My Review Of THE GRUDGE

Title: THE GRUDGE


Studio(s): Columbia Pictures, Ghost House Pictures


Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, William Mapother, Clea DuVall, KaDee Strickland, Grace Zabriskie, Bill Pullman, Rosa Blasi, Ted Raimi, Ryo Ishibashi, Yoko Maki, Yuya Ozeki, Takako Fuji


Screenwriter: Stephen Susco


Director: Takashi Shimizu


Rating: PG-13 for for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality


NOTE: This review is coming from a person (me) who has never seen the Original Ju-On: The Grudge or any of the Ju-On films.


Review: Usually when I've had high expectations for a film, more often then not after I've seen the movie in question it has atleast met most of my expectations or in some great cases, exceeded them. Now, especially with horror films, if a movie gets a lot of hype and a butt-load of positive buzz, I get very excited about the movie, and expect to see either a solid good or even a great scary and intense film. Now, as far as disappointments go, The Grudge isn't the biggest, it isn't even a bad film by any means, but it sure does disappoint in some pretty bad ways.

First (even though I'm sure most of you know it by now) let me explain the thin plot/storyline. Karen (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is living abroad in Tokyo, Japan with her boyfriend Doug (played by Jason Behr) and is working as a volunteer nurse so to speak at a local care center. She is sent on her very first assignment to a house where an elderly post shock-catatonic woman lives with the rest of her family (the Williams). The regular care taker-nurse didn't show up to the office (already, big surprise!?!) so Karen's boss Alex seems to think she is ready and right for the job! Well, as the film states in the beginning, a "curse" is born out of someone dying in the grips of powerful rage or sorrow, and it passes like a virus to anyone who encounters it. So, Karen literally steps into a supernatural trap, and like every other character in the movie, must end up confronting The Grudge.

Okay, let me start out by pointing out the few positives in the film, because luckily there are some. First off, the actual ghosts that are made of the curse, are pretty creepy, but paticulary Kayako, who crawls and appears out of nowhere like there's no tomorrow. Now, I know you must be thinking, "But what about that sound she makes?", and don't worry, I'll get to that...but not for the positives. The cinematography is pretty well done, with certain scenes slightly grainier then others which adds an effective creepy touch. The score for the most part works well, and there were two scenes in the film I can think of that are pretty creepy, they work to an extent and are somewhat unsettling (for those of you who haven't seen it yet, I won't get into specifics about them).

Okay, now onto the longer list of negatives. First off and foremost, I must say the best performances in the movie are by the ghosts themselves, which is good, but in a very big important way NOT. Jason Behr (again who plays Karen's doctor/wannabe boyfriend) can hardly show very much emotion or conviction until he is in danger, Bill Pullman mostly pulls off his part as Proffesor Peter but it's still somewhat underplayed, and both KaDee Strickland and Clea DuVall (the Williams sisters) have such underdeveloped characters that they are more then half the time not entirely convincing. In fact, that is to me the BIGGEST problem with this movie. All of the characters are so paper-thin that it is very hard to give a flying crap what happens to any of them. And, sadly and unfortunately, even our sort of leading lady Sarah Michelle Gellar (who can usually take any role and make it come alive with atleast some charm and realism) does nothing with whatever amount of a character she has, except ask questions and look horrified (which she does well, though). Come to think of it, she actually gave a more intense and overall believeable performance in I Know What You Did Last Summer or Scream 2 then this. Also, most of the paper characters in the film are deeply stupid and obviously have never seen ONE SINGLE HORROR FILM in their entire lives. They hear a creepy or strange noise, they go right off to investigate without anything to defend themselves or without getting help first. They see blood on the ground and ask, "What happened?", and even one character at one point (which probably has to be the second dumbest moment in the film second to the asking what happened incident) gets in her bed and hides under the covers for defense against the menacing spirits. Yes, pulling your bed covers over your head will give you a total force field against the ghosts that can move and follow you all around the city! The cops and investigators are even dumbed down to after even knowing what happens when you enter the infamous house, willingly go in thinking it will have a different outcome. There is also a scene invovling a character witnessing first hand an important flashback that sort of goes on for too long, and by the end leads to an all too short and disappointing final confrontation. And, the ending, boy the ending. Second the the extreme lack of character development the ending has to also be the worst thing. I won't get into it, but it's basically your typical Hollywood last-gotcha-scare scene that just is pretty laughable and not the least bit scary because you ofcourse know what's coming. Predictability is another problem the movie has, with most of it's tense scenes and scares you can see coming well before they appear on screen. If this is how most of asian horror films are, then I don't see a whole lot of difference from their scare tactics to the states ones. And now, last but not least, the now famous Kayako death croak. It works fairly well to creep the first couple times you hear it, but by the end of the film, it's been heard a lot and it's lost almost all of it's edge and it can become quite annoying. Also the other ghost's noise, which is a cat's meow/hiss, is a little unsettling maybe the first time around, but again, it gets old by the end. Many people (because of the long stringy-haired ghost and the obvious poster) have been comparing this movie to two years ago's The Ring remake. Now, obviously, these are two very different films, but if I had to compare the two, I would definitely reccommend The Ring over The Grudge by more then half the vote. As I walked out of the theater from this, two girls who I would say were about maybe ten or eleven years of age yelled out to the masses, "Don't see The Grudge, it is pointless!", and you know what? Sadly, in more ways then not, it is.


Overall: A movie that creeps way more then it scares. A horror film with less then half of it's bag filled. Decent in some ways, but overall still disappointing.


Grade: C+

[Coprophagia]

i saw the original and theres no way in hell i'll see that one, the whole remaking horror movies is getting pathetic, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn Of The Dead, they where really good, why remake them??? theres no need to remake a movie that was good, it ruins it

The new Dawn of the Dead is fantastic....and I really loved the Grudge too.

In the Grudge, the acting was serviceable and lacked development. But who cares? It's a horror film and characterization is secondary to situations. It's more about mood and atmosphere.

Much like other Japanese horror films and U.S. watershed post-modern horror films (like the original Texas Chainsaw Masacre), the Grudge presents a very bleak world view where there's no redemption or reason. In that respect, I think did the movie did well in presenting that.

Yes, the moments are very predictable but it still scared the hell out of me (except the little kid...he was totally unscary). Much like the Ring, the movie is even creepier after the movie when you're trying to sleep

I agree with many points of your review, but my expectations from horror movies are different

[ October 26, 2004, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: Blind Faith ]

Ju-On was an excellent film and is probably the scariest film I have ever seen.

The American counter part was scary with its loud noises and people screamin however, the thing i could not fathom was the amount of english that was spoken in Japan, but it was a good movie nonetheless.

I must say I see your point of view, even if I loved the movie! But I so did prefer the original! The remake had nothing better than the original! And the ending was prettty lame, contrary to the ending in Ju-On, which was so much more scary!

gets in her bed and hides under the covers for defense against the menacing spirits. Yes, pulling your bed covers over your head will give you a total force field against the ghosts that can move and follow you all around the city!

I mean, the girl didn't knew there were ghost that can follow everywhere all over town! She did what most people think, hide into her bedsheet! It may sound weird and lame to you, but for some people being in your bed makes you feel safer!

Originally posted by Blind Faith:


In the Grudge, the acting was serviceable and lacked development. But who cares? It's a horror film and characterization is secondary to situations. It's more about mood and atmosphere.

I strongly disagree. To me, in any movie in any genre, if there is no character development, if you as the audience member does not get invested in any of the characters in the film you are watching, the whole movie is pointless. It's just one mindless and less entertaining scene after another. Character development is JUST AS IMPORTANT in a horror film as mood and atmosphere.

[SilverSpoon]

The American counter part was scary with its loud noises and people screamin however, the thing i could not fathom was the amount of english that was spoken in Japan, but it was a good movie nonetheless.

Well, one of the main reasons they did the remake was so that English speaking audienes would see it and understand it, and they wanted to keep everything else pretty much the same as the Japanese film. Thus...lots of English in Japan. Hooray? Maybe.

[darko.]

the noise that girl made was creepy.

sarah michelle gellar is too mousy to resist.

So thats why it was a good film for Darko then

I thought it was pretty creepy but the ending was really lame. I haven't seen the original.

Did it remind anyone else of Ringu or Ring 2?

Well, one of the main reasons they did the remake was so that English speaking audienes would see it and understand it

That's a lame excuse, they could have dubbed it!! I mean, the original is soooooo mcuh better than the remake! It shouldn't had been remaked in the first place! Dubbing the original would have worked here...Just look at "Hero"

That's a lame excuse, they could have dubbed it!! I mean, the original is soooooo mcuh better than the remake! It shouldn't had been remaked in the first place! Dubbing the original would have worked here...Just look at "Hero"

It wont work, believe me. How many people have known Ju-On before The Grudge? For some Horror geek, yeah!!! But not a lot.
Some who watched Ju-on before The Grude said Ju-on was better, some watched The Grudge before Ju-on said The Grudge was better. So i'm not entirely sure which is better than which (I was fighting with my brother for months because of The Ring. He saw Ringu first, so The Ring was lame for him. But i saw The ring first, so Ringu was lame for me)
About Hero, well, let's see
1. Jet Li, somehow, is quite popular in US. That's one of the reason why people went to the cinema to watch it. Actors and actresses in Ju-on? Who knows them? even my Japanese friends dont

2. America can't remake Hero, mostly because America never had King or Emperor or whatsoever. There you go with the history. And you cant bend the story into something like "Chinese people hired an American Assassin to kill the King" either. So, there's no choice but releasing the original

3. Zhang yi Mu is a far more famous(and popular) Director than Takashi shimizu if you ask me. And Hero had won dozen awards before it came to US. No wonder why people curious about it.

4. Hate to say this,but Ju-on the original did get to US, and it stayed somewhere at the bottom of the box-office result. The Grudge stays on top for 2 weeks.


I have to agree that character development is important. The same to horror movies, but it's not as much as drama or comedy. Admitt it, in horror film, there're characters who have nothing else to do than to be killed. There is character development in The Grudge, but most people dont get it, since it's a non-linear film. Although The Grudge is no classic-must-see, i had a good time and didn't get angry, which i did with most horror films. recently is Wrong turn, Watching the-hot-and-kicking-ass Eliza being chased by crazy mountain men made me mad :mad: .

[ November 03, 2004, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: dark_willow ]

I can clearly see your point Dark Willow and I agree you are right in most of them, but if there would have been many commercials for Ju-On, it would have worked! With commercials on Tv and in theatre, it would have helped!
As for the Ju-On movie that went out here but didn't do to well, Well that was sure, because nobody knew it was out (Even I didn't knew). It wasn't even announced and there were no commercials, and it was only in Japanese subtitled english! And to make it worse, the people were all seeing the commercials for the remake so they didn't even care about the original!

I still think that if there wouldn't have been a remake and that there would have been has many commercials as there was of the Grudge, it would have worked, maybe not as much but still! And i'm not saying the remake is bad, I liked it, but there's no way I will watch it again!

As for "Hero", it was just an example, no need to get to specify about it! But I see what you mean, "Hero" couldn't really have been remake, but still!

You are right, M@x, Ju-On would have done better if there'd been more commercials for it. (It might not stay on top for 2 weeks but no way down below either). But there's this weird thing about American Remake if you notice

Ju-on was released in Singapore last year and i remember it did so well in the box office. There were commercials for it, and since Singapore is part of Asia,they have got used to watching Asian Film with Subtitle, so, Ju-On got people Atention. But then, after The Grudge was released, i emailed my friends and they said The Grudge have been doing even better. I was very surprised, i mean, i understand if The Grudge do well in US, but in Singapore (or most Asian Countries) I thought Ju-on should have done better. (May be because of Sarah Michelle And Bill Pullman? )
Even Weirder, my Japanese friends hate Horror, some have no idea what the hell is Ju-On, some choose to not care. But they have already planned on watching The Grudge This November 5th. I was like "What the heck, why dont you guys watch the original in which the actors speak your own Japanese language" I dont say The Grudge is bad, but it's so weird. The same happen to me [img]graemlins/woah.gif[/img] , i watched most Asian Horror films and i know that American Remakes somehow lame, but i'd go to the cinema anyway, i dont know why. And i have heard lots of people whining about how bad American remakes are, but still watch it, and depress themselves. They've SEEN the original, they KNEW the remake is lame, still, they pay money for it and then whine.
:confused: [img]graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

I know! As much as I am against remake, I don't think they are bad! I love the ring with Naomi Watts and the Grudge, even if it's not as good, is still a good movie!
As for Singapoure, maybe it's because of Sarah Michelle Gellar. Cause she is almost more popular than any other actors in their countries (I mean, SMG must be quite more popular in Japon than most of the Japanese actors, especially the one in Ju-On)

I always watch movies in their original language, so I got used to the subtitle, but my friends hate subtitles. So, the only way that they could have seen the movie Ju-On was if they would dub the original or make a remake (Which they did) So, I was quite happy they amde a remake, because now everybody's talking about it! But they could have still dubbed the original!
Well, i'm glad we agree on some points there!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[JenniferNoble]

haha im going to see it no matter what everone says im a fan of Sarah's acting skills so im pretty sure she did well. otherwise, i had a great night out. but i have to wait till january 6th for the movie to come out over here :(