Ju-on
Ju-On (Japanese: 呪怨 Juon, literally 'curse-grudge'), translated as The Grudge, is a series of Japanese horror films directed by Takashi Shimizu (清水 崇 Shimizu Takashi). The plot centres around a curse born of someone dying in the grip of powerful anger, which follows anyone coming into contact with it.
Shimizu produced the first film, Ju-on (呪怨), in 2000 as a low-budget straight-to-video release, followed by a sequel, Ju-on 2 (呪怨2), which is partly a remix of the original and partly a continuation of the story. While this too was produced outside mainstream cinema, Shimizu eventually helmed a bigger-budget production, Ju-on: The Grudge (2003), which spawned a sequel, Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (呪怨2) that year and later an American remake, The Grudge (2004), starring Sarah Michelle Geller. A sequel to The Grudge partly remade material from the first Japanese Ju-on, but otherwise stands as a separate story, The Grudge 2 (2006). Unusually, Shimizu directed the American remakes as well, and several of the original Japanese cast reprised their roles as the same characters, as featured in the original films, while others were replaced by American actors portraying foreigners living in Tokyo.