Reviewed by Mike Spera The Grudge is a mysterious ghost story in the same vein as The Ring. If you enjoyed or were terrified by The Ring, give this one a try. This movie works backwards at times, which leaves the audience with a few questions until the very end {and also makes it hard to summarize without giving too much away}. An American man buys a house in Japan for himself and his disabled mother to live in while the family is in Japan on business. The mother seems distant at times and spends a good deal of time staring at the ceiling. The ceiling seems to creak a lot, as if something is walking {or being dragged across} the empty attic. This is tolerated, but when the mother's house sitter disappears, things begin to get serious. A replacement house sitter is sent in the form of Sarah Michelle Gellar {Buffy the Vampire Slayer}, who immediately feels uneasy in the place. As the movie progresses, she delves deeper into the history of the house while its two incorporeal occupants wreak havoc on the current tenants' lives and sanity. It appears that the two ghosts who haunt the premises seem to hold a special grudge against this particular family, but why? Their hatred goes beyond the usual poltergeist routine of "I want these people out" - these ghosts actually leave their haunt to stalk their victims home and seem to go after anyone even remotely connected to this family. The Grudge has a lot of "jump out at you" scares and dozens of moments that are designed to startle the hell out you... if that's what scares you, that is. After talking to several others who have seen the film, they were either on their edge of their nerves or utterly bored through the film, depending on what scares them to begin with. I was thoroughly entertained by this ghostly mystery, but not terribly scared by it. Overall, The Grudge might or might not be scary, but I feel it's an entertaining ghost story nevertheless. The Grudge is not just your average "I'm scaring these people because I want my haunt back" poltergeist movie, and for that I give it 4 skulls. Links: The official website of the movie http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge/index.html The official website of the Japanese Original Reviews on the Wraith Project are the opinions of those reviewers, and are not necessarily those of the Wraith Project themselves. If you disagree with this review, send in another one. If you still feel like strangling the reviewer, see an analyst. |
