ashecatlin

The first time I saw this, I absolutely hated it. You get a glimpse of Kayako at the begging but through the rest of the movie she doesn't show up. While I do like the homeage it does also feel like a massive slap in the face to fans. Instead this movie replaces it with similar ghosts but there mannerisms, are more like the conjuring ghost than the grudge. They do the whole croaking thing but it's just not the same, given the type of movie is it I understand why the replaced the ghost, I'd say that's the movies biggest weakness.

Aside from that I genuinely enjoyed everything on this movie, it didn't piss me off going from story to story. Like the original American Grudge does, the premise is more or less the same, where people enter the house and then are haunted by the ghosts, that can follow them anywhere. I just liked all the characters in this one so much more than the original, that story just felt too long for me. Where never takes to long to expand a story and all felt like they added something to the narrative. John Cho did an amazing amazing job in his segment, the whole story about the troubled birth was very interesting take I haven't seen before. Same can be said with Lin Shaye's story about the assisted suicide, it's just such a fresh that I haven't seen in a horror movie before. I do feel like she wasn't the best character in that segment, the goes to her boyfriend and nurse like John they felt like they brought there A game. Even the cops story who connects them all felt better the second time, I wouldn't say I enjoyed her more but the whole story was entertaining nevertheless.

I actually think this movie is hurt by the Grudge brand, I understand why they used it, the brand sells. But aside from the homages to there isn't a lot to do with the Grudge series, yes you have a house aspect where ghosts can follow you, the conjuring does that as well. I think if you kept the story but replaced it with Kayako, Toshio and Takeo this would have preformed a lot better at the box office, and satisfied fans of the franchise a lot more. At the end of the day most of us come to these movies to see the Kayako family wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims.

So yeah aside from the weaker ghosts, I think movie does a better job than the first American remake as the characters actually bring something to the story instead of fodder, you care for them whilst being interesting in what happens to them. I do enjoy the first American one it's just very long winded, the scenes with the Kayako family are amazing but the rest of the movie is just a bit bland with lackluster characters, kind of the reverse of this.