Karen Davis is a fictional character from ''The Grudge''. Being the central character, she uncovers the Saeki house's dark past and is the only one to survive the first film. She returns in ''

The Grudge 2 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and compels her sister, Aubrey, to put a stop to the curse. Her portrayal was met with acclaim by critics and the films crew. She makes a cameo appearance in ''

The Grudge 3 ''The Grudge 3'' is a 2009 American supernatural horror film and the third and final installment in ''The Grudge'' original trilogy. Toby Wilkins, who had previously directed the successful film ''Splinter'' and the short film series '' Tales fro ...

'' with a flashback scene.

Character arc

''The Grudge''

Karen Davis (

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

) is the main protagonist of ''

The Grudge ''The Grudge'' is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco, and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Takashige Ichise. A remake of Shimizu's 2002 Japanese horror film '' Ju-On: The Grudge'', i ...

''. She is an American social worker who moves with her boyfriend, Doug, to Tokyo. She volunteers to take care of a woman named Emma Williams when Emma's first caretaker, Yoko, does not show up to work. When

Kayako Saeki is the main antagonist of the '' Ju-On'' horror franchise. History and characteristics Japanese timeline In the ''Ju-on'' timeline, as revealed in the official novel written by Kei Ohishi, both of her parents were present albeit highly negle ...

, an undead woman bound to a curse, starts killing people around her, she starts investigating the curse's origin. She decides to head back to the house to keep Doug from falling to the curse, but fails. Karen then tries to stop the curse by burning down the house, but this instead releases the curse.

''The Grudge 1.5''

In the animated short film ''The Grudge 1.5'', Karen is rescued by a young Chinese journalist,

Eason Eason is a surname. The name comes from Aythe where the first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Aythe Filius Thome which was dated circa 1630, in the "Baillie of Stratherne". Aythe ''filius'' Thome received a charter of the lands of F ...

when he arrives the house on fire to find Detective Nakagawa, but he saves Karen before they were attacked by Kayako and the two make it out alive and Karen is taken to the hospital.

''The Grudge 2''

The second installment reveals that Karen was hospitalized after the events of the first film. She is now paranoid, traumatized, and frantic to stop Kayako. She is visited by her sister Aubrey, who was sent by their mother. Later, Kayako resurfaces and grabs her arm; panicked, she frees herself and evades Kayako and the police. When she reaches the roof of the hospital, she backs away to the edge of the roof and Kayako pulls her off to her death.

Reception

Gellar received praise for her performance in the first film, and Roger Ebert referenced her performance as the reason for the film's success.

Casting

Before Gellar was cast, numerous other actresses were suggested, such as

Selma Blair Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film '' Brown's Requiem'' (1998). Her breakthrough came when she s ...

; the two of them had previously starred together in the teen movie ''

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''. The role eventually went to Gellar, who was known for her work in horror films such as ''

I Know What You Did Last Summer ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely base ...

'' and ''

Scream 2 ''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Tim ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Karen The Grudge (film series) Film characters introduced in 2004 Fictional social workers Final girls Sony Pictures characters