Tales is featured in the Unrated Director's Cut of The Grudge 2.
Tales from the Grudge is a series of three short segments that were released for The Grudge 2 promotion, with an introduction from one of the producers of The Grudge, Sam Raimi. The three shorts expand the curse of the Saeki house as it finds other ways to spread itself, affecting other victims. Tales was written by Ben Ketai and directed by Toby Wilkins, who would later direct The Grudge 3
The shorts also appeared on the film's official site, where fans who volunteered their mobile phone number, would get surprise calls from Kayako or Toshio. The films are also available on other film and horror-related websites as part of a wide-reaching and unique digital marketing strategy.
Cast[]
- Anna Moon as Kayako Saeki
- Daniel Sykes as Ross
- Sefanie Butler as Abby
- Ginny Weirick as Brooke
- Jenna Morganelli as Woman on Bench
- Alexander Morse as Josh
Plot[]
Hotel[]
Ross is grabbed.
It introduces Ross as he wakes up in a Tokyo hotel room and coughs up quantities of black hair. He wakes from this nightmare to the sound of the mobile phone and answers it. The caller is his girlfriend Abby, who is safe at home in the U.S. Ross explains that his attempts to investigate the house and the woman with long black hair have led to a dead end. When the phone call ends, Ross as he takes a photo of himself with his mobile phone. He does not notice as Kayako passes by behind him at the precise moment he takes the shot. He then sends the picture to Abby. Ross then goes to brush his teeth and finds black hair in his toothbrush before being grabbed through the mirror by Kayako.
School[]
The curse reaches Abby.
The second segment follows the story of Abby as she ends the phone call from the first short. Abby then proceeds to call her friend, Brooke, to ask about plans that evening. When the call ends, Abby receives a photo message from her boyfriend Ross. When Abby looks closer at the image, she sees that Kayako's ghost is in the hotel room with Ross. Abby attempts to call her boyfriend and warn him, but she only hears Kayako and then it hangs up. Abby looks over at the girl that was sitting beside her to see Kayako's ghost.
House[]
Brooke is taken.
The third short film overlaps during the events in "School". Brooke (as introduced in the second short) receives a phone call from Abby. As the call ends, Brooke agrees to play hide and seek with the child, Josh, whom she is babysitting and chooses a walk-in closet as her hiding place. Brooke soon finds herself trapped and is dragged violently by Kayako's ghost. Josh then gets up and says "Come out, come out, wherever you are," before Brooke's cell phone begins ringing.
Notes and Trivia[]
- Tales feature the first time Kayako is played by an actress other than Takako Fuji. Anna Moon portrays the ghost.
- The curse reveals itself able to affect people without them stepping into the Saeki house, a theme that is expanded in The Grudge 2.
- Toshio's ghost is not featured, but is referenced in one scene in the "House" segment, as Brooke discovers Josh hidden under the kitchen sink.
- Featured in the Unrated Director's Cut of The Grudge 2.