortunately for the horror film, its use in The Grudge 2 is just hilarious. The fact this is a recreation of a scene from the not-very-well-received Ju-on: The Curse 2 doesn't help.
  • Ghostly Gape: Toshio, whose mouth is deeply black within. Kayako also has a tendency to pull this off, as do many other victims of the curse after their deaths.
  • Ghostly Goals: The second type, though not by choice.
  • Gorn: Generally avoided, although Yoko's death counts.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Kayako's prime method of killing in the third movie.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Takeo, whose jealousy over his wife's crush drives him to murder.
  • Gross-Up Close-Up: Present a few times in the Director's Cut. Examples include a more close-up shot on the corpses of Matthew and Jennifer, a close up of Peter's face (as well as the pool of blood) after he kills himself, and a more lingering shot of Yoko's disembodied jaw.
  • Harmful to Minors: Happens in all three films:
    • Toshio witnesses Kayako's murder at the hands of Takeo and possibly witnesses his beloved cat's murder shortly before being killed himself.
    • After dealing with the terror and the knowledge that something is deeply, horribly wrong in the apartment block, Jake discovers his father's corpse and witnesses his possessed stepmother being drowned to death.
    • Rose witnesses her beloved big brother Max becoming steadily more and more vicious as his possession gets worse, and later has Kayako inhabiting her body.
  • Hell Is That Noise: Kayako's death rattle. Also, the sound of a cat's meow has never sounded as creepy as it does in this series.
    • The horrible rasping noise made by Yoko's ghost due to her missing lower jaw.
    • The ghastly moaning of the principal in The Grudge 2.
    • The Grudge 3 brings us the sound of Naoko's horrible, gurgle-y breathing, post-death.
  • Heroic BSoD: Allison suffers this after being exposed to the curse and subsequently being stalked by the ghosts of Vanessa and Miyuki.
    • Max has one after Takeo stops possessing him.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Rose drinking the blood during the climax of the third film could be seen as this, although it isn't likely she knew exactly what the consequences would be. However it doesn't seem like it helped much in the long run, and it wasn't in time to save Naoko (and her death starts a new curse) - although it did manage to save Lisa... at least for the time being..
  • Hope Spot: A couple of utterly merciless examples occur in The Grudge 3. First, it appears that Naoko's ritual (which already has a slim chance of success as it is) may work - until she is killed by Max, which starts a completely new curse. Second, Rose goes ahead with the ritual, thus saving Lisa from becoming a victim of Kayako's wrath. However, it isn't quite over yet. Yes, the ritual did manage to seal Kayako's spirit away... the catch is, she was sealed inside Rose's body. Not only that, but it is heavily implied that being sealed away will not stop her.
  • Horror Hates a Rulebreaker: A fairly harsh example; the moment anyone enters the haunted apartment, the ghosts begin stalking them relentlessly, killing them and making them new tortured spirits to claim yet more victims. Even leaving can't save you. The franchise eventually takes this to its logical conclusion making the curse become The Virus after it escapes the apartment.
    • Defied when the curse physically pulls Aubrey into house in order to curse her. That's against the rules, Kayako and Co.
  • Housewife: Kayako (before she was killed and became a really, really angry ghost, that is).
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Naoko desperately tries to use this on Max. It doesn't work.
  • Impending Doom P.O.V.: Used in a deleted/alternate scene from the first movie, which was a shot-for-shot recreation of a scene from the very first Ju-on.
  • Inferred Holocaust: Since the curse now spreads like The Virus, there's the Paranoia Fuel of never knowing whether you are interacting with a normal human being or puppet of the curse and likely falling victim to the curse at the hands of an infected individual or group of people. Who's to say Kayako's vengeful spirit will not become an Apocalypse Maiden and condemn all human beings to a terrifying And I Must Scream Fate Worse than Death?
  • In the Hood: Allison, after the curse breaks her.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: Mrs. Davis has a very nasty cough and breathing problems, although it is never mentioned what sort of illness she is suffering from. However, she doesn't die in the finished movie. The deleted epilogue does show her death ( in which her cough does actually kill her... well, sort of), but it's anyone's guess as to whether this will end up being canonical.
  • Intrepid Reporter: Eason.
  • Irony: In the third film, Naoko travels all the way to Chicago from Tokyo in order to stop the curse, only to become part of an entirely new curse herself.
  • Jerk With A Heartof Gold: Not evil per se, but as much of an Alpha Bitch Vanessa was, she seemed genuinely concerned for Miyuki when she found out she was missing and may have shown some remorse deep down for her dangerous and careless actions, which may have implied she was just your typical insecure teenager who wanted people to think she was cool and fit in with everyone else at school.
  • Jawbreaker: Yoko suffers this. In the third movie, Gretchen's corpse is found sans lower jaw (and eyes). The deleted epilogue to the second movie has Mrs. Davis suffering this, too - on-screen.
  • Jump Scare: Many and varied.
  • Kick the Dog: Vanessa does much of the kicking, and the dog is usually Allison.
  • Kill It with Fire: Nakagawa attempts to stop the curse by burning down the house, but is killed by Takeo before he can accomplish this. Karen attempts to finish the job, but it backfires horribly.
  • Kill the Cutie: That is, kill all the cuties.
  • Leg Focus: Vanessa rolls up her school uniform skirt extremely high to show off her gorgeous legs and encourages Allison to do the same to be popular.
  • Leitmotif: The main theme, which is heard in all three films during the opening and ending credits, and also pops up during the rest of the musical scores a few times. Then there's also the One-Woman Wail that occurs throughout the second film's score.
  • Logo Joke: At the beginning of The Grudge 2, the Columbia Pictures logo starts as usual, but the torch flickers, briefly causing the Torch Lady to turn into Kayako and the word "COLUMBIA" to turn into "GRUDGE 2."
  • Love Hotels: Miyuki and her boyfriend go to one in The Grudge 2.
  • Make It Look Like an Accident: The authorities believe that Takeo killed himself; the Director's Cut of the first film reveals that his death was, in fact, Kayako's doing.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Vanessa is extremely manipulative towards the shy Allison.
  • Marionette Motion: Kayako almost exclusively moves like this, as does Naoko after her death.
  • Market-Based Title: The Japanese releases all have Ju-on in the title, as with the original series of films:
    • The Grudge = The Ju-on
    • The Grudge 2 = Ju-on: Pandemic
    • The Grudge 3 = Ju-on Za Gurajji 3
  • Matchlight Danger Revelation: Obviously Yoko didn't realize that turning on a lighter in the middle of a dark attic = bad idea.
  • Meaningful Background Event: The elevator scene in the first film. Susan flees into an elevator and rides it to her apartment, but Toshio can be seen on each floor she passes, getting closer and closer...
    • While visiting Karen and Doug's apartment, Kayako manifests behind Aubrey and stares at her. She disappears when Aubrey turns around.
  • Mind Screw: Not quite to the extent of the original film series, but there are still several moments like this.
  • Mind Screwdriver: Kayako's rattling call is explained in the remake as a result of her being strangled to death.
  • Mirror Scare: Several, and played with in the second film, when Kayako emerges from one.
  • Missing Mom: Jake and Lacey's mother.
  • Moment Killer: Near the beginning of The Grudge 3, Lisa and Andy are about to have sex in an abandoned apartment... before discovering it was the same apartment that the Kimble family died in. They very quickly decide to leave.
  • Murder Into Malevolence: As in the original, Kayako Seiki is an innocent woman with No Social Skills, who is killed alongside her child by her jealous husband and returns as an Onryo ghost. She kills her murderer first... then stays in her house and murders absolutely everybody who crosses her path or even telephones her house.
  • My Car Hates Me: Happens in the third movie with Max's boss.
  • My God, What Have I Done? / These Hands Have Killed: After becoming possessed by Takeo and subsequently killing Naoko, Max reacts like this after the possession wears off.
  • Mythology Gag: In the Director's Cut of The Grudge, Susan comes across a small cat ornament when first viewing the house, possibly referencing the cat ornaments that seem to stare at Yuki in Ju-on: The Curse.
    • The death of Jake in The Grudge 3 is a slightly more graphic version of the offscreen death of Hisayo from Ju-on: The Curse: the latter's corpse is never shown to the audience, but is mentioned to have been "twisted and torn", similar to how the former ends up a twisted mess after having almost every bone broken.
  • Neck Snap: How Kayako is killed. Also happens to Aubrey in The Grudge 2, and to Dr. Sullivan in The Grudge 3.
    • Also subverted in The Grudge 3 in that the film makes you think that this is how Naoko is going to die... until she gets stabbed through the back of the throat. Admittedly, this does manage to sever her spinal chord, but it doesn't fit the trope.
  • Neverending Terror: This is one of the scariest parts of the eponymous grudge curse. Once the curse has you, there is no getting away from it. Also, it will come for you anywhere. It doesn't care how locked up you are or how many other people are nearby.
  • Never Found the Body: Several of the curse victims' bodies are never found by the authorities, simply because they get pulled into nowhere. Notable victims include Susan, Miyuki and Allison.
  • New House, New Problems: Woe betide anyone who moves into/enters the cursed house. Later, the curse isn't just limited to the house, spreading to those who have nothing to do with the house whatsoever...
    • From the second movie onwards, woe betide anyone who enters/moves into/already lives in that Chicago apartment block...
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Karen setting fire to the house, thereby breaking the seal containing the curse within.
    • Similarly, Naoko's ritual to contain her sister's spirit. She's killed by Max, thus starting a new grudge curse, and Rose now houses Kayako's spirit after drinking Kayako's blood.
    • In the second movie, Allison catches a flight back to the US, hoping that the curse won't follow her. It does. She ends up spreading the curse to the apartment block, resulting in the death of her family, Jake's family, and anyone else who enters the building, thus setting up the events of The Grudge 3.
  • Nightmare Face: Yoko and Gretchen, of the Facial Horror variety.
    • Many of the ghosts themselves, given their pale-white complexions, ghostly gaping, and wide, staring eyes.
  • Nightmare Sequence: In a Deleted Scene from The Grudge 2, Aubrey has a dream about having an actual loving relationship with her mother, which slowly deteriorates into a nightmare when Mrs. Davis coughs up a gland and forces Aubrey to ingest it, much like when Kayako's mother would force her to swallow evil spirits when she was a child.
  • No Name Given: Toshio's cat is never named. According to Fanon, his name is Mar, which happens to be the name of his counterpart in the Japanese film series.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: Used, but also averted. The first movie is relentless in showing you the ghosts.
  • Offscreen Teleportation: Kayako and Toshio utilise this, as do other curse victims after their deaths. Justified, since they're ghosts.
  • Oh, Crap!: Aubrey gets a look of horrified realization on her face when she encounters Takeo.
    • Eason's face when Kayako emerges from one of his photographs.
    • Kayako's face when she discovers that Takeo read her diary.
  • Once More, with Clarity: Second movie: Following Aubrey sharing the same fate as Kayako, the earlier scene with Allison being menaced in the cupboard by Kayako plays out again, only this time the woman emerging from the attic is not Kayako, but Aubrey.
  • One-Woman Wail: A recurring theme throughout the second movie's score.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different
  • Pater Familicide: Takeo murders his wife, son, and son's cat upon finding out about Kayako's crush on Peter. Kayako, as a ghost, repays this heinous act by strangling him to death with her hair. Then, in The Grudge 3 he claims another familial victim as a ghost - his sister-in-law.
  • Parent with New Paramour: The situation with Jake's father and his new wife Trish is a Type 2 example. It averts the Wicked Stepmother trope - Trish is a genuinely nice person and tries her best to get on with Jake, who feels uncomfortable with the fact that his father is with someone else. Jake's sister Lacey deals with the situation a lot better than he does.
  • Parental Favoritism: Mrs. Davies greatly favours Karen over Aubrey, and is pretty unpleasant towards the latter.
  • Peekaboo Corpse: Kayako's body falling from the attic in the first movie.
  • Precision F-Strike: In the third movie.
  • Prehensile Hair: In the director's cut of the first film, Kayako uses her hair to hang Takeo. In the second film, she completely envelopes Vanessa's body with it, presumably suffocating her.
  • Proud Beauty: Vanessa wears her school uniform provocatively to flaunt her beauty and revels in her status as the school beauty until she loses it due to the curse.
    • Lacey shows off her good looks in her skimpy cheerleader outfit to Sally.
  • Recut: The Director's Cut, widely considered to be a lot better than the theatrical release due to the new scenes genuinely adding to the atmosphere and feel of the movie, including more explicit violence (most obviously the flashback showing the Saeki murders, although there are others) and deepening the characters' personalities. In addition to the extra scenes present, Susan's vignette is also switched around.
  • Room Full of Crazy: After the curse drives her crazy, Allison becomes a recluse, rarely leaving her bedroom, the windows of which she covers with newspaper.
    • Also, when Peter discovers Kayako's corpse, the room features a pile of cut-up family photographs, with Kayako's face removed from all of them, and subsequently pinned to the door of the cupboard leading to the attic.
  • Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: By the end of the third movie, Kayako is sealed inside Rose.
  • Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Allison's death in The Grudge 2. Subverted when Kayako then occupies the left-behind clothing to menace Jake.
  • Shirtless Scene: Max has one in the third movie. Shame he happens to be possessed and crazy at the time.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Every film, but particularly The Grudge 3. All of Naoko's efforts end up achieving absolutely nothing (save for imprisoning Kayako's spirit inside Rose, which isn't exactly a good thing) thanks to Takeo's intervention.
  • Shout-Out:
    • In the first movie, the scene where Susan runs from her workplace and hails a taxi to get home is an homage to Suspiria (1977). Later, there is an homage to The Evil Dead (1981) when Kayako's diary flips open seemingly by itself.
    • The scene in the darkroom in the second movie may be a homage to a visually-similar scene in Shutter. Also, earlier in the same movie, the scene where Kayako appears in the reflection of Eason's TV screen after he switches it off may be a reference to an almost identical scene from Ring.
  • Shower of Angst: Karen takes one in the first movie. It is suddenly cut short, however.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Karen and Aubrey; Kayako and Naoko to an extent.
  • Sickening "Crunch!": Heard when Kayako has her neck snapped, when her body tumbles out of the attic, and also occasionally when she moves around. In the second movie, it's also heard when Aubrey has her neck snapped, and in the third movie when Naoko has her knee broken.
  • Single Tear: Karen lets out one when she sees Kayako for the first time, as does Aubrey, when she realises that she's stumbled into the exact same timeframe as the Saeki murders and has taken Kayako's place.
  • Spooky Painting: Used in the third movie when Kayako's face suddenly appears in one of Gretchen's paintings, and again a short while later, when she emerges out of a different painting.
  • Spooky Photographs: Eason is killed when Kayako emerges from a photograph he is in the process of developing. Later, after Aubrey discovers the corpse of Eason and is subsequently menaced by Kayako, almost all of the photos in the darkroom change to show Kayako's face staring out of all of them.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Kayako towards Peter.
  • Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Kayako is one of the most famous examples in cinema. Aubrey ends up as one by the end of the second movie, as well (mimicking the ending of the first Japanese theatrical release, in which Rika suffers the same fate).
    • Naoko after she is killed by a curse-possessed Max in The Grudge 3.
    • Kayako's victims: Yoko, Miyuki, and Vanessa, become onryo as well.
  • Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Karen survives the first movie, but is killed off part way through the second.
    • Ditto for Jake in the third movie.
    • Considering how both films ended, its honestly a surprise that they lived that long.
  • Tears of Fear: Karen when she first encounters Kayako, and Aubrey when she suddenly realises just what the curse has in store for her near the climax of the second film.
  • The Beautiful Elite: Vanessa and Miyuki are the most popular and beautiful schoolgirls at the International School. By the end of the movie, however, Vanessa has become less pretty than many of her classmates.
  • The Virus: Anyone who falls victim to the curse and returns from the dead as thralls for the curse.
  • Time Skip: In The Grudge 2, Aubrey's storyline takes place in 2004, and Allison and Jake's storylines take place in 2006.
  • Time Travel: To an extent. The nature of the curse can cause the past, present and future to merge temporarily.
  • Title Drop: Not to the remakes themselves, but to the original Japanese films: in The Grudge 3, Naoko describes the curse to Lisa as a "ju-on".
  • Toilet Horror: In The Grudge 2, after the murderous ghost invades the family's apartment, the boy hides in the bathroom and found his mother in the bathtub who seemed suspicious tells him to enjoy a nice warm bath. She then gets dragged into the water disappearing by the ghost.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Yes, Aubrey, go into that house even when Eason told you not to.
    • To be fair, while Aubrey approached the house, she didn't willingly enter. She was suddenly dragged in.
    • Sure, take your friends to a haunted house with police tape around the door and walk right in, what's the worst that can happen?
  • Twist Ending: At the end of the second film, it is revealed that Aubrey is destined to suffer the same fate as Kayako, and the spectre witnessed emerging from the attic by Allison is revealed to be Aubrey, and not Kayako, as originally thought. However, the fact that several parts of the movies are deliberately left open to interpretation may throw certain aspects of the ending into question.
  • Twisted Ankle: In the second movie, Aubrey breaks her ankle while fleeing from Takeo, which results in her having to crawl down the stairs to try (and fail) to escape. This implies that the same thing (or at least something very similar) happened to Kayako. A similar occurrence happens in the third movie, when Max breaks Naoko's knee.
  • Undercrank: Used on Kayako at the climax of the first film (as well as a few other occasions), to creepy effect.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Although it was already a heinous act on its own, when Takeo brutally murdered his family he probably wasn't expecting a horribly deadly curse would result from it.
    • Alex sending Karen to care for Emma Williams in place of the missing Yoko starts the chain of events that leads to Karen eventually attempting to burn the Saeki house down, which results in the curse being able to break free of the house and spread.
    • Vanessa tricking Allison into entering the Saeki house eventually results in Allison fleeing back to Chicago, which then results in her entire apartment building becoming infected with the curse.
  • Vader Breath: After being killed by Max and subsequently becoming a ghost, the noises that Naoko makes consist of raspy, gurgling breathing, thanks to being stabbed through the back of the throat.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: The milk scene.
  • Wham Line: "It followed me here!"
  • Wham Shot: During the ending of The Grudge 2, Aubrey follows what appears to be Karen into one of the upstairs rooms in the Saeki house... only to see Takeo, in the process of reading Kayako's journal, and we realise that Aubrey is now in the exact same timeframe as the Saeki murders, and that Aubrey is screwed.
    • Towards the end of The Grudge 3, Max hears a sinister thumping noise, getting closer and closer. He looks down the hallway, only to see Naoko, now a vengeful spirit herself, coming for him, and we realise that there is now a new curse to contend with.
    • The final shot of The Grudge 3, which reveals that Kayako's spirit is now inhabiting Rose's body.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Jake to Allison when he confronts her about the mysterious deaths in his apartment building, including his whole family; Allison is promptly killed by Kayako right in front of him.
  • With Friends Like These...: Poor Allison is manipulated, mocked and cruelly pranked by both Vanessa and Miyuki, who use her naivety to their advantage. Also, Vanessa even seems to treat Miyuki in a cruel manner, in spite of their supposed friendship.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Kayako, Toshio, and, as of The Grudge 3, Naoko.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Naoko's ritual. It doesn't work the way it was planned.
  • You Killed My Father: Aubrey is grief-stricken over Karen's death, and she practically namechecks this trope when she returns to the house for the final time (while she's still alive, anyway).

 
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Alternative Title(s): The Grudge 2

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Kayako Saeki

Kayako was an ordinary Housewife who has an obsessive crush on a teacher Peter Kirk. Unfortunately, her husband Takeo found out and brutally killed her, along with her son Toshio and the family cat Mar. Brought back by her family's rage as a Curse, Kayako appears as a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl, crawling about to hunt down and kill anyone who enters her house to consume them in the curse. She is most iconic for crawling her way down the stairs, and lets out a chilling death rattle whenever she appears.

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