ACCORDING to the Bible, evil begets evil.

This notion, that from bad seeds blossom poisoned fruit, is at the core of the American remake of Takashi Shimizu's cult horror Ju-On: The Grudge.

Interestingly, rather than transplant the original story to some sleepy Stateside community, the producers of this new version have sensibly kept the story firmly ingrained in modern day Japan, with the revered director Shimizu at the helm.

As a result, The Grudge doesn't sacrifice too much suspense or psychological terror at the altar of Hollywood gloss.

American exchange student Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is studying social work in Japan, where she has relocated with her boyfriend Doug (Jason Behr).

When nurse Yoko (Yoko Maki) fails to turn up for work one morning, nursing home manager Alex (Ted Raimi) asks Karen to cover and visit the home of an elderly American patient, Emma Williams (Grace Zabriskie).

Arriving at the Williams residence, Karen is horrified to discover Emma consigned to her bed in a state of terrified shock.

There is no sign of Emma's daughter Jennifer (Clea DuVall) or her dutiful son Matthew (William Mapother) and daughter-in-law Susan (KaDee Strickland).

Checking the house, Karen discovers a young boy Toshio (Yuya Ozeki), who holds the key to a terrifying otherworldly force which has the house in its grasp.

Doug and Alex are gradually drawn into the nightmare, which consumes everyone who enters the cursed house.

Working with a largely Japanese crew, Shimizu keeps a tight rein on this cinematic melting pot of East meets West, sustaining the tension well through the 91 minutes and conjuring some nice shocks and surprises.

Series regulars Fuji and Ozeki are both excellent, easing back into familiar roles.

The guttural growl of Fuji's vengeful spirit still makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

The director is not quite so fortunate with his American cast.

Gellar doesn't have the emotional range to drawn us into her heroine's nightmarish world; from the moment Karen comes face to face with evil, the Buffy star is almost as vacant and lifeless as her character.

Behr is little more than eye candy and DuVall, Mapother and Strickland are limited to brief flashbacks in a narrative framework that ricochets back and forth between past and present to trace the birth of the evil in the house and its inevitable consumption of everyone its touches.

Rating: 7/10