BACKGROUND

The Ju-On series of movies started with two straight to video movies which did so well, they released two more cinematic movies with a third on the way. An American remake, called The Grudge soon followed. All of the movies were directed by Takashi Shimizu with Yuya Ozeki as Toshio in all the cinematic movies and Ryôta Koyama in the video versions.

PLOT

After a brutal murder a powerful curse is created, spreading like a disease through everyone who comes into contact with the crime: the investigating policemen, the family that moves into the house where the murder occurred, the family's friends, the children's school teachers, and so on. Each film is divided into short segments, each one describing the spread of the curse and detailing the demise of a particular character.

"The Curse/Grudge" is manifested in the ghost of the murdered victim, Kayako Saeki, who was killed in a jealous rage by her husband Takeo. Their son, Toshio subsequently disappeared and is believed to have been the first victim of the Curse/Grudge. He appears either as a ghost (or as a human child) before Kayako's ghost takes her next victim.