The Grudge (2004)

The Grudge is a curse, born when someone dies in extreme rage or sorrow and lingers where the person dies. Those who encounter it will die, and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passing from victim to victim in an endless growing chain of horror.

In 2001, Kayako Saeki, a housewife in Tokyo, is in love with her college professor, Peter Kirk, obsessively writing about him in a diary. Her jealous husband Takeo discovers the diary and believes Kayako is having an affair. In a fit of rage, he brutally murders her, their young son Toshio, and their pet cat Mar. After Takeo hides the bodies in the house, Kayako's ghost hangs him with her hair. After receiving a letter from Kayako, Peter visits the Saeki house only to find her and Takeo's corpses and Toshio's ghost. Shocked and horrified, he flees the scene and commits suicide the next day. The remainder of the Saeki family rises again as restless ghosts due to the curse, notably Kayako, who appears as an onryō.

In 2004, the Williams family from America moved into the Saeki house for Matt's job. While Matt is thrilled with the house, his wife Jennifer and dementia-ridden mother Emma feel uncomfortable, the former experiencing culture shock and feeling lost as she can't speak Japanese, and the latter sensing that something is wrong with the house. The curse quickly consumes Matt and Jennifer. Matt's sister Susan is also haunted as the curse follows her back into her apartment. Yoko, a care worker, arrives at the house to find Emma alone before she encounters Kayako, who drags her up into the attic. Concerned about Yoko's disappearance, her employer, Alex, sends another care worker, Karen Davis, to take over the care of Emma. Karen discovers Toshio sealed up in a wardrobe at the house and later witnesses Kayako's spirit descending from the ceilings to claim Emma.

Alex arrives at the house and finds Emma dead and Karen in shock. He calls the police, who come with Detective Nakagawa. In the attic, Nakagawa and his partner Igarashi find Matt and Jennifer's bodies, along with a human's lower jaw. Meanwhile, Susan is pursued by Kayako around her office building. At home, Kayako attacks her, and she vanishes. While leaving work, Alex is killed by Yoko's jawless corpse. Kayako begins haunting Karen, who informs her boyfriend, Doug, of the situation.

Karen researches the house, eventually confronting Nakagawa, who explains that the curse consumed three of his colleagues investigating the Saeki deaths. That night, Nakagawa carries gasoline into the house to burn it down but is killed by Takeo. Karen races there after learning Doug has ventured to the Saeki house to look for her. She finds Doug paralyzed and attempts to flee with him. Kayako crawls down the stairs and latches onto Doug, who dies of shock. As Kayako closes in, Karen sees the gasoline and ignites it. Karen survives, and in the hospital, she learns that the house also survived the fire. Visiting Doug's body, Karen realizes that Kayako still haunts her.