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[neptunes]

ouch.

I'm going to see it either way, but damn!

1/5 "There is no spark to the production, no chemistry between the actors and no real scares."
-- Stefan Halley, HERO REALM

"The Grudge is not the worst film of the year, but that's about the biggest compliment I can give it."
-- Jeff Otto, IGN FILMFORCE

"The Grudge bears the imprimatur of Sam Raimi, but alas, neither his sense of fun nor his smarts."
-- Gregory Weinkauf, NEW TIMES

go HERE for more reviews (some positive)

 

[Flynn]

Holy cow. I actually thought it was an improvement on Ju-On.

 

[refreshZ]

Really? How so. I'm curious, I've not seen either but heard good things of Ju-On... is this a another Ringu/The Ring type preference?

 

[Escape Goat]

You go Sarah Michelle Gellar. You keep picking those gems!

 

[Flynn]

As far a the Ring/Ringu thing goes, I hate the U.S. version and absolutely adore Hideo Nikata's version.

The thing about Grudge is that it's the director's 4th take on the material.

He's directed 2 straight to video and one Japanese theatrical version of the film (Ju-On)

I wasn't bowled over by Ju-On. I found it creepy, but mostly impenetrable.

What I like about The Grudge is that it pares down the story to its simplest, delivering nothing but ghostly killings. Ju-on had a prolonged resolution sequence, in which the characters sought out and found an answer to the hauntings.

The Grudge gives answers, but they come organically.

The thing I hated the most about The Ring was its insistance on explaining everthing. Every image in the haunted tape seem to have a real-life correlation and the the reason for Samara (or whatever they changed her name to in the US one) to be so pissed sorta let the air out of her scariness.

I look at The Grudge the directors refinement of the story and film. Just like Sam Raimi pretty much remade The Evil Dead when he made The Evil Dead II.

 

[El Papa]

Remind me why Somara was so pissed, because

Spoiler

her dad is Satan and they threw her in the well

?

And, if I liked Ju-On will I like The Grudge? Ju-On was the scariest movie I'd seen up until then. I got into it and that's why it was scary.

 

[Mrbob]

I read some reviews, and the difference in opinion is interesting.

It is almost like the naysayers don't get the point or purpose of the movie while those with the postive spin do. Almost like the naysayers don't understand so they give the movie a bad review.

Not sure if I'll see this one in the theater. Probably wait for DVD.

 

[FortNinety]

Gee, crappy original, crappy remake. Big surprise.

But seriously, to those who actually found it scary... what exactly did you folks find so frightening? I'd really like to know.

 

[nitewulf]

i usually dont watch horror films, nor like them. but ju-on was well done IMO, not overly gory and obvious, rather subtle and creepy, in broad daylight and in populated areas. which is pretty much in opposition to the "getting caught in the woods slasher" flicks that we get all the time, which tend to just bore me.

 

[Willco]

Is this really surprising? You'll be hard pressed to find a positive critical reaction for almost any horror movie and the last one I can think back to is probably The Ring.

 

[karasu]

One guy says it lacks sociological relevance :lol

 

[Baron Aloha]

Is this really surprising? You'll be hard pressed to find a positive critical reaction for almost any horror movie and the last one I can think back to is probably The Ring.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) got plenty of positive reviews as well. 76% Fresh on RT at the moment.

 

[nitewulf]

One guy says it lacks sociological relevance :lol

 

[Willco]

Dawn of the Dead (2004) got plenty of positive reviews as well. 76% Fresh on RT at the moment.

When you look at the Cream of the Crop, which is was really counts, it stands at 63%, which is extremely mixed. And that's the norm for horror flicks.

I'm not saying all get panned. Most get mixed reviews, usually within 40-60%, because the genre isn't known for it's warm critical reception.

Right now The Grudge is at 60% in the Cream of the Crop section. That's about par for the course.

It's just life. Horror flicks are rarely critical darlings. The rare exceptions are films like The Ring or The Exorcist or what have you.

 

[Flynn]

Remind me why Somara was so pissed, because

Spoiler

her dad is Satan and they threw her in the well

?

And, if I liked Ju-On will I like The Grudge? Ju-On was the scariest movie I'd seen up until then. I got into it and that's why it was scary.

In Ringu she was

Spoiler

a pyschic and an all around bad egg, like Damien from the Omen

but in Ring

Spoiler

the explanation for her evilness was that her parents made her live up in the top of a barn

 

[Willco]

In Ringu she was

Spoiler

a pyschic and an all around bad egg, like Damien from the Omen

but in Ring

Spoiler

the explanation for her evilness was that her parents made her live up in the top of a barn

Not really...

Spoiler

The movie initially makes her "vegeance/evil" seem justified, as her parents were assholes. She's even played as a sympathetic character. Then once they find her body and hope for a happy ending, but Samara keeps on killin' (with more vengeance!), they realized she's just an evil bitch.

 

[AssMan]

i heart huckabees got an F in the st.pete times, and the grudge a C. which should i see?

 

[Particle Physicist]

In Ringu she was

Spoiler

a pyschic and an all around bad egg, like Damien from the Omen

but in Ring

Spoiler

the explanation for her evilness was that her parents made her live up in the top of a barn

..what willco said.



i thought the movie was really well done. much better then the japanese version.

 

[DarienA]

The US version IMO of Ring is paced much better than the Japanese version... and say what you want the look on the little boys' face after his mom tells him she has let Samara out.... priceless.

 

[Ecrofirt]

Ju-On sucks. Ass.

I'm not suprised this followed suit.

 

[El Papa]

Gee, crappy original, crappy remake. Big surprise.

But seriously, to those who actually found it scary... what exactly did you folks find so frightening? I'd really like to know.

I guess I'm more scared of spirit/ghost type stuff than monster/gore stuff. When I saw Ju-On, it was with a girl late at night in the dark at my house, so I got really into it, that's what I like to do when I watch scary movies. My house is over 100 years old and I've heard stories about it, so all those things plus the atmoshphere make it scary. Plus my friend is am asian ghost movie freak, so she's always telling my about the lore, so I think having a better understanding of it helps me get into the movie better. It's like playing Resident Evil with a bunch of friends in the day and playing it by yourself in the dark late at night. The latter is actually really scary.

 

[Substance]

Ben Affleck really needs to shape up. He's truly in trouble. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/surviving_christmas/

Jamie Foxx, where did all this dramatic achievement come from? http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ray/

Just as I expected http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sideways/

 

[Particle Physicist]

Just as I expected http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sideways/

wow.. i want to see this cause i love the rest of Payne's movies and i think Paul Giamatti is a great actor.. but damn.. my anticipation just shot through the roof.

 

[Error Macro]

I just watched Prince Of Darkness. I bet it's better than The Grudge. My, that film looks like a turd.

 

[fart]

the ring was better paced and much more polished than ringu, but i did like the trick in ringu

also, grudge is up to 44% overall go go gellar

 

[Xenon]

The movie seems too bright and clean to be scary. I think keeping things gritty and in shadows lets people's imagination take over.

1st rule of horror: The less seen, the more creepy.

 

[Agent Dormer]

i heart huckabees got an F in the st.pete times, and the grudge a C. which should i see?

After reading the St. Pete Times all during high school, I learned quickly to dismiss their opinions. The Tampa Tribune isn't much better, either.

 

[Sakonna]

I'm looking foward to SAW myself

 

[FoneBone]

Is this really surprising? You'll be hard pressed to find a positive critical reaction for almost any horror movie and the last one I can think back to is probably The Ring.

Actually, not even The Ring did that well with critics -- only 53% Cream of the Crop on Rottentomatoes, and only a 54 on Metacritic.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1116705-ring/
http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/ring/

 

[Celicar]

It looked pretty bad in the previews. I'm not surprised. I kept thinking it was the Ring 2. Looks like a rip off, just not as good.

 

[hXc_thugg]

It looked pretty bad in the previews. I'm not surprised. I kept thinking it was the Ring 2. Looks like a rip off, just not as good.

Man, you're dumb.

 

[Celicar]

Nope. Don't think so. Lots of people told me it looked like a rip off of the Ring, just not as good. They both have the freaky looking girl.

I know they were both Japanese movies. Maybe done by the same person, capitalizing off his first movie. Dunno.

 

[Dan]

Nope. Don't think so. Lots of people told me it looked like a rip off of the Ring, just not as good. They both have the freaky looking girl.

So because a lot of people believe the same thing, that belief is automatically not dumb?

 

[Celicar]

I don't believe it is. You're telling me you can't see similarities between the two movies? I just don't believe that.

 

[Dan]

Similarities? Of course, most movies in the same genre have rather obvious similarities. Once you get past those however, no, not really.

 

[Banjo Tango]

But seriously, to those who actually found it scary... what exactly did you folks find so frightening? I'd really like to know.

Are we talking about the original? If so,

Spoiler

I remember... the ghost thing hanging over the woman (even if it was cheesy), the bathroom thing... actually, the whole sequence of the girl in her apartment... also, the girl crawling around at the end, even if I had seen it before

. I thought it was OK, decent for a horror movie. Just for comparison, I liked Ring, Dark Water, and Pulse... didn't like The Eye.

 

[demon]

Sorry but I'm siding with celicar....The Grudge seems to have the exact same kind of plot, scares, atmosphere and overall vibe of The Ring. Quite frankly I'm tired of these kinds of horror movies; we get enough of them every damn Halloween.

 

[Flynn]

Sorry but I'm siding with celicar....The Grudge seems to have the exact same kind of plot, scares, atmosphere and overall vibe of The Ring. Quite frankly I'm tired of these kinds of horror movies; we get enough of them every damn Halloween.

Um. So far we've only had two in the States.

I've seen dozens of Japanese ghost movies and I'm still not tired of them.

 

[demon]

Um. So far we've only had two in the States.

I've seen dozens of Japanese ghost movies and I'm still not tired of them.

"So far" we've only had two of "these kinds" of horror movies?

 

[Ecrofirt]

Have either of you seen the movie?

It's nothing like the ring. Oh wow, an asian lookin girl. These must be the SAME MOVIE.

 

[DaMan121]

When you look at the Cream of the Crop, which is was really counts, it stands at 63%, which is extremely mixed. And that's the norm for horror flicks.

I'm not saying all get panned. Most get mixed reviews, usually within 40-60%, because the genre isn't known for it's warm critical reception.

Right now The Grudge is at 60% in the Cream of the Crop section. That's about par for the course.

It's just life. Horror flicks are rarely critical darlings. The rare exceptions are films like The Ring or The Exorcist or what have you.

Your right. Horror movies are usually praised only by hardcore fans, or critics 10 years later when the next wizbang director claims how much they inspired them to get into the business. ALL horror/exploitation movies are pretty much shited upon by critics upon release (mostly because they dont see it as a legitimit genre), including older stuff, like Craven, Carpenter, Cronenberg,Romero. Sure you read great reviews now, but all the contemporary reviews were pretty much bad.

 

[demon]

Ok, let me put it this way.....if the horror genre were divided into sub-genres, this movie and The Ring would probably fall under the same category, no? That's what I'm talking about....there are too many of these types of horror movies and too few interesting, original, truly frightening horror movies these days.

 

[DaMan121]

Well it does go in waves, post Scream you had a zillion wannabe Scream movies. So the in thing right now is Japanese remakes (well rmakes in general) with weird little girls and ghosts. Hopefully we will get more Dawn of the Dead wannabes soon.

 

[RiZ III]

that kid in the comercial who screams like a cat always cracks me up.

 

[Flynn]

"So far" we've only had two of "these kinds" of horror movies?

we get enough of them every damn Halloween.

You were refering to October U.S. releases in theaters, like The Grudge or on video?

 

[Willco]

Ok, let me put it this way.....if the horror genre were divided into sub-genres, this movie and The Ring would probably fall under the same category, no? That's what I'm talking about....there are too many of these types of horror movies and too few interesting, original, truly frightening horror movies these days.

Yeah, I have no fucking clue what you're talking about. A subgenre of Japanese horror movies would only consist of The Ring and The Grudge. Two flicks! Wow, way too much!

 

[Error Macro]

For next year, they'll probably remake Kwaidan or something.

 

[shuri]

The long darked haired female ghost is a very common theme in asian folklore; it's like the japanese equivalent of witches

 

[Celicar]

Fine. It looks like a rip off of the Ring, but I'll still go see it tonight. Then I can come back and post if it really is like the ring or if the previews just made it out that way.

 

[Pimpwerx]

I thought the movie looked good in the previews. I think it looks creept, not scary. I don't think any horror movie is scary, not since I saw Blair Witch for the first time. And I knew that movie was fake. But most movies fail to hit on that same level of tension and fear. As for The Ring, I liked that too. I don't look too deep into some movies, there's just no point. All movies fall apart under close scrutiny. I never saw Ringu, and have no interest in seeing it either. Foreign films are more work than necessary sometimes. I'll make an exception for Hero and Crouching Tiger and stuff, but until I learn other languages, I'll pass. I really don't like subtitles. I hope this isn't just being compared to the original, I'd like to know how it stands on its own merits. Looks good I say again, based on the preview. I'm gonna see it this weekend, probably regardless. I just hope they didn't show all the cool parts in the theaters.

Oh yeah, horror movies are never reviewed well. It's always hit or miss with them since it takes different things to scare different people. A movie like Dawn of the Dead may have scored high, but it wasn't the least bit scary. It was just a good movie. PEACE.