The Grudge Page #6

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 27.

SUSAN:

Matthew, please -

MATTHEW:

(yelling)

GO AWAY!!!

Susan fumbles with the front door. She gets it open and runs

out just before Matthew reaches her.

ON MATTHEW:
he stands there, head tilted down, for a moment.

Then he straightens. Slowly closes the front door.

Matthew heads back upstairs. He reaches the second floor and

opens the door to the rear bedroom.

The room beyond is dark. But A DARK FIGURE is visible,

standing in the far corner, facing Matthew.

He steps inside, and the door slowly swings shut behind him.

42 EXT. THE HOUSE - DAY 42

It’s an overcast afternoon. Swollen clouds hang low over

The House. It looks a bit more imposing than usual.

THE MAILBOX is adorned with the Japanese equivalent of a “For

Sale” sign -- weather-worn, and looks like it’s been there

for years.

SUZUKI (30s, Japanese), a Real Estate agent, waits by the

gate. Then he notices something. Waves, and smiles.

It’s SUSAN, approaching with MATTHEW, JENNIFER and EMMA.

Susan shakes Suzuki’s hand and they exchange a greeting in

Japanese. She turns to her brother.

SUSAN:

This is Suzuki-san, he’s the Real

Estate broker.

Suzuki bows at Matthew and Jennifer, says something.

MATTHEW:

What did he say?

SUSAN:

He said:
“welcome to Tokyo”. And

that you must be very important to

your company for them to rent this

place for you.

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 28.

Matthew grins. Susan rolls her eyes.

43 INT. THE HOUSE - ENTRANCE - DAY 43

Everyone enters, checking the place out. Suzuki and Susan

slip off their shoes. As Matthew steps into the foyer:

SUSAN:

Your shoes.

MATTHEW:

Oh. Right.

He kneels down, untying his shoes. Jennifer looks perplexed.

JENNIFER:

Even in our own house?

SUSAN:

Even in your own house.

Suzuki smiles as Matthew and Jennifer take off their shoes.

Susan says something to him in Japanese and he laughs. They

walk down the hall, and Matthew and Jennifer follow.

44 INT. THE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY 44

Suzuki opens the blinds, letting some light into the place.

It’s not helping much -- it’s still pretty dreary.

MATTHEW:

Isn’t the layout great? Wait ‘till

you see the back room. It’s

perfect for Mom -- she won’t have

to deal with the stairs.

Jennifer follows him through the room. She doesn’t look

quite as enthusiastic.

Matthew slides open the door leading to the TATAMI ROOM.

MATTHEW:

Her bed won’t be here until next

week, but we can put the mattress

on the floor. What do you think?

Jennifer warms a bit. The wooden room is beautiful.

Susan asks Suzuki a question in Japanese, and he responds.

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 29.

SUSAN:

He says no one has lived in this

house for three years.

JENNIFER:

Why?

Susan asks Suzuki in Japanese. He shrugs.

SUZUKI:

(trying his English:)

Ex-pen-sive.

Matthew suddenly realizes:

MATTHEW:

Where’s Mom?

We slowly CRANE UP to the SECOND FLOOR HALL, moving towards

the REAR ROOM at the end. The door is ajar.

44a INT. THE HOUSE - SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - DAY 44a

Susan comes up the stairs, worried.

SUSAN:

Mom? Where are you?

44b INT. THE HOUSE - FRONT ROOM - DAY 44b

Susan looks inside -- Emma isn’t there. She’s about to leave

when something catches her attention. She walks to

THE CLOSET. The door is open. Susan kneels down, looking at

something inside it. She picks it up -

-- it’s the CERAMIC CAT Karen found earlier. As Susan

examines it, she notices something on the wall of the closet

(which we don’t see). Her face softens, and she smiles.

MATTHEW (O.S.)

Did you get her?

SUSAN:

(under her breath:)

Take a pill, will ya?

Susan stands and walks out of the room. But we stay in the

closet, PANNING TO REVEAL the closet wall. It’s covered with

BLACK CRAYON, low to the ground, the work of a child. The

images are dozens of BLACK CATS.

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 29A.

45 INT. THE HOUSE - REAR ROOM - DAY 45

Emma stands in the dead center of the empty bedroom.

Looking directly up at the ceiling.

Susan enters, placing the ceramic cat on THE SHELF where

Karen found it earlier. Except Susan faces it INTO THE ROOM.

SUSAN:

C’mon, Mom. You know what the

doctor said about stairs.

She takes Emma’s hand, but the old woman doesn’t move.

Matthew and Jennifer enter, worried.

MATTHEW:

She okay?

SUSAN:

Mom? What is it?

Everyone follows her gaze to the ceiling. Only Emma has the

unmistakable look of dread on her face.

A long beat.

46 INT. THE HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY 46

Suzuki walks from the kitchen into the hallway, giving the

place one final look-over.

He pauses by the open bathroom door. Looks inside.

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 30.

47 INT. THE HOUSE - BATHROOM - DAY 47

Suzuki enters, looking at THE TUB: filled to the brim.

After a moment, Suzuki kneels down next to the bathtub. He

pulls the thin CHAIN connected to the rubber stopper ---

but the end of the chain comes out of the water. Hmmm.

It’s not connected after all.

Suzuki eyes the plug at the bottom of the tub.

Then he takes off his jacket. Rolls up his shirt sleeve.

And reaches into the water for the rubber stopper.

It’s just out of reach.

He rolls up his sleeve a little more. Reaches deeper ---

suddenly there’s a BURST OF SOUND: a dull THUMPING,

something THRASHING in water, the SCREAMING of a YOUNG BOY,

voice MUFFLED by water ---

Suzuki recoils as water SPLASHES UP around him -

-- he falls away from the tub in horror, landing on his butt.

THE BATHTUB:
Filled to the brim. Still and silent. Not so

much as a ripple on the surface.

That couldn’t have just been his imagination, could it?

As he slowly stands, he sees something out of the corner of

his eye ---

a DEAD CAT, bloody and torn, in the corner of the room.

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 30A.

As Suzuki backs away from it, eyes widening in horror, he’s

startled by -MATTHEW,

standing in the doorway. Beaming at him.

MATTHEW:

It’s perfect. We’ll take it.

Suzuki looks back to the corner. There’s no dead cat.

A RINGING SOUND comes into focus -- the BEEPING of a phone,

waiting for someone to pick up and make the connection...

47a OMITTED 47a

Revisions (Blue) -- 1/26/04 31.

47b OMITTED 47b

47c OMITTED 47c

48 INT. OFFICE BUILDING - SUSAN’S FLOOR - NIGHT 48

It’s after-hours in this office space: CUBICLES fill the

center, surrounded by glass-windowed OFFICES. The glittering

lights of the Tokyo cityscape beyond show a hell of a view.

One light still burns in an office towards the end -

-- SUSAN’S OFFICE. She’s working late. She wears a phone

headset while she types lines of code into her computer.

No one’s answering. A familiar answering machine picks up:

MATTHEW & JENNIFER (ON MACHINE)

“Konnichiwa! Matt and Jennifer

aren’t around, leave a message.”

SUSAN (INTO PHONE)

Hey, guys, it’s Susan. Matt, are

you there? Pick up... Okay, well,

I’m leaving work now so you can try

my cell, or just call me at home

later.

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