The Grudge

Went into this seeing the 4.3 rating and being like aww man it's gonna suck, it's really not that bad, the film does a lot of time jumping around but you can follow it, the story line is mehhh, but theres a lot of scares, cringe moments, anticipation, it's not a 4.3! Watch it alone, late at night with headphones on and you will enjoy!

I see some people here calling this a remake and I'm thinking "Where they even paying attention!?!". This movie is a sequel and takes place during the same timeline of the 2004 version and the years 2005 and 2006. Only this time the curse has been brought to the US by the first nurse that was taking care of the elderly lady from the first movie. Anyways, I have to say the editing is a mess and most of the characters are lifeless, but the actors did their best with what was given. I actually like the cast and I think Lin Shaye and Jacki Weaver are the highlights of the film. Its biggest mistake was not bringing back the iconic ghosts that fans have grown to love. This is their franchise.

This played out like a soft reboot, similar to Rings (sequel from The Ring, which ignored The Ring Two). It clearly exists in the same universe as the previous three American releases, but with time between them and other characters into the mix (plus new audiences watching), it kind of throws elements at you that the previous films had. Therein lies the problem.

Although this may be the slightly superior film to Rings, it also was a less necessary sequel. When you look back at what you saw, you ask yourself how the pitch meeting went to green-lighting this installment. I mean, what was the lure that got them to say this was worthy? Rings happened to evolve and modernize its story in a very sensical manner, but The Grudge didn't really breathe new life... and when it tried to, it fell a little flat on its face.

I don't know how much money was thrown at this, but it felt a little too produced. A lot of it had to do with the fact that it was brought to the States. I know that little Asian ghost girl horror was so two decades ago, but having that traditional Japanese setting that stemmed from the Ju-On series (shot on a taller frame and on film) gave the previous movies a bit of a rawer, grittier chill factor that this one loses. Not to mention the way they edit the jump scares this time around is Rings-cheesy. They are by far the worst parts of the movie, sadly enough. Props for the R-rating and I think that was excellently used, but I don't think the tone matched the maturer audience that was watching it... as it still had a PG-13 feel to the scares.

The thing that I liked most about this movie though was the nonlinear storytelling. They borrowed this from The Grudge 2, although that was kind of a twist in that film that you were jumping different timelines. I liked it so much from that one that you really had to work hard in what you were watching, and all it had to take from this movie was removing the big white lettering telling the year that it was in on shots. The timelessness feel kind of became a theme to the movie, and I think if they made the audience work a little harder at it then it would have a nice full circle feeling to it. But alas, you are always reminded where you are at in the film, so it's not quite as fun. Nevertheless, it was a cool ride to flash back and forward, though it was all exposition vomit anyway. I could have allowed them to stretch the film another 15-20 minutes for more present day substance if they could have found a way to fill it, but for what it did I'd say it was okay.

The movie whimpers out at the end for me though, and that was really where I wish it had something else to say about the franchise's evolution when it plainly couldn't. I think that's where it hits its weakest stride. I can imagine sequels to this happening, but they just won't be as fun or freaky unless they return to Tokyo again and have Kayako and Toshio again, throwing less money at it and making it raw and gritty if they're able to. This is a skipper, even for die-hard Grudgies.

One last note: This movie has the intentionally funniest scene transition since Napoleon Dynamite's "It's a sledgehammer" moment. That alone was actually worth the price of admission.

Why was this made? Why did they think it was a good idea to remake this? Why does it take the plot of the original film and throw it out the window? Why does it look like an uninspired, totally predictable, and an overall sorry excuse of a horror film?! It's 2020, people! A new decade is already here... STOP REMAKING STUFF THAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE REMADE!!

So get this: it's a remake of the film that is a remake of the Japanese Horror film: Ju-On: The Grudge (fantastic movie, BTW) and they took that and made it into one of the most predictable stupid films ever. And it's already 2020, and I thought unnecessary remakes were outlawed (they should be). I don't even see who is the target audience of this film, and I don't see who will watch this film a second time.

Weak Storyline, Bad Cinematography, and Unnecessary Jump Scares makes this film not worth your money. What a complete disaster! TERRIBLE film!!

The movie follows events in 2004 to 2006 in a small Pennsylvanian town. Nurse Fiona Landers brings the spirit from Japan to America. There are police detectives Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough), Goodman (Demián Bichir), and Wilson (William Sadler). Peter (John Cho) and Nina Spencer (Betty Gilpin) are a married real estate agent couple. Lorna Moody (Jacki Weaver) arrives to assist the struggling Mathesons (Lin Shaye, Frankie Faison).

Nobody cares that this ties in with the rest of the Grudge franchise other than the Japanese house. So the start is the only truly interesting part and then it slowly grinds to a halt. The scrambled timeline and the multiple interconnected stories somehow saps the tension out of the movie. The excellent cast has no chance. The jump scares aren't scary. It's all very flat.