this video
is brought to you by the grudge own it
on digital and blu-ray now
if you're going to scare yourself silly
binge watching this franchise
you might as well get the story straight
welcome to watch mojo and today
we present the grudge timeline explained
for this video
we'll be looking at the grudge franchise
which in addition to its distinctive
atmosphere of foreboding and timeless
scares
is particularly known for its a
chronological or
non-linear approach to storytelling come
along as we revisit this deadly
supernatural tale
in the order that events played out with
the goal of better appreciating the full
scope of the story
please note that while we're going to
avoid major spoilers from
2020s the grudge we will be discussing
the overarching plot
meaning that minor spoilers are
unavoidable
though best known to american audiences
as the grudge this franchise was first
unleashed upon the world in japan where
it's known as juwon
it was created by filmmaker takashi
shimizu
and began with two short films katsumi
and
ten fours both of which appeared as
vignettes in the 1998 made for tv horror
film
gaku nokairanji
from these humble beginnings shimizu's
haunting concept has evolved into
a franchise spanning 13 feature-length
films numerous novels
comic books and a video game
one of the most notable ways in which
this franchise has expanded
is with the american film series though
it began as a remake of juwon the grudge
2004's the grudge proved to be so
profitable at the box office that it
spawned an
entirely new branch of grudge movies
weaving its own complicated tapestry of
stories
remaking his own film for american
audiences creator takashi shimizu got to
ensure that it honored the spirit of the
original
and he was joined by evil dead creator
and living horror legend
sam raimi as a producer
the american remake of the grudge was
quickly followed by a 2006 sequel the
grudge 2
which saw the return of both shimizu and
remy
in 2009 there was a direct to video
third installment the grudge 3 that
continued to expand the story albeit
with a different creative team
in 2020 after over a decade spent
dormant
the american leg of this franchise came
roaring back into theaters
many were expecting a reboot but in
keeping with the property's tendency for
subverting expectations
2020s the grudge was set in the existing
universe
and while takashi shimizu was not
directly involved with the film
sam raimi returned as producer and was
joined by co-producers
robert tappert and takashigi ichise both
of whom had worked with him on previous
installments
a sidequel 2020's the grudge expanded
the mythology of the franchise in a
unique way
by telling a separate but related story
that ties back to the very same curse
from the 2004 film
so without further ado let's go back to
the beginning the crime of passion that
started it all
some time before 2004 a young woman
named
kayako saiki was living in the suburbs
of tokyo
she was a wife mother and homemaker but
she harbored a secret love for an
american professor named peter kirk
when her husband takeo learned of this
he murdered kayako in a jealous rage
he then murdered their son toshio before
hanging himself
as the opening of the film tells us
however 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
before her death keako sent a letter to
the professor
curious peter kirk visits the home only
to be greeted by the ghost of toshio
when he enters the home and discovers
the bodies he flees the scene in terror
haunted by what he's seen professor kirk
takes his own life the next morning
a few years go by and the psyche home is
eventually sold to an american family
the williams little do they know the
house is already inhabited by the
malevolent spirits of the saeki family
husband sister and wife are soon
consumed by kayeko's undead rage
eventually only the aging emma williams
who suffers from dementia
remains i just want her to leave me
alone
emma williams has been receiving in-home
treatment from a nurse fiona landers but
citing disturbing experiences
landers ultimately abandons her post and
returns home to the us
not before kayako gives her a good scare
though
without her nurse emma williams begins
receiving care from a woman named yoko
when yoko comes to check on her one day
however the young woman is dragged away
into the attic and killed by kayeko
it's the disappearance of yoko that
ultimately brings sarah michelle
geller's character
karen davis into the picture with yoko
mia
davis is sent in to care for emma
williams upon arriving she's
understandably concerned by the state of
the house
and mrs williams lack of communication
i'm from the care center
i'm substituting for yoko just for today
but when she witnesses the spirit of
kayako karen goes outright catatonic
from fear
and it's in this state that she's
discovered by her employer alex
the incident draws the police to the
scene effectively dooming a whole new
group of people
emma williams is the most recent victim
but an investigation reveals the bodies
of her son and daughter-in-law
the thing that's so scary about the
grudge curse is that it's for lack of a
better word
contagious it doesn't begin and end with
kaiko
those who are killed by her can become
cursed murderous spirits in
kind yoko's jawless ghost kills alex
kayako kills karen's boyfriend doug and
kayako's husband takeo
kills detective nakagawa it's a curse
that just keeps on killing and cursing
karen davis ultimately survives the
ordeal but she's haunted by kayako
traumatized by her experiences karen is
living in a hospital when her younger
sister
aubry arrives from the u.s to help her
unfortunately she's really just arrived
in time for kayako to finish the job
as aubry and a local journalist begin
investigating the situation
they're soon killed too the
investigation unveils dark secrets from
kaiako's past
and aubry even meets kayako's mother but
the younger davis inevitably falls
victim to the curse
around the same time in the united
states mrs williams old living nurse
fiona landers
has returned home to small town
pennsylvania but as she learns the hard
way
the grudge curse can't be foiled by
something as simple as a plane ride
tragedy soon strikes drawing an entirely
new contingent of people into the plot
stateside
including the local police department
and a real estate agent peter spencer
who hopes to sell the landers home
he's an expecting father with a soft
spot for children in need
but unfortunately when it comes to the
curse grudge lonely children are rarely
as innocent as they seem
the curse continues to spread drawing
more people and homes into its web
the following year an elderly couple
william and faith matheson
move into the lander's home faith has a
terminal illness and is no longer able
to care for herself
prompting william matheson to call in an
assisted suicide specialist
lorna moody as moody soon discovers
however there's far
more to this house and the mathesons
than meets the eye
[Music]
in 2006 back in japan the saeki house
stands empty
having become something of a local urban
legend a few school girls break in on a
dare only to discover that the stories
are all too real when they encounter
aubry davis
now an undead agent of the grudge curse
one by one the girls lose their lives to
the curse until only alison fleming
remains
she returns home to chicago
unfortunately as fiona flanders learned
fleeing the continent is no way to shed
the curse and alison ultimately brings
it with her
unleashing it upon unsuspecting families
in the apartment building where she and
her family reside
and just like that you've got the grudge
curse active in multiple u.s cities
what did you bring here it followed me
here
they followed me here in the grudge 3
jake kimball is the only known survivor
from the previous film
but he's haunted by kaiako meaning that
his days are numbered
jake has been institutionalized while
the grudge curse continues to prosper in
his old apartment building
where keiko and toshio have moved in so
to speak this prompts kayako's sister
naoko to travel to the us and attempt to
bring an end to her sister's bloody
crusade
but as these things tend to go she
ultimately becomes just another victim
and agent of the curse
2006 is also the year in which we meet
muldoon
a young detective who's moved to the
same pennsylvania town as the landers
mathesons and spencers muldoon has
partnered with detective goodman
whose previous partner ultimately went
insane while investigating a case
touched by the grudge curse
soon enough muldoon finds herself
fighting for her life and the life of
her son
against the seemingly unstoppable spread
of this deadly curse
we don't want to give everything away so
we're going to end our story there
but as you can see the grudge franchise
is more than just a series of horror
movie sequels rehashing the same story
rather it is a complex and ever-growing
tapestry of interconnected hauntings and
supernatural
killings all stemming from one brutal
act of murder
and as the 2020 film reminds us there's
no telling how
or when the grudge curse will pop up
next
this video is brought to you by the
grudge own it on digital and blu-ray now
you