The Grudge Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An international student living in Japan visits a home haunted by the evil spirits of a murdered family.

Review: I'm well aware that the American remakes have gathered a reputation for being bad, which is justified, but I disagree and think there were many improvements that far outweigh the negatives. However, I cannot deny the glaring fact that most remakes are unnecessary, Hollywood is not churning out quality material any longer, and this film had many flaws that should have been improved upon at this point in the franchise! So let's tackle the mistakes first for a change, shall we? I don't care how many times I see this movie, I can't accept this many Americans in a film supposedly taking place in Japan! An American family moves into the Saeki house, Kayako's crush and his wife are American, the main girl, Karen (played strongly by Sarah Michelle Gellar), and her boyfriend are American, and even Karen's boss too! AHHH! Seriously?! My fucking god give me a break! This borderlines on absurdity and is extremely hard to ignore. I wish Karen's boyfriend had been Japanese or at least keep Kayako's crush as Japanese (and why the hell does Kayako love Bill Pullman anyway? Oh wait, it's Bill fucking Pullman that's why!). Okay, I need to calm down. Anyway, Kayako is not that scary looking this time around. It sucks because she was looking so disturbing in "Ju-on: The Grudge 2" but at least she does look creepier than in "Ju-on: The Grudge." I can't explain it but the makeup effects make her seem as if she's not really there as she appears so synthetic and not like a ghost woman. Maybe it was that the eyes are too big or because she seems frozen in certain facial expressions and isn't as animate? And my final complaint is that virtually nothing new is added! This was such a waste since I would have liked to at least had my expectations toyed with to some degree. This is the third telling of this tale after all! Now on the other hand, many of the problems about originality need to be addressed toward Takashi Shimizu, because he is writer/director of the original and remake and he could have gone in whatever direction he so chose. Since he chose this, I can't really fault them for wanting a straight up scene for scene remake. The atmosphere and presentation felt scary and unsettling with everything looking darker and the audience could also feel something was off as the characters did. The improved look of the house and the creaking floorboards were welcomed additions. I also felt the characters were more engaging what with the family that moves into the home, Karen, the detectives, and even the Saeki family; although I still preferred Rika (big shock, right?) from the original. Maybe I'm just another American that needs to be spoon-fed the plot, but I much prefer that this film took the time to properly show us the creation of the curse detailing each murder. Not only do I believe that this helps the audience actually gain a grasp on what the hell they're watching, but I think this made Kayako out to be a much more sympathetic character making her transformation much more tragic. Other than these facets, it's just the little things like the music, by the legendary Christopher Young, that enhances the film and makes it a worthy remake. While I do like this film, it is only close to the level of the originals and by no means surpasses them. This film is worth checking out and is even full of decent scares, but I would still recommend watching the originals first since they're vastly superior especially when you take into account their originality with inventing all these scares and the story. I watched the remakes first and still prefer the originals better so I don't think this is a case of which version you see first. Regardless, I stand by the fact that this franchise should be viewed as the five Japanese films first followed by the American trilogy.

Notable Moment: When Kayako is in the stairwell and latches onto Susan's rabbit's foot attached to her phone. It was a nice and eerie image of Kayako fading back into the shadows.

Final Rating: 7/10