Plot: An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid American Remake
Story: The Grudge starts with a mysterious suicide before taking us to the house with the curse in where our young American student Karen (Gellar) gets a chance to do her first solo care work. When she gets a visit from a random child in the house we see how the family ended up in the house before learning what is going on inside the house.
We watch how Karen has to try to get to the bottom of everything going on within house trying to put the ghost to rest once and for all.
The Grudge enters into one of my favorite style of horror with a ghost haunting with a backstory needing to be solved. Having seen the original, it all feels rather random just to have Americans in the Asian roles but still set in Japan which does takes away certain parts of the film. My big issue is that Karen doesn’t seem to know any Japanese and you would have thought having a job there they would make sure you can get past the very basic language barrier. If we are just looking at the horror side of the story we do get great scare moments that all tie together by the end of the film.
Actor Review
Sarah Michelle Gellar: Karen is the American care student who gets her first assignment which ends up entering her into the world of a cursed house and a vengeful spirit. She must research the truth to try and finally put the spirit to rest and end the killing. Sarah is solid in the leading role but like always it is hard to see her in a scared role after Buffy.
Jason Behr: Doug is the boyfriend of Karen who tries to help her settle in the area while pretty much doing nothing else in this film other than be the dumb partner of lead. Jason does what he can for the poorly written character.
William Mapother: Matthew is one half of the couple that moved into the house and has to deal with the sudden impact of the haunting. William is solid but only a small supporting character.
Clea DuVall: Jennifer is the other half of the couple that gets haunted first inside the house where we see the terrifying truth behind the ghost boy. Clea is solid but again only a small supporting role.
Support Cast: The Grudge has a supporting cast where we only see in a couple of scenes filling in the story going on during the hauntings.
Director Review: Takashi Shimizu – Takashi does bring his style of horror into the American styles which does work nicely throughout.
Horror: The Grudge still has the creepy side to the story the original has with the scare coming thick and fast.
Mystery: The Grudge does give us a mystery to solve about why the ghosts are killing the people.
Thriller: The Grudge keeps us on edge during the whole film as we wait to see what will happen next.
Settings: The Grudge keeps the settings in similar location as the original which all works keep the creep factor stay strong.
Special Effects: The Grudge has great effects to create the scares going on through the film.
Suggestion: The Grudge is one I would be suggesting to all horror fans out there. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: Jaws missing.
Worst Part: That noise.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Yes
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: One Missed Call, The Ring
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $10 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
Tagline: Do you have a grudge?
Overall: Good horror remake that is filled with scares.
Rating
