Just got back from this. I thought it was a really good film. Just the right amount of shocks and scares.

I normally don't dig non-linear storylines, as I think they've become a bit trendy. However this one really worked for me, and I liked how it jumped around.

Also, I tend to enjoy horror/suspense films that rely on unexpected appearances, etc to scare the audience versus movies that use gore (gore content in The Grudge is non-existant).

Of the few horror movies I've seen this year, I'd put it above Shaun of the Dead, but just a bit below Dawn of the Dead remake.

Just saw this and really enjoyed it. It's on par with the U.S. Ring remake (kinda the same idea anyway; anyone who watches the tape dies = anyone who visits the house dies). I enjoyed the Japanese versions of the movie and this ranks up with them. The scene with the sister in the staircase was the best scare in this one for me. Creepy.



Same here.

I think if people have a short attention span, they won't like it. But if you're patient, you just might like it.
For a bit, I thought it was slow and "where's this going" type of thinking, but after seeing it all, I enjoyed it a lot. Maybe not as scary as I thought it was going to be, but it was freaky. I like SMG and having Ted in there was a plus for me. I like it better than the Ring, as this seems more plausible than an evil tape.
Certainly, Shaun of the Dead is (so far) this year's best horror film, and from Shaun, I'd say Open Water next and then Grudge third, followed by remake of Dawn.

Grade: B-

that's what I figured. different scene, but as soon as I head the thumping, I held up 2 fingers to my girlfriend to indicate that something from part 2 was coming. There were a few other scenes borrowed from 2 as well.

I found myself laughing my ass off when

Also what's the story with (question regarding a female character)

I ended up laughing more than I should have, but some of the extended stuff just didn't make any sense, and left me going "WTF?"

As others have noted, minimal character intros or development hampered this movie (why should I care about these people who visit this house from hell?).

The mood was good in spots, but the film never has enough story to elevates itself out of its genre. The 3rd act is confusing as hell in an obtuse way, an unproductive manner.

I give it 2 stars, or a grade of C.

Here is my opinion of the movie. Yes, remember that word...opinion. Simply put, it just didn't agree with me at all. I didn't read a single review, or even think about the film before seeing it. Before I watched it all I knew of it was that it was a remake (I've never seen the original, but will soon), and I had seen the trailer a few times.


"It's coming...wait for it...I promise...get ready...any second now...here is the cue...and...BOO!"

If you want to experience this film you only need to do two things. First watch the trailer, then read the above sentence. Did ya do that? You did? Well, congrats, that's all this movie is. One big long cheap scare, a scare that you almost always expect, and always know when it's coming. I couldn't even get caught up in it, because I was always ready for whatever was about to happen.

Don't get me wrong, and if you know me you know that I love horror films, but this isn't the "good" kind of scares. Everything in this film is expected. You know exactly what is going to happen, before it even happens, and the film itself doesn't even think about playing games with you. Before everything that could even remotely freak you out, you KNOW you are about to see a weird face, something flash by, or whatever other cliche they can come up with.

You see, before every scare in this film, there is a lead into it using screeching violins. Very, very loud screeching violins, or some sort of cliche music. It builds, and builds, and right when it climaxes you know that someone is about to jump out of the shadows and go "BOO!".

I do not like that.

I am a sucker for cheap scares like that at times, many films do it right. But when it's done right, the scares like that come out of nowhere. They'll build up to it, then not actually have anything happen. Then when all seems cool, when all seems normal once again, then wham, you get scared, that's when it works. It does nothing for me when you have the director there holding your hand basically going "it'll be ok, don't worry, sure it'll be freaky but I'm right here to let you know exactly when the bad thing will come".

That's what I came away from this film thinking overall, just horribly cheap scares.

Then you have the trailer, which pretty much showcases most of the scares in the film. I'm not really joking about that either. Just about everything that it meant to freak you out in the film is in the trailer.

The acting was stiff, I didn't care about any of the characters because they didn't actually take time to tell the story of anyone involved, which only leads you down the path of not giving a crap when someone gets knocked off. It's just, ok, that dude just got killed, gotcha. Not that I care about this aspect though, but there is pretty much no actual gore showcased either. It leaves almost everything like that up to you and your imagination. That's fine in some films, but here they don't really give you much to work with to even get your own imagination going, so in the end that's all in vain also.

They also pretty much don't explain anything at all about the plot until right near the end. You see weird things going on, but it means next to nothing simply because you have no foundation or roots on which to build anything in your mind which could even explain anything. It starts up and weird things happen. A little while later something weird happens again, you get the big boo, weird stuff again, and then another boo or two. I may be in the minority, but without any hint of what is going on, without anything at all, all of this weird stuff is just that...just weird stuff that you see taking place. It means nothing to you at all, therefore I couldn't care about any of it.

Also, and I'm sure that anyone who sees it can say the same thing, it feels like there was a TON of scenes that were left on the cutting room floor. I wont get into specifics, but there had to have been minutes on top of minutes of film which were deleted, there had to have been.

All of that said, yes there are some creepy scenes. Yes it would be a good flick to take a gal out to see just to see her act all crazy and scared, and yes it "looks" good visually. But if you are going because you want to see a good, well made, horror film then you are out of luck.

The plot even leaves a lot to be desired even after it's explained, and the entire ending sequence is just one huge cliche that almost made me want to puke.

This film has no heart, no desire, and no true ability to present any sort of true classic horror. It felt like a horror film for beginners more than anything else, and that is just sad considering just what this film could have been if only it went that extra mile.

You nailed it. Then again, all a comedy really is, is one really long funny movie. People like to laugh and people like to get scared, even if they see it coming a mile away. Like the first shot of the old ladies hands on the glass when SMG goes into the house. You know when she opens that door the hand is going to come down.. and it does.. and you still jump up because of it.

Though your opinion is just that and I don't disagree with you that it is one long cheap scare. But isn't that what it's suppose to be?


I would like to hear what you think could have been cut or what sections of the film do you think were actually cut? This film played pretty much like the original with slight turns here and there making it slightly different. Didn't feel like much was cut out.

No, not to me.

This film was just going through the motions, not giving any thought at all to make it all flow together. None of the scares in this film were genuine to me, they were all so contrived and just right there in front of you, allowing you to get all prepared for what was coming.

The scares aside though, as an overall film (characters, plot, etc...) it was just flat out lacking. They could have used the same scares which were there, and had them actually mean something more, had they actually focused more on the story. Not just the basic story of the history of the house mind you, but the story of all of the characters.

I don't see how anyone could connect or care at all for anyone in the film, and to me that is a very basic element which can make a film that much better...the viewer to character emotional connection. Not only is that connection not present, but the film doesn't even come across like it even tried to do establish the connection.

My point is this. This film could have really hit it out of the park, had the director only took a bit more time with the simple things. The story of the characters, character development, better timed scares, and perhaps a bit more on the actual story of the house.

I wish I could actually know for sure just how much they left on the cutting room floor, because I'm willing to bet it's a hell of a lot.

The film would have benefited from less extended periods of "here comes a scare, get ready, you are about to see something creepy, I promise, here you go...BOO" and more moments and scenes that actually pull you into the story itself.



It's the little things that were neglected in this one, and it's obvious in my view that in this case it was the little things that could've...should've mattered. It really irked me that the film relied more on the (obvious) BOO moments, and less on making you care for what was going on.

I'll think of some specific things that I wish were expanded on and post them sometime soon if anyone wants me too.

Feeling emotional resonance to a film is purely subjective. What one person finds scary, another may not. Can't blame anyone for not finding The Grudge scary. I think what's happening is some people are judging it as a film, and others are judging it as a horror movie. As a film it doesn't stand up too well, but as a horror movie it flat out scared me.

Probably because I went into the movie wanting to be scared and have a good time. Didn't really care if I developed feelings or emotions for any of the characters because people tend to die in horror movies anyway (that's the nature of the genre). I, for one, enjoyed the boo moments because they did make me jump (even when I expected them) and got my heart pounding (cheap or not). The Ring never made me jump, but it lingered in my mind long after. The Grudge made me jump and it lingered in my mind long after. If "Horror movie = A Scared me" then mission accomplished.

I saw this again with my girlfriend tonight. When I told her it was a good thing she didn't go with me the first time because "she would have sh*t herself", she told me she wanted to see it anyway (it was her birthday so she got to pick what movie we saw). I enjoyed it the first time so I was more than happy to sit through it again.

The thing is, in a lot of horror movies, the scares are nothing but sudden loud noises. I definitely prefer it when the scares are drawn out. Your heart starts to race until a genuinely horrifying image appears. I mean, common. How can anyone say they prefer the out of nowhere split second, loud noise scares.

So anyway, my girlfriend promised me she'd watch the damn movie and not close her eyes... well, I knew she was full of crap and sure enough, she had her eyes closed through most of the "scary" parts. She also REFUSED to look at you know who's face until that one moment where it comes out of no where. She was crying by the end regardless of the fact that she didn't watch a lot of it…

I agree with Brett Lumkin about the tendency of the movie to set up each scare very predictably. I was thinking the same exact thing on the way home from the theater. All the Ju On movies are like this, and obviously they work for many people, but it's bothered me ever since the original TV flick. Having said that, the reason I keep coming back when a new Ju On is released is that many of those way-too-choreographed scares succeed in the good ol' shiver down the spine. The original TV movie had a few (I consider JuOn 1 and 2 one movie), JuOn the Grudge 1 and 2 had a few more, and surprisingly, the new US Grudge has a bunch.

Except for one scene in the US Grudge, nothing in the JuOn movies have freaked me out as much as anything from the original Ring or Kairo or The Hypnotist. Part of the problem for me is the lack of perpetual dread which invades the "successful" movies...I mean, Kairo has very few genuine scares in it, yet I'm on edge the entire time I'm watching it (the whole Imagination versus Visuals thing). The other problem with the US Grudge is that the scares come like clockwork....5 minutes have passed, time for something to jump out/appear out of nowhere! Again, this may appeal to some. But for me, it just gets old when the pacing is rapid-fire. I like to be settled into the atmosphere of the movie, feeling the sense of dread creeping in, peeking into the dark corners and shadows on screen wondering if I had just seen movement, and if I had, what that was going to mean for the character who was conveniently NOT PAYING ATTENTION. (That's one of the great things about Umuzaki....you begin to see spirals in the oddest places throughout the film, and only some of the time is it your mind playing tricks on you...THAT is creepy to me.)

To it's credit, the new Grudge does have one of those moments: (). And some of the best stuff from the Japanese Grudge 1 is still here (). The biggest surprise for me, and what I previously cited as the only scene in the JuOn movies to genuinely creep me out, was actually a scene from the original TV JuOn movie, but done even more effectively (). Not only did I find that incredibly effective, but considering most everything else in the movie was from the Japanese Grudge I simply did not see it coming.

Ultimately, the US Grudge is a mega-mix of all the Japanese JuOns, borrowing both plotlines and scares from each. While I kinda like that the director was able to pick and choose the best stuff from his own work, it also means that there are a lot MORE of the calculated frights packed into the 90 minutes or so, which to me defuses the tension. Still, considering I'm not much of a fan of the originals, I would say the US Grudge is overall more engaging, but the Japanese Grudge 1 has a much creepier resolution which will haunt your thoughts for much longer. And considering how much screaming was going on from all through the theater as I watched it, I'd say most cinema-goers looking for a good scare will find it.

True that, true that. Bottom line, most cinema goers looking for a good scare will find it. This movie is tearing it up at the box office right now.

And any cinephiles who know of the originals and want to hunt them down for comparison's sake can easily do so.

I agree completely, there seem to be people who take this stuff WAY too seriously. I enjoyed it alot, but then I wasn't expecting a deep award-winning film. For people who go into movies like this expecting something more, with deep characters that they can "connect to" then perhaps the joke's on them.

That was the wrong way to approach this film. Same with JU-ON...

It's about the experience, not the story.

I find that a lot of the newer Japanese horror films will have straight out scary and shocking moments but fail sometimes to end the stories in a satisfactory way, at least according to me and others, its liek thye go more for the visceral thrills and leave the conclusions up in the air.

That is more than true for many different people, but not for me. The story, the heart and soul of any film, is just as important to me in the horror genre, as it is in any other.

To some people just the experience alone makes a film great, but for me I can't just say that something was great just because it gave me chills and cheap scares a couple of times. I want a story to go along with the woolies.

I should also say that I obviously love films that aren't great, it's my guilty pleasures, but this one just wasn't good enough to even reach that point to me.

Wow... I was really hoping to like this...but it was just boring. All the scares were executed in a similar "BOO" fashion... nothing too spine tingling or overly creepy...and the trailer really had me...but then the film just didn't deliver... I just kept waiting for Max Evans and Buffy to get theirs... meh. Certainly no RING.

MATT

I was disappointed but not that much. I agree with some of the posters who mention that going into a movie like this you should expect award winning acting, but I did like the lead detective, during his limited screen time.

Definately a plus on the imagery, liked it a whole lot.

I never saw the originals, but thought the American version was only so-so. A few thrills, but it didn't hold its credibility with me the whole way though.

So far I've only seen this US version and the first Ju-On. Of course, the story was easier to comprehend in the US version, and I was able to keep track of characters a lot better. I also thought it had more jump moments. On the flip side, I thought the Kayako character was less creepy this time around, although that may be due to the initial shock value being gone.

Just saw this tonight - I loved it, the films climax freaked me the hell out..............and that damn noise they make!!! Good shit!!!!

So damn happy with this one

I think I'm gonna stop watching trailers. It only caused me to know what spooky stuff was going to occur in an already overly-predictable movie.

I'm a horror film geek ....and was very surprised how much this film creeped me out! I was very tense throughout. I would give it a solid "B".