The Grudge 3

The problem with these films is two fold... one they don't make much sense. I like my horrors to have 'rules' that the characters and ghouls should stick by and in these movies it's just a free for all. The character just does what it wants to who it wants when it wants. I, do not WANT, that. Secondly, it's just all too bland and boring. Yes, all three of them. But when the original director can't even be bothered to turn up and complete his own trilogy, you know you are in trouble. I would rather watch anything else than another Grudge movie. I had to watch all three for work and to give them their certifications... the hardest two days I've spent in the viewing theatre, I can tell you. By the 60th minute I just wanted it all to end. So Producers... no more please. This series should be over.

I really liked the Japanese films (Ju-on and Ju-on 2), while the American remake was decent enough and it's sequel while I wasn't that taken by it still it had its moments. The latter two films received cinema releases where the remake was a big hit, but the second sequel (The Grudge 3) would see it hit the straight to DVD market. Watching you can see why. However that's not a bad thing, as I was actually surprised by it. It could've been worse. In some ways I prefer it over "The Grudge 2", but there's no doubts the story keeps within the same grounds of the first two films --- similar investigations, story progression, imagery and scares. We've seen it before, but there's one or two fresh developments regarding Kayako and another is its supposedly set entirely in America (except for one brief shot in Tokyo).

The third film continues on from the events of the last film where the curse was affecting an American family in a dingy apartment building. The sole survivor of the massacre a young boy is hospitalised, but is tortured by visions of the vengeful spirits Kayako and Toshio. Soon his fate is stamped, and now another family (an older brother and his two sisters) in the apartment find themselves in the path of these vengeful spirits. However there's a mysterious lady that has come Tokyo and moved in to the apartment to hopefully put a stop to this curse.

Very standard, but acceptable retread. The budget is considerably lower; as the make-up FX and special effects go on to show it. The ghosts and the jerky movements this time just seemed to lack that menacing and unnerving edge they once held, due to over-used make-up and too well lit scenes where they would creep up in. However the shuddery music score and sound FX is effectively skin-crawling and the air is dripping with a glum atmosphere of dread. Although the chills and tension falls on the uneven side, as some moments work while others fall a long way short. The problem might lie in that at times it was trying to be subtle, but then chooses to be blatant in its acts. Some stages felt bland (just like the second film) and the script is rather shallow, but the pacing seemed better handled. Compared to the other films, it goes against the grain with a linear storyline but remains just as slow-grinding with it growing darker the further along it went. As if there's no real escaping this stinging threat, as fate has a shocking twist or two waiting. The performances are able enough with the likes of Matthew Knight, Emi Ikehata, Johanna Braddy, Jadie Hobson and Shawnee Smith.

I had very low expectations for this film. I had read some of the reviews on here (good and bad) and wasn't holding out much hope. If you've fallen in love with the Ju-On and Grudge films in the way I have in the past month your curiosity will probably get the better of you. That's what happened to me, but being prepared for a bad movie I was able to enjoy it for what it was. Yes it changes the storyline, yes it's cashing in, yes parts of it were illogical, but something about it wasn't that bad. I'm not going to even bother going in to all the ways it's wrong because I'm sure people must have done that many times already on here. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen or even close. For me the Grudge 2 still had the power to scare but here the fear factor was gone completely which was a great shame. Some die hard fans of the series are saying it's just as scary as the first two, some people are even saying it's one of the scariest films they've seen which makes me question their mental age. If they found this film scary I don't know how they even got to it because by all rights the first two would have scared them so much they'd have probably had a heart attack - literally scared to death... This film wasn't even slightly scary but something about it was still quite enjoyable. Maybe it's just because I love the series so much, maybe it was the characters, the pace, I don't know, and sitting through the whole thing was worth it for the last twenty minutes which I found to be actually pretty exciting. It's no surprise to hear rumours that Grudge 4 is in the works , and after that Grudge 5 is a pretty safe bet, they'll be cashing in on this series 'til the cows come home. W*nkers. Thanks

I had my doubts with this one, as the director of this one and the first two parts is different. This one lacks at many occasions, firstly it does not have any horror in it.. i mean if you have seen the first two parts, they make u jump up from your chair, you need to take frequent breaks in order to get a relief and it might haunt u in the night if you are not into horror movies and if you believe in supernatural thingie.

However, this one, the writer tried sequencing it, but the director couldn't really make this one as perfect as the last two were.. It contained more story than horror, not many horror appearance, not many real killing scenes, director tried ending most of the scenes in suspense, as we'd guess what would have happened or perhaps like a trailer or a teaser that you'd have to wait to see what would have happened...

I felt it as a waste of my time frankly, and I think it will be a waste of time for all the people who have been great fan of the first two parts.

I always preferred the original Japanese titles to the second rate American remakes, but as there was no Jap Grudge 3 it became a no brainer (in every sense of the phrase). I enjoyed the first two films a fair bit; I wouldn't have said that they rocked my world, but were not such a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

This third installment is almost not part of the same franchise; OK, so there are the same main characters from the previous two and the so-called curse that is supposed to be attributed to the location where the murders took place (therefore how can it move to the USA just because the story needs it as a plot device?), other than that nothing much. The characters are all horrendous stereotypes from clichéd horror films which were all done far better than this mess, the story plods along slower than it has any right to and the majority of the first hour does little other than explain who the 4 main characters are, which could be done in around 5 minutes if handled correctly!! There is little by way of gore apart from a couple of stabbing scenes and an off-screen pulverisation; which for most of us horror film fans is the ultimate pay off and the reason we sit through the rest of the tiresome background building sections and introductory necessities! The end is a complete formality and would have been better to have just ended on a blank screen and a decent, well-produced sound-byte...most of which are handled atrociously incidentally...

I give it 4 out of 10; one point for each of the deaths and one point for the joyous sight of the end credits appearing. Avoid unless sleepless...this may help!