| “ | She had another man... She deceived me... That's not my child... That's not my child.... | ” |
Yoshimi is claimed by the curse.
Possession is when a rancorous spirit takes over a cursed victim, or sets an uncontrollable rage on him or her, usually to recreate the events that caused its death or to avenge them. The spiteful ghost of Kayako possesses several female characters throughout both Ju-on and The Grudge franchises, as the insanity of her former husband Takeo has taken over mostly male characters.
A possession is often preceded by rage and triggered by disturbance.
Occurrences[]
Ju-on film series[]
| “ | My child drew this. | ” |
Yoshimi possessed by Kayako.
Yoshimi Kitada was living in the Saeki house when she received some news reports on the murders attached to a notebook sent by an unknown person. She did not even open up the journal and was instantly taken by the grudge, only by touching. Kitada later killed her grouch husband with a frying pan. Real state agent and sensitive Kyoko Suzuki later visited Yoshimi, worried about the house's occult nature, and saw her acting in a creepy behaviour, which scared her. Her brother and (estate agent as well) Tatsuya later visited Kitada as well and was horrified as Yoshimi, who did not have any children, started acting as if she had, talking as a different person. He saw Toshio meowing and then the face of Kayako over Yoshimi's. His sister Kyoko was later possessed by Kayako as well.
Kyoko possessed.
Katsuya was living in the house with his family when he found his wife Kazumi lying suffocated on their bed. He was then taken over by Takeo's anger, placing Kazumi's body in the attic and kicking his sister Hitomi out of the house. Tokunaga was later found dead in the attic as well, beside his wife. Actress Kyoko Harase stepped inside the house to shoot a television show and the the ghosts, since Kyoko was pregnant, found her chance to live again by assuming her child's place. After they managed to, and were reborn, Kyoko assumed an eerie mother role for her newest baby (Kayako), raising the little girl until she was killed by her.
The Grudge film series[]
| “ | Jake... it's time for your bath. | ” |
—Possessed Trish. | ||
The Williams were an American family living in Japan and bought the Saeki house. Jennifer Williams was caught by the curse and found suffocated on the bed by her husband Matthew. Matthew was then possessed by Takeo, dragging Jennifer's body by the hair to the attic, and kicking his sister Susan off his house, confusing and scaring her. Matthew then climbed to the attic, followed by Kayako's wraith, and was later found dead besides his wife by Detective Nakagawa and his team.
The Williams' caretaker Fiona Landers was haunted at their house and moved back to the United States where she, possessed, killed her husband, daughter and herself. The murders gathered a new grudge curse at their house.
A possessed Trish murders her husband Bill.
When the curse reached a Chicago apartment building, it affected Sally, Trish and Bill's behaviour. He assumed a jealous conduct, suspecting she could having an affair with another man. Sally was a neighbour and best friends with Lacey, Bill's oldest daughter. Lacey once visited her and met Sally regurgitating and vomiting, threateningly staring her her. Sally was suffocated to death by Toshio afterwards. At some point, Bill and Trish had a argument that scared Bill's youngest son Jake.
As Bill became grouchy, Trish, influenced by something evil coming from next door, murdered Bill by spilling hot oil and hitting the frying pan on his head. Trish normally had her breakfast while Bill collapsed to the floor, bleeding and agonizing. She later hid Bill's body in their bedroom, which was later found by Jake himself. As Jake ran to Lacey, he only found her dead as well, as she drowned (or was drowned) in the bath. A possessed Trish then showed up to a horrfied Jake, and was taken by Toshio.
In the same building, its manager Max became affected by Takeo's anger after discovering Gretchen's corpse, which possessed him and led to Naoko's murder.
Notes and trivia[]
- Kyoko's possession reflects both Kayako and Manami's interrupted motherhood (or their maternal nature), even though Manami's ghost never manifests itself.
- The Grudge 3 confirms that the deaths were concluded to be caused by Trish in a murder-suicide act, similarly to the Williamses deaths (were Matthew was possessed by Takeo) and the Saeki murders case itself. So, it suggests that, differently from Yoshimi in Ju-on, Trish was possessed by Takeo instead, being the only female character to have been so.
- The scene with Matthew's possession was deleted from the theatrical cut of The Grudge, but is featured in the DVD's special features.
- The curse and all events seen in The Grudge (2020) are entirely caused by possession.
- A scene with Sally being affected with possession was deleted from the theatrical and unrated cuts of The Grudge 2. She is on her couch, eating popcorn and laughing at her TV. Kayako's ghost then comes downwards and haunts her from behind, referencing Tomoka's demise from Ju-on: The Grudge 2.
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