The Grudge review

THE GRUDGE: 

R-RATED HORROR REBOOT PROVES THAT EXCESSIVE JUMP-SCARES AND GORE AREN’T ENOUGH TO BUILD UP SCARES OR TELL A COMPELLING STORY!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: * ½ out of 4

SCREEN GEMS AND STAGE 6 FILMS

The popular horror franchise is back in The Grudge (2020)

            Producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead franchise, Spider-Man trilogy, Drag Me to Hell) returns to another iconic horror movie franchise in The Grudge, a reboot of the Grudge trilogy based on the Japanese horror film Ju-On: The Grudge directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also directed the 2004 American remake as well as its 2006 sequel, The Grudge 2. The first American Grudge film was released at the height of American remakes of Japanese horror movies thanks to the success of The Ring a couple years prior, and despite its PG-13 rating, awkward editing, and mixed reviews from critics, I consider it a decent scary movie with plenty of suspense, chilling atmosphere, and of course, Sarah Michelle Gellar. 

            The Grudge (2004) was also a success at the box-office spawning a follow-up in 2006 and while The Grudge 2 has its chilling moments, it’s mostly a lazy, watered-down rehash of its predecessor with nothing really standing out aside from a completely bonkers Jennifer Beals performance. After a mostly forgettable direct-to-video third installment in 2009, now we have this reboot (or spin-off/side-sequel) of The Grudge with Raimi back as the producer and Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother, Piercing) in the director’s chair. 

            There was some hype for this movie when it was announced and it wasn’t because of who’s producing, directing, or starring in it. It was because this was going to be an R-rated Grudge movie which is actually the second installment of the Grudge franchise to earn that rating, the first being The Grudge 3 in 2009. 

            Honestly, I was sort of onboard for this, an R-rated reboot of The Grudge focusing more on police officers investigating the supernatural place, which is actually pretty unique in concept I thought, and Sam Raimi also produced a surprisingly good Evil Dead remake in 2013. So, maybe the same thing could happen to The Grudge, a reboot that’s different in tone and story but also honors its source material…oh, how naïve I was. 

            The red flags started going off pretty quickly when it got closer to its release, it was released during the January dumping season for movies and that it was not screened in advance for critics. Those are some bad signs right there, but maybe it could turn out being good or at least a guilty pleasure. No, not really!

            The Grudge (2020) proves that even with an R rating, excessive jump scares, and gory imagery, it still takes a compelling story, engaging characters, and genuine suspense to build up scares, which this movie sadly does not have. Just about every scare in this movie is predictable and lazily rehashed from the previous films with little to no variety, it’s not just bad, it’s boring, uninspired, and not the least bit scary. 

            Like the previous installments, the film is told in a non-linear and non-chronological order through different storylines and following different characters all of which are connected to one thing, a creepy old house with a terrifying curse inside. After a woman mysteriously kills her entire family and then herself in her own house, Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough-Happy-Go-Lucky, Birdman, Battle of the Sexes) attempts to investigate the case only to discover that the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost. 

            However, Muldoon soon realizes that the curse may have followed her home as she is targeted by the demonic spirits along with her son Burke (Newcomer, John J. Hansen). Muldoon must figure out a way to lift the curse before it’s too late while also protecting herself as well as her loved ones in the process. 

            The film also stars Demián Bichir (A Better Life, The Hateful Eight, Alien: Covenant) as Detective Goodman, John Cho (Harold & Kumar trilogy, Star Trek (2009 trilogy), Searching) as Peter Spencer, Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie,GLOW, Stuber) as Nina Spencer, Lin Shaye (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Amityville: A New Generation, Ouija: Origin of Evil) as Faith Matheson, Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, The Disaster Artist) as Lorna Moody, Frankie Faison (The Money Pit, Hannibal Lecter franchise, The Wire) as William Matheson, William Sadler (Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Shawshank Redemption) as Detective Wilson, Nancy Sorel (Down the Shore, Less Than Kind, Cashing In) as Agent Cole, and Junko Bailey replacing Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki.

            Overall, The Grudge (2020) adds to the list another unnecessary continuation of a horror franchise and at this point is practically beating a dead horse. It plays more like a second-hand reenactment of all the same scares and tropes from its predecessors than it does a reboot/spin-off. 

            Just about every key scare from the earlier films is recycled here, the creepy hand grabbing the protagonist’s head in the shower, the bed sheets, and…a bathtub full of water? Gee, I wonder what’s going to happen when someone looks down at it? 

Do you want to know the scary part about these scenes? NONE OF THESE MOMENTS ARE SCARY BECAUSE WE’VE SEEN THIS SH*T IN THREE F*CKING MOVIES ALREADY! 

Oh, if you thought the Conjuring franchise was bad with the jump scares, this movie is the poster child of annoying jump scares. They are so frequent and predictable that they ruin every suspenseful moment, it’s to the point where the movie itself should be arrested for physical assault, I’ll see you in court Sony!

Sure, the 2004 movie has its share of jump scares but there was at least a balance between cheap scares and atmospheric ones. This has none of that, no atmosphere, no terror, not even any creepy ideas for scares, it’s just one loud jump scare after another, and after the 90 millionth one it makes you want to run upstairs and smash the projector with a hammer. 

I’ll give the film credit that at least there’s a decent lineup of actors despite the script giving them all nothing to work with or even anything that interesting to do. Andrea Riseborough is trying her best to be an interesting protagonist but the writing or directing isn’t giving her any favors, most of the time the acting is bland except for Lin Shaye who goes completely off her rocker as the film progresses, it seems like she’s having a lot of fun with her performance unfortunately she’s not enough to save the film. 

The Grudge (2020) is a textbook example of how not to continue or reboot a horror franchise, from the misleading marketing, lack of scares, interesting characters, or a compelling story, and the overreliance on cheap jump scares and gore with no substance. You’re better off just sticking with the original Japanese film and the 2004 movie.