The Ithacan rates from 1(poor) to 4(excellent)

The new Japanese-inspired horror flick “The Grudge” could be the scariest movie of 2004.

Like 2002’s “The Ring,” “The Grudge” is a remake of a Japanese horror movie that was originally titled, “Ju-On: The Grudge.” Unlike the remake of “The Ring,” which took place in America, this movie takes place in its native Japan.

“The Grudge” also features cast members from the original film and the same director, which helps the film feel closer to the original.

In fact, director Takashi Shimizu has directed this movie five times, including two other variations and their respective sequels. This experience has made Shimizu more than comfortable with this material and he delivers the goods in spades by featuring creepy surprise shots of the ghosts’ faces and by filling every frame with dread and despair.

The story is shot out of sequence, like a Quentin Tarantino film. This helps keep many of the movie’s surprises in the dark and lets the audience slowly piece together what’s going on.

The film’s plot revolves around a house that has been cursed because of its dark past. Anyone who enters the house will be dragged into the curse and die as a result, even if they leave the house. This little detail helps raise the film’s suspense and makes it more than just a standard haunted house story. There is nowhere the characters can hide.

In her first post-Buffy horror film, Sarah Michelle Gellar once again proves that she is one of Hollywood’s most underrated actresses and could be on her way to being this generation’s scream queen. As Karen, Gellar perfectly conveys the character’s feelings of hopelessness and terror. This makes the audience more nervous about her survival.

Still, Gellar is only one part of a larger cast that holds its own. Bill Pullman only has a small cameo, but his scenes play an integral role in piecing the film’s mystery together. The family members who move into the house are sympathetic and relatable. The old mother, KaDee Strickland, stands out among the cast as a little weird and unnerving.

Takako Fuji and Yuya Ozeki, who were both in the original Japanese film, are terrifying as the house’s spiritual inhabitants. They both get under the audience’s skin and add to the film’s scary tone. The ghost of the little boy is especially unsettling, with his huge, piercing eyes and disconcerting meow. He will be sure to give some people nightmares for many nights to come.

The film provides multiple opportunities to jump out of one’s seat, but also features many moments of creepy subtlety that will surely be engrained into the viewer’s head long after the credits have rolled.

There are also some suspenseful stalking sequences and ominous phone calls, which seem to have become standard in most post-“Scream” horror films.

The soundtrack equals the characters’ roles in conveying the story’s terror. The best example is a raspy noise that is first mixed into the soundtrack before separating itself from the music and revealing its terrifying origin as part of the house’s curse.

One tiny fault of the film is that many of the scariest sequences are overdone. The scenes are so built up that the audience will sometimes just sit back and wait for the terrible fate to befall the curse’s victims. Nonetheless, this doesn’t diminish these scenes’ terror factor.

For some mainstream viewers, the hopelessly bleak ending may be too depressing.

But overall, “The Grudge” is truly frightening. One would have to be made of stone to not to be more than a little spooked after viewing this newest masterpiece of terror.

“The Grudge” was directed by Takashi Shimizu and written by Stephen Susco.