The Grudge 3

The plot continues from the events of The Grudge 2, where the curse reached a Chicago apartment complex. As the building decays and its inhabitants gradually succumb to its fury, the place welcomes its newest dweller, a Japanese young woman who plans to put an end to the grudge. The Grudge 3 was released on May 12, 2009 and stars Johanna Braddy and Shawnee Smith. In the US, it got a straight-to-video release but a theatrical release in foreign territories like Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, South Korea etc.

Kayako's sister, Naoko Kawamata, is a young Japanese woman who hears of Jake's death through the newspaper and becomes worried. Naoko knows how to stop the grudge and travels to America, more specifically to Chicago where the last incident linked with Kayako occurred. She is introduced to the Chicago apartment by Max Morrison, the landlord, and immediately begins to feel her sister's presence. She meets Max's little sister, Rose, and she somehow knows that Rose is in touch with the dead and can communicate with Toshio, Naoko's nephew. She also meets Lisa and they quickly become friends, and they meet other residents of the apartment, including Gretchen, who is an artist. Lisa begins to grow frightened when she realizes her younger sister Rose is seeing a dead boy all around the apartment.

The Grudge 3

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The conclusion of The Grudge 3 is as unsatisfying as the rest of the movie. Its attempts at leaving the franchise open for a Grudge 4 are as trite as ending the movie with a "The End?" caption before the final credits. They go into more detail about why these spirits have the titular grudge, but it comes across as superfluous more than anything else. Overall, it's an unnecessary sequel that breaks no new ground.

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. 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 by Sex: Averted in the third movie, and played with in the second movie - Miyuki dies in the love hotel she checks into with her boyfriend. 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. The second film subverts this with Aubrey being Dead All Along prior to both Allison and Jake's story lines (with the former's still taking place in 2004 while the other two take place in 2006) and with Kayako killing off Allison in the last minute of the film, making Jake the Sole Survivor. 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