After “The Ring” proved to be such a monumental success, it seemed that every Asian horror flick, good or bad, was suddenly slated for a remake starring white people. “Dark Water”, “The Eye” and “One Missed Call” would all follow suit, but before they got the chance to saturate the industry, Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures remade a flick called “Ju-On”, calling it “The Grudge”. However, Director Takashi Shimizu, who directed the original Japanese version of the film, seemed to have forgotten that the point of a remake is to try and make the movie better.
Karen (Sarah Michelle Geller) and her husband (Jason Behr) have just moved to Tokyo. Karen takes a job at a care agency and is assigned to watch over a little old lady that lives in a gloomy house, where it doesn’t take long for Karen to encounter the vengeful spirits which dwell within. It seems these spooks tend to hold “grudges”, vowing to seek out and kill anyone who sets foot within their home. As Karen finds herself (and anyone she knows who has entered the house) being stalked by a creepy spirit with long hair, she becomes determined to unravel the mystery behind the ghost before it’s too late.
It seems one of the biggest trends in Japanese horror cinema at the moment is the “Sadako” look. You know, creepy dead girls with long, matted hair that covers their faces. They’re just about everywhere; “The Grudge” included. Personally, I think it’s getting pretty old, but I'm sure that back in the 80's, the Japanese were sick to death of American horror movies featuring pro wrestlers in goofy masks, chopping up teenagers. So I guess we can call it even.
Director Shimizu pretty much cribs all his best ideas and effects from “Ju-On” and recycles them identically for this interpretation. These sequences include the kid watching the elevator, floor-by-floor, or the ghost underneath the covers. To Shimizu’s credit, these scenes are awesome…but we’d already seen them before. The majority of new scares crafted for this film are the typical “false alarms” and “loud noises” that I’m so sick to death of. The only newly written scare that I found enjoyable would have to be the stairwell scene at the office building, particularly the way the ghost dematerializes back into the darkness, making that weird “belching” noise all the while. Still, one new innovative scene does not make an entire remake worthwhile. I also wasn’t too fond of Shimizu’s new ending. Where-as “Ju-On” gave us a fairly eerie and strong sense of closure, “The Grudge” opts for a painfully generic “cliffhanger”.
The movie is edited in a “non-linear” fashion, which seems to be all the rage these days. Film something out of order and the critics will call it “cinematic and artistic genius”, it seems. This approach is a little confusing at first, at least if you’re not expecting it, but you quickly adapt. This manner of pacing does work to the film’s advantage, however, as it provides key plot points about the house’s origin and the tragic events that took place there as strategically as possible.
I’m one of those guys that found “The Ring” to be superior to “Ringu” in practically every way. And yet, I flip-flop when it comes to “The Grudge”, as I found “Ju-On” to be better in just about every way. Since a better version of “The Grudge” exists, I can’t honestly recommend this movie to anyone other than those who can’t stand to read subtitles.
Grade: D+ (as in “Don’t give your address to the ghost! Wait! Don’t tell her that the key is under the doormat! Stop! Don’t show her where you keep the knives! Awwww, now this is just getting stupid”.)
Karen (Sarah Michelle Geller) and her husband (Jason Behr) have just moved to Tokyo. Karen takes a job at a care agency and is assigned to watch over a little old lady that lives in a gloomy house, where it doesn’t take long for Karen to encounter the vengeful spirits which dwell within. It seems these spooks tend to hold “grudges”, vowing to seek out and kill anyone who sets foot within their home. As Karen finds herself (and anyone she knows who has entered the house) being stalked by a creepy spirit with long hair, she becomes determined to unravel the mystery behind the ghost before it’s too late.
It seems one of the biggest trends in Japanese horror cinema at the moment is the “Sadako” look. You know, creepy dead girls with long, matted hair that covers their faces. They’re just about everywhere; “The Grudge” included. Personally, I think it’s getting pretty old, but I'm sure that back in the 80's, the Japanese were sick to death of American horror movies featuring pro wrestlers in goofy masks, chopping up teenagers. So I guess we can call it even.
Director Shimizu pretty much cribs all his best ideas and effects from “Ju-On” and recycles them identically for this interpretation. These sequences include the kid watching the elevator, floor-by-floor, or the ghost underneath the covers. To Shimizu’s credit, these scenes are awesome…but we’d already seen them before. The majority of new scares crafted for this film are the typical “false alarms” and “loud noises” that I’m so sick to death of. The only newly written scare that I found enjoyable would have to be the stairwell scene at the office building, particularly the way the ghost dematerializes back into the darkness, making that weird “belching” noise all the while. Still, one new innovative scene does not make an entire remake worthwhile. I also wasn’t too fond of Shimizu’s new ending. Where-as “Ju-On” gave us a fairly eerie and strong sense of closure, “The Grudge” opts for a painfully generic “cliffhanger”.
The movie is edited in a “non-linear” fashion, which seems to be all the rage these days. Film something out of order and the critics will call it “cinematic and artistic genius”, it seems. This approach is a little confusing at first, at least if you’re not expecting it, but you quickly adapt. This manner of pacing does work to the film’s advantage, however, as it provides key plot points about the house’s origin and the tragic events that took place there as strategically as possible.
I’m one of those guys that found “The Ring” to be superior to “Ringu” in practically every way. And yet, I flip-flop when it comes to “The Grudge”, as I found “Ju-On” to be better in just about every way. Since a better version of “The Grudge” exists, I can’t honestly recommend this movie to anyone other than those who can’t stand to read subtitles.
Grade: D+ (as in “Don’t give your address to the ghost! Wait! Don’t tell her that the key is under the doormat! Stop! Don’t show her where you keep the knives! Awwww, now this is just getting stupid”.)
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