Gotta love those creepy Japanese ghost story remakes. I remember watching The Ring with a quiet foreboding, like I was going to leave the theater, get into my car and and receive a call on my cellphone that I was going to die in seven days. I mean, I watched the forbidden video that kills, didn’t I? We ALL did. It was ultra creepy: the women brushing her hair, the fly, the horse. They totally had me – especially when the long-haired little girl climbs out of the TV in a rush of water to off whoever was next on the video list. The movie left me shivering.
And then The Grudge. Something about those stark, minimalist Japanese buildings creep me out, with the fluorescent lighting and the long hallways, inviting those dark, menacing shadows. And that haunted house! With the white-faced little cat boy and the horrible ghost woman coming down the stairs all disjointed, making that awful guttural sound. Yikes. I worked with a colleague who felt the same way I did about the movie, and she and I would freak each other out by sneaking up and making that sound when the other wasn’t paying attention. Good times. Here are clips from both:
The Ring:
The Grudge: