Bloodless horror movies mostly come in two shapes: ghost stories and curses. “The Grudge” from 2004 is the latter. It’s an American remake of the 2002 Japanese original “Ju On” but by the same director, Takashi Shimizu, whose entire filmography will haunt your nightscape. Despite the English language redux, the film is still set in Japan. The Williams family moves into a new home in Tokyo where a terrible Shakespearean-level tragedy has occurred. This has unleashed a curse that latches on to anyone who comes near. When the family’s caretaker for their elderly mother vanishes, she is replaced by Karen, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar just coming off her run as “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” 

Karen soon witnesses firsthand the terrifying force that inhabits this home, and now “The Grudge” has passed on to her too. Some critics liked Shimizu’s Japanese version of this film a little better, and that’s fair, though neither movie nor the numerous sequels have exactly been media darlings. “The Grudge” was a hit though given its modest budget, and, with its PG-13 rating, it’s ghastly enough, without unleashing a flood of blood and guts.