The Grudge
Ratings: 3/5
Duration: 1 Hr 20 Mins
Director: Nicolas Pesce
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Release Date: January 03, 2020 (India)
Star Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, Jacki Weaver, Frankie Faison, Willian
Plot: Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) tries to investigate and solve a mysterious case, where a young mother murders her own family. But she discovers later that the house is cursed by a long-haired vengeful spirit, that dooms those who enter the home with a violent death. The detective herself gets targeted by the demonic spirit, and it also follows her, where she lives with her young son.
Review: The Grudge, an American supernatural horror film written and directed by Nicolas Pesce, is a reboot of the 2004 American remake of the Japanese horror film Ju-On.
The movie is the fourth installment of The Grudge film series and is set in the American suburbs, as opposed to the Japanese setting in which the franchise is commonly set and consists of lots of gory violence, disturbing imagery, and isn't for young or sensitive viewers.
Though as usual horror movies, for instance, pulling the blanket in a dark room continues with this one as well and Pesce has tried hard to evoke scares through the typical ‘go silent and BAM’ treatment. But apart from a couple of good ones, there’s nothing that seems to be scary in the film.
The background score for The Grudge was nothing remarkable, it was just the good use of silence at places. And when it comes to the movie plot, the idea of ‘house holding a grudge’ sounds nice & Takashi Shimizu’s Japanese version might have done justice to it, but this version of the movie was sort of predictable. Moreover, the movie establishes multiple, overlapping storylines and the viewers would barely get to spend any time knowing these characters, since the story moves back and forth more than you can blink in a scene!
As far as the characters of the movie are concerned, Lin Shaye should have been seen more in the film, as her expressions were blending in well in the horror film. Whereas the Oscar-nominated Demián Bichir remains plain throughout, Andrea Riseborough as Muldoon gets no dough to express herself, meanwhile John Cho and Betty Gilpin only gets a forgettable presence.
It is only at the very end, a couple of plot elements really clicked together as they are supposed to. However, Grudge’ is likely to leave most viewers unsatisfied.
