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December 24, 2009
The Grudge (2004)
Should I see it?
No.


Short Review: I kept hoping this was the tape from The Ring so that damp little girl would pop out of my TV and put me out of my misery.



If you saw The Ring (staring the impeccable Brian Cox of Super Troopers fame,) you have seen The Grudge – except the lighting is better. This opus, like The Ring, is actually a remake of a Japanese horror film. That means this mindless crud is infecting two cultures at the same time. Moreover, they released The Grudge II (I believe it will be called The Grudge Takes Manhattan.) And you thought the invasion of Pearl Harbor was reason enough to go to war.

The interesting thing about this film is that it goes out of its way to make certain we know the victims are wholly innocent. Morality has nothing to do with one's fate in this film. Much like The Ring, each character happens across an unstoppable evil that consumes them for its own private pleasure. There is nothing intentional to get on the death list and there is nothing one can do to stop it. Actually, in The Ring you could stop it by propagating the evil. It’s as if the movie wants us to believe we’re all just flies trapped in a large web. The spider will get you sooner or later.

What's fun is that? That the thing about fatalists, they're so darn boring. Everything is always so gloom and doom.

The film isn't well done. The Ring was cheaper looking but at least had more detail and depth. This film is flat. The writing is still and wanting. There is not a serious moment of suspense in the whole piece. You know up front that everyone is going to die, so there is no shock when everyone eventually bites the dust. Furthermore, the only reveal is the crime that brings the curse into being. The problem is the situation that gives birth to the curse is not compelling. I've see worse situations in the morning paper every week. The reason for the curse should be a huge payoff and it isn't even chump change.

Looking to the acting: Sarah Michelle Gellar should stick to the facial astringent commercials. Leave the acting to the adults. I’ve seen mimes with more subtlety. Bill Pullman is apparently in a good portion of the film, I don’t quite remember him being in there. I do remember a large chunk of driftwood lumbering about muttering lines, but no Pullman.

Overall, if you’re over thirteen and can read books without pictures you can skip this one. If you want scary go watch MTV for an hour – if that doesn’t get you begging for the mercy of our Lord, nothing will.


Related Reviews:
Horror movies
The Ruins (2008)
Gwoemul "The Host" (2006)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Beyond Hollywood
ReelViews




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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:00 AM




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