The Grudge

The writers behind this should hang their heads in shame. I was looking for a decent horror of 2020 and this was recommended The plot of the film goes like this... dialogue/creepy music/aaaaaagggh uuugghhhh/insert some 'horror' (not connected with anything)/repeat 15 times/end film. Rubbish.

Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) moves to a small town in Pensylvannia with her son Burke (John J. Hansen) to work in the local Police Department. She is assigned to be partner of Detective Goodman (Demián Bichir), who has recently lost his partner Detective Wilson (William Sadler) that was obsessed by a murder case. When Muldoon and Goodman find the remains of a woman in a car in a closed road, Muldoon realizes that her address was the same of the murder case Wilson was investigating. She decides to investigate the house and soon she learns that there is a curse for those who enter in the house.

"The Grudge" (2020) is a horror movie based on the vengeful spirit from the excellent "Ju-on" (2002) and the American version "The Grudge" (2004). The cinematography is uncomfortable and the viewer startles in a couple of scenes and in the end, it is a reasonable entertainment. The conclusion is predictable. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Grito" ("The Scream")

Good photography and direction but the script makes no sense. From the beginning to the end I asked myself: why this is happening? What's going on here? I was a fan of the original one, the original story and the turn at the end made a great movie. So why this?

The movie follows events in 2004 to 2006 in a small Pennsylvanian town. Nurse Fiona Landers brings the spirit from Japan to America. There are police detectives Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough), Goodman (Demián Bichir), and Wilson (William Sadler). Peter (John Cho) and Nina Spencer (Betty Gilpin) are a married real estate agent couple. Lorna Moody (Jacki Weaver) arrives to assist the struggling Mathesons (Lin Shaye, Frankie Faison).

Nobody cares that this ties in with the rest of the Grudge franchise other than the Japanese house. So the start is the only truly interesting part and then it slowly grinds to a halt. The scrambled timeline and the multiple interconnected stories somehow saps the tension out of the movie. The excellent cast has no chance. The jump scares aren't scary. It's all very flat.

Basically it's a film that seems to rely on one jump scare scenario after another. The story is basic and not really intelligent. It's instantly forgettable. I have not seen the original so I am reviewing this as a stand alone film. If you want to watch this with your mates with a few beers it's perfect. The film is totally predictable and there is nothing new here. It serves a purpose for those who want a night in and stay up late because there is nothing else on. I don't get the 1 stars though as it's not that bad but it's never a 10. I think a 5 is fair and I would ignor the extreme reviews on either end of the scale. If you don't take horror to seriously then give it a go.