creepy like dark water-both were weird ghost stories done both in usa and in japan-with few but intresting difrences--disturbing despite lack of special effects-i liked it 4 that
yea i really didn't think i would lyk this movie b/c i'm really not all tht into scary movies but it really wasn't all tht scary a lil creepy thoe..... lol
This fil gives me really the creeps because the combination of the sound and the story is very creepy. It is also very terrifying when Kayako kills anyone who visits her home. My reaction is really a positive
I was tired while watching this, but that still does not escape the fact that this movie sucked. Oh yeah, it sucks. Hardly scary and just plain stupid. I did want to watch Dave Letterman......... I even consider 'The Ring' better than this, and 'The Ring' sucks.
Hmmm...no. Another "horrorble" movie! Gellar was so aweful that it made watching is actually slightly awkward! Story didn't make any sense and didn't flow well. And it never grabbed me. In fact, I did a bunch of other things while watching the movie! Sure the last 10 minutes are creepy, but why sit through this piece of you-know-what for that?? The only reason I'm giving it a full star is because it does deliver a few jumps, and DuVall - Thank goodness for her!!
Ghosts stories are always creepy when it is in a decrepit old mansion at the far reaches of a small town. A ghost story that takes place in a modern Japanese bungalow in a residential district of one of the most densely populated cities in the world is creepier by putting the eerily aggravated poltergeists right next to everyday life. The frights come regularly and logically adhere to what little story there is. As a cinematic haunted hayride, this Americanized version of "The Grudge" succeeds with intelligence and reserve. It doesn't have anything to say, it just works like hell ? and succeeds - in making you feel terrified.
The prologue is a gruesomely realistic death that does not hint at the supernatural, but the story is told out of sequence. The reasons behind everything become clear with time. It is a device that that keeps you very naturally involved through curiosity. We are introduced to the house in question. The living people are a transplanted American couple with a catatonic mother-in-law and a local visiting nurse (Yoko, played by Yoko Maki). Yoko comes to visit the mother-in-law and they are the only ones home when noises come from upstairs. Naturally, Yoko goes upstairs to check in the midst of checking an answering machine message; only to disappear with an astonished scream after meeting the first ghost, Kayako (Takako Fuji). The care center sends a replacement when Yoko fails to report the next day. Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) follows in Yoko's footsteps through the messy house to the immobile patient and falls into a shocked state after a glancing introduction to the horrors. Fortunately, her supervisor (Ted Raimi) has become suspicious of the absences and comes looking for her and gets the police involved. The terror comes frequently and unrelentingly after this encounter. It expands to consume the family, the investigating police officers and everyone Karen cares for in Tokyo. The bounds of this ghostly rage are not simply to be escaped by leaving the property, staying awake or lasting until sunrise.
Director Takashi Shimizu keeps everyone reined in with the emphasis on minimalism in both production and acting in this Americanized follow-up to his original "Ju-On". There are special effects to enhance the supernatural, but the horror is done largely with the physical: lights turn off without explanation, a knock at the door comes impossibly fast after the person at the far end ends a phone call. This control urges the audience to anticipate and this ratchets up the tension. Bill Pullman has proved in various roles that he is adept at bringing quiet intensity to roles and he does here. Every character is given equal respect and screen time. Although this is an ensemble cast, the headlining star on the poster is Sarah Michelle Gellar. Clearly she and her agent are trying to edge her away from the threat of the "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" role becoming a career buster. There are no sassy one-liners for her to fling at the monsters here. She is understated and finds a polite and frightened but upstanding demeanor to make Karen work. There is no melodramatic plot contrivance between events. People are drawn in by fear and curiosity. There are no ghost hunters, exorcists or supernatural experts of any kind here. The reasons for the ghosts' rage are hinted at through the characters' speculation and memories. Although I understand the original film is used as the back story.
"The Grudge" might not break new ground in creating a haunted house story, but it brings real terror, The camera isn't there to dazzle you, but rather to show you exactly what Shimizu wants you to see. You can't help but hold your breath for the next scare that comes forward to consume both characters and audience trapped like deer in headlights.
I love Sarah Michelle Gellar and I just had to watch this because she was in it. I didn't like it. I think it was the whole Japenese supernatural stuff. It didn't catch my attention. Parts were good, but the ending was weird, I thought, and it was too long. Not the worst either though.
A bad remake of a good idea. As with all horror films I'll wait for the music to cue me to be scared. Ohh, I'm trembling at this mind numbing stupidity. Ohh, scary girl jumps out to the sound of breaking glass how original. It gets a bonus half star for being a rip off of a good film.
What a flat, dull, pretentious, predictable excuse for a film. Lazy direction, lazy plotting, one-dimensional characters and a story built around a haunted house. Yes, that old cliché. The one star is strictly for an intriguing, shocking opening scene. The other half I award because this film will have a certain target audience, and I am sorry to say they will be more than pleased with a number of jumps to satisfy them.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is Karen Davis. 'The Grudge' is set in Japan, but nearly all of the actors are English speaking. Much easier for the audience to digest I suppose. Karen works for a care company, and visits a house where a woman's son and his wife, and the current cleaner, have all disappeared. It's not mysterious, because thanks to some implausible flashback sequences everything is laid out on a plate. Somehow the direction is still untidy and confusing.
I like films that do not use gore unless necessary, and films built around tension and atmosphere when it is demanded. 'The Grudge' tries, albeit not that hard, but fails miserably. The eeriness is absent in exchange for a monotonous and stuffy tone and all of the scary moments can be guessed minutes before they arrive. Everything about the style is conventional, and everything about the plot is generic. Where is the imagination? There is quite literally about one interesting shot. The bleak cinematography only enhances that sense of boredom you can't shake off.
Gellar is a stand-out of a below average cast. That's not to say she is particularly good, she is just better than the rest of them. She works with the patchy script probably as best she can anyway. The haunted house is explained by the usual tale: the family who first lived there suffered greatly, and a tragedy has not been put to rest. I'm sick of hostile ghosts coming back with a bloody message, and killing off characters who struggle to pick up on it in less than a minute. They're not going to get very far in resolving the issue by murdering everyone they make contact with.
I cannot recommend this picture even for the most die-hard horror fan. It isn't scary. The characters are plot devices, in a film where plot is a bunch of loose threads that don't tie up. At less than ninety minutes, turgid pacing makes it feels over double, at least. If I actually expected anything in the first place, I would certainly hold a grudge against all involved in this film. At least I'm not one of the unfortunate and deceived who ended up paying to see it.
MCT:November 18, 2008
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