This review would not be what you call timely, but after only seeing this movie recently, I am compelled to review it. Most people might feel that way about a great and inspiring movie they feel deserves to be talked about and seen. This is not one of these reviews. I am a horror movie fan. I am the type that can be scared by even some of the more obvious and well-known of horror movie tricks.
One of my favorite movies is John Carpenter's The Thing.
Well as you probably already know the Grudge is a American remake of a Japanese movie, Ju-On. Unlike most remake's, this one kept the original director, and I can only assume the same flaws with the addition of an American cast. This was a offspring of the trend of quality horror movies coming out of Japan, following the success of the much better (but not perfect) Ring/ Ringu movies.
In some ways this movie was a lot like the Ring and by that I mean without the originality or a genuine scare.
I am not a fan of the recent trend made well know already by the CHUD crew of crap horror a la Boogey Man, Darkness Falls, the Fog etc. This is the formulaic approach; taking what has been done before, filling it with WB/CW teen starlets and making it worse. However I am also generally not a fan of the recent torture-based horror movie in the vein of Hostel and the Saw franchise. The latter I mean no disrespect to the craft of filmmaking or the filmmakers, it is just personal preference and dislike of torture depicted on film.
The reason I mention these other films is to say that I was and am ready for another market or set of people to come of with something great and novel in the horror genre. The Grudge is not it.
The plotting I found to be mundane and predictable and the forced people or "ghosts" within the movie have no reasonable motivations for their actions. I know what you're thinking: Certainly the potential victims in horror movies of yesteryear (the 80's) didn't have much sense or motivation when they go "investigate that sound" or some other non-sense. Well at least they had fun with those films or the killer had a well established reason to kill beyond the grave.
The Grudge lacks this motivation for its killer. And it also spreads the mystique of the ghost killers over what might be three family members and a wasted subplot for Bill Pullman. Fortunately the acting required very little from it's cast and although I love Buffy as much as the next internet fan boy, that didn't elevate this film.
Horror is a great genre that I don't get to enjoy much because my girlfriend refuses to watch. So the few times I get to see something new I would like it to be quality. This isn't it.
One of my favorite movies is John Carpenter's The Thing.
Well as you probably already know the Grudge is a American remake of a Japanese movie, Ju-On. Unlike most remake's, this one kept the original director, and I can only assume the same flaws with the addition of an American cast. This was a offspring of the trend of quality horror movies coming out of Japan, following the success of the much better (but not perfect) Ring/ Ringu movies.
In some ways this movie was a lot like the Ring and by that I mean without the originality or a genuine scare.
I am not a fan of the recent trend made well know already by the CHUD crew of crap horror a la Boogey Man, Darkness Falls, the Fog etc. This is the formulaic approach; taking what has been done before, filling it with WB/CW teen starlets and making it worse. However I am also generally not a fan of the recent torture-based horror movie in the vein of Hostel and the Saw franchise. The latter I mean no disrespect to the craft of filmmaking or the filmmakers, it is just personal preference and dislike of torture depicted on film.
The reason I mention these other films is to say that I was and am ready for another market or set of people to come of with something great and novel in the horror genre. The Grudge is not it.
The plotting I found to be mundane and predictable and the forced people or "ghosts" within the movie have no reasonable motivations for their actions. I know what you're thinking: Certainly the potential victims in horror movies of yesteryear (the 80's) didn't have much sense or motivation when they go "investigate that sound" or some other non-sense. Well at least they had fun with those films or the killer had a well established reason to kill beyond the grave.
The Grudge lacks this motivation for its killer. And it also spreads the mystique of the ghost killers over what might be three family members and a wasted subplot for Bill Pullman. Fortunately the acting required very little from it's cast and although I love Buffy as much as the next internet fan boy, that didn't elevate this film.
Horror is a great genre that I don't get to enjoy much because my girlfriend refuses to watch. So the few times I get to see something new I would like it to be quality. This isn't it.
