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The Grudge - My Review
- Thread starter Gattsu25
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The Grudge was absolutely the worst remake ever. I've seen many bad remakes (Dawn of the Dead, 13 Ghosts... you really can't follow that), and this one takes the shit cake.
Many a person has asked me if they were basically the same flick. Sure, there's the different casting and English dialogue, but what else could be changed, right? You would think that. I sure did. But they changed EVERYTHING AROUND IN THE GRUDGE. It hardly resembles Ju-On. And every single change they made, down to casting, was BAD.
For starters, let's check out the casting. I would assume you know that there will be spoilers.
First of all, no big surprise, SMG sucks. If there is one person in Hollywood in need of acting lessons, it's her. She has absolutely zero talent, makes every role she plays look like a piece of wood, and is primarily casted for hotness. This doesn't make a good actor.
Oh, by the way, let's throw a boyfriend into the mix! It wasn't in the first one, and he really doesn't bring anything at all to the table, but we have to have a fucking love interest for SMG! God forbid she fly solo!
I also like how the Father, the one who started the whole incident, gets a whopping 5 seconds of film time in The Grudge.
All of the characters get a little bit more computer animation done to them, and Toshio gets to do the cat raowl thing fourteen more times. Thank you remake!
Secondly, they cut out some of the best stuff from Ju-On and/or changed it around to make it less scary.
For example, where's the detective's daughter's scene? It was absolutely brilliant, but it got cut for some unbeknowst reason. The whole scene was beyond creepy, what with the girl closing herself in a room and covering the windows with newspaper. The hands reaching out of the clock. The zombie friends?!? Thanks remake!
Remember Toshio under the table? Gone.
Remember Rika waking up with a room full of cats? Gone.
Remember Rika waking up and seeing Toshio and the ethereal black mist lady leering at her in her sleep? Gone.
Remember the TV creepiness in Ju-On? Gone.
All these great things, removed.. why? To save time? To speed up the plot for American audiences? At just 1 hour and 30 minutes, these don't make sense.. So these are left unanswered.
Speaking of which, all of the scenes seem to be too rushed. As if the curse just kills you lickity-split. One of the chilling features of Ju-On is that it sometimes didn't happen right away. That built up tension, because you knew it was going to strike, you just didn't know when. In The Grudge, all that tension bullshit is sacked. We Americans like our women more busty, our food more greasy, and our monster movie villians to kill their victims within 20 seconds of spotting them, preferably less. God bless modern American cinema.
My biggest complaint, out of all of this BS, is that they changed the ending. In The Grudge, it's the typical Hollywood twist ending:
"We beat that monster! Everything's going to be okay!"
*Monster appears*
"OOPS GUESS NOT!!!!!!!1"
*Monster kills hero, fade to black*
In Ju-On, she indeed gets killed by the curse, but they chose a better way to show it. After the death scene black fadeaway, it cuts to shots of the town, completely empty. It stays desolate until you reach the house. You see Rika, hero of Ju-On, dead in a corner. The camera zooms in until it reaches her face. Suddenly, her eyes flash open and you can hear the creepy noise going on. Fade to black. It's supposed to imply that you can't just isolate the curse. The curse doesn't stop. Humanity is fucked. Goodbye town.
There was absolutely no need to make a remake. It absolutely killed my night, and now I have to coax half of my hall into seeing Ju-On when I purchase it. So, in short, save your money for something halfway decent. If you're itching for horror movie chaos, I'm putting my bucks on Saw.
Many a person has asked me if they were basically the same flick. Sure, there's the different casting and English dialogue, but what else could be changed, right? You would think that. I sure did. But they changed EVERYTHING AROUND IN THE GRUDGE. It hardly resembles Ju-On. And every single change they made, down to casting, was BAD.
For starters, let's check out the casting. I would assume you know that there will be spoilers.
First of all, no big surprise, SMG sucks. If there is one person in Hollywood in need of acting lessons, it's her. She has absolutely zero talent, makes every role she plays look like a piece of wood, and is primarily casted for hotness. This doesn't make a good actor.
Oh, by the way, let's throw a boyfriend into the mix! It wasn't in the first one, and he really doesn't bring anything at all to the table, but we have to have a fucking love interest for SMG! God forbid she fly solo!
I also like how the Father, the one who started the whole incident, gets a whopping 5 seconds of film time in The Grudge.
All of the characters get a little bit more computer animation done to them, and Toshio gets to do the cat raowl thing fourteen more times. Thank you remake!
Secondly, they cut out some of the best stuff from Ju-On and/or changed it around to make it less scary.
For example, where's the detective's daughter's scene? It was absolutely brilliant, but it got cut for some unbeknowst reason. The whole scene was beyond creepy, what with the girl closing herself in a room and covering the windows with newspaper. The hands reaching out of the clock. The zombie friends?!? Thanks remake!
Remember Toshio under the table? Gone.
Remember Rika waking up with a room full of cats? Gone.
Remember Rika waking up and seeing Toshio and the ethereal black mist lady leering at her in her sleep? Gone.
Remember the TV creepiness in Ju-On? Gone.
All these great things, removed.. why? To save time? To speed up the plot for American audiences? At just 1 hour and 30 minutes, these don't make sense.. So these are left unanswered.
Speaking of which, all of the scenes seem to be too rushed. As if the curse just kills you lickity-split. One of the chilling features of Ju-On is that it sometimes didn't happen right away. That built up tension, because you knew it was going to strike, you just didn't know when. In The Grudge, all that tension bullshit is sacked. We Americans like our women more busty, our food more greasy, and our monster movie villians to kill their victims within 20 seconds of spotting them, preferably less. God bless modern American cinema.
My biggest complaint, out of all of this BS, is that they changed the ending. In The Grudge, it's the typical Hollywood twist ending:
"We beat that monster! Everything's going to be okay!"
*Monster appears*
"OOPS GUESS NOT!!!!!!!1"
*Monster kills hero, fade to black*
In Ju-On, she indeed gets killed by the curse, but they chose a better way to show it. After the death scene black fadeaway, it cuts to shots of the town, completely empty. It stays desolate until you reach the house. You see Rika, hero of Ju-On, dead in a corner. The camera zooms in until it reaches her face. Suddenly, her eyes flash open and you can hear the creepy noise going on. Fade to black. It's supposed to imply that you can't just isolate the curse. The curse doesn't stop. Humanity is fucked. Goodbye town.
There was absolutely no need to make a remake. It absolutely killed my night, and now I have to coax half of my hall into seeing Ju-On when I purchase it. So, in short, save your money for something halfway decent. If you're itching for horror movie chaos, I'm putting my bucks on Saw.
Jim Bowie said:
I have to admit that I haven't heard the most positive things about Saw, and that saddens me to a degree. I don't doubt that Ju On sounds like an enjoyable flick, but it certainly doesn't sound like my cup of tea. Oh, and I love the fact that up until the very end, I could pretend that The Grudge was just another episode of Buffy.
MrAngryFace
Banned
DOES BUFFY WIN?!?!??!
I thought that Ringu and The Ring were much more comparable. I think I liked The Ring better simply because my aunt's in it, and I guess I'm biased towards family.
I guess you could pretend that it's an episode of Buffy, but you'd have to pretend that it's even worse than the Angel spin-off. Unless you like Angel, and then you'll have to pretend it's The Grudge.
I didn't know they were remaking Dark Water. Which terrible female actress will play the lead? I'm thinking Rachael Leigh Cook.
I guess you could pretend that it's an episode of Buffy, but you'd have to pretend that it's even worse than the Angel spin-off. Unless you like Angel, and then you'll have to pretend it's The Grudge.
I didn't know they were remaking Dark Water. Which terrible female actress will play the lead? I'm thinking Rachael Leigh Cook.
Particle Physicist
between a quark and a baryon
Dan said:
The Ring 2 is not a remake of the japanese sequel (thank god.. it sucked hard)
Prince of Space
Banned
Eh, it started off okay, but I thought it got better as it went on. And I probably saw it with the JUMPIEST CROWD EVER. EVERY fucking time Toshio appears, half the theater yells out "oh shit!"
And yeah, The Ring was a better remake overall.
And yeah, The Ring was a better remake overall.
Prince of Space
Banned
Gore Verbinski directed both Ring and POTC. Hideo Nakata, the original Ringu director, is helming Ring 2.effzee said:
Particle Physicist
between a quark and a baryon
Gattsu25 said:
what a coincidence! your review sums up my thoughts exactly!!
Dan said:
oh, okay. i really dont mind, as long as the movies are good. the genre is pretty entertaining.
I told BuddyChrist this, because I thought his words were a bit harsh, but I had a lot of fun. It's not an amazing flick or a Top 10 or The Exorcist, but who cares? It's an entertaining popcorn-munchin', arm-grabbin' kind of horror flick that this generation rarely gets.
I saw it with a gaggle of friends, and the ladies did jump. My crowd was noisy and pretty easily frightened.
The Ring is much better, because its characters are way more developed and it also has something resembling a plot; neither aspects are visible in The Grudge. But the pace for The Grudge is good, the scares are swift and there is fun to be had.
The Ring? Better overall movie. The Grudge? A lot more creepier, though.
And this is directed to Jim Bowie, as I've never seen the original Ju-On, but that original ending sounds retarded. It's like the stupid ending I'd expect on some made-for-cable Sci-Fi Channel bullshit.
I saw it with a gaggle of friends, and the ladies did jump. My crowd was noisy and pretty easily frightened.
The Ring is much better, because its characters are way more developed and it also has something resembling a plot; neither aspects are visible in The Grudge. But the pace for The Grudge is good, the scares are swift and there is fun to be had.
The Ring? Better overall movie. The Grudge? A lot more creepier, though.
And this is directed to Jim Bowie, as I've never seen the original Ju-On, but that original ending sounds retarded. It's like the stupid ending I'd expect on some made-for-cable Sci-Fi Channel bullshit.
DeadStar said:Will is only defending this since Raimi produced this drek
I cannot deny that I'm pleased with the first outing from Raimi and Tapert's production house. Boogeyman looked alright from teasers, but that film can go either way. Two other films have tried to do similar things, They and Darkness Falls, and both failed miserably. If Boogeyman is as enjoyable as The Grudge, I'll be happy.
If this is the kind of film that they can churn out, then I'll be ecstatic that they've got the talent to do what I'm really looking forward from them -- 30 Days of Night and Evil Dead 4.
Willco said:
For completeists sake, I agree with Willco here. It's a fun movie to see with your friends, but don't go in expecting a new level in cinematic brilliance. Yes, there are some genuinely creepy parts, but they're few and far between, seperated by much laughter and some really bad pacing.
DeadStar said:
Dark Castle is awful. I think that production company is really bad simply because they can't end a horror flick or get the narration in the right direction. All of their movies have fantastic openings and drag on forever until you get to an ending so retarded it defies belief. Ghost relatives save the day! Rapping nannies do the trick! Please, stop.
At least The Grudge was fun times.
I think the most important item not discussed is HOW THE HELL DID THIS GET AWAY WITH A PG-13 RATING?
Some of you guys are way too critical, I don't know what your were expecting. I saw it with a date and loved it, really fun movie to watch at a theater. The crowd was into it, my date was into it and I got into it. She was freaked out at times, clutching my arm and covering her eyes. Overall, I thought it was a cool remake, some if the scares had more impact than the original, and there were a few unexpected ones. The original had longer, tension-filled creep out moments, where you could suffocate with dread, Grudge was more like, "HOLY SHIT!" and "WTF!", which works, too. I wish they could have fit in some more scenes from the original, like the bathroom scene with the sister, but I like how they re-did that scene in the stairway anyway. I like both movies, good times.
I agree. Never saw the original, and really don't care. Horror movies aren't critical pieces. They won't make the Academy do a double-take. That said, I don't see the problem with The Grudge. I don't think the pacing was that bad. I think it confused a lot of people with the flashbacks and how chopped up the timeline was, but I think that's b/c not a lot of people were paying attention. The only thing that confused me was the guy from the very first scene. I forgot what his face looked like, and had to ask my sister if that was him later on. Otherwise, I thought the movie had some genuinely creepy moments that I liked. The story made sense to me too. As long as you accept that a curse is a curse, you can suspend disbelief just fine IMO. These are the same complaints people had about The Ring, and I liked that movie. Then again, I also liked Team America and Sky Captain, all three I saw this week. Maybe I've just stopped caring about some genres. I'm no longer overly-critical of action and horror flicks. So long as they deliver on the basics, I'm fine. I think The Grudge delivered what it needed. The very, very end was kinda dumb, but it's a curse, I guess you should expect this. But this movie is no better/worse than the Nightmare on Elm Street's best movies. Matter of fact, it's probably closer to the first two Nightmares than The Ring b/c Freddy was that powerful too. But we all look back on those Nightmare movies as major breakthroughs in the horror genre, so why not give this one some props? PEACE.El Papa said:
Mega Man's Electric Sheep
Member
I haven't seen it, but I wanna know.....is there a part where something JUMPS OUT at someone but it's just a cat, or someone PUTS THEIR HAND ON HER SHOULDER but it's just her friend? Seems like a lot of movies go for "scares" like this. Or is this movie more of a freaky, twisted scare as opposed to jumpy scares, or a little of both?
Mega Man's Electric Sheep said:
No. There is a cat that scares her, but it doesn't jump out and you know that it's a cat beforehand. Also the cat is dead and evil.
It's more of freaky, twisted scares combined with JUMPY SCARES (because some of them are predictable, but still creepy). There's a lot of investigating weird noises that result in death, though.
I finally saw the movie tonight. It was bad. Real bad. It seemed really cheesy. The theater was pretty full for a Wednesday night, and people were laughing more than they were getting scared. The kid that kept meowing was annoying as fuck. So was the dead woman who made that uhhhhh noise. That really annoyed the hell out of me.
The plot was weak too. If you go into the house, the dead people will kill you. Give me a break. And most the people were American. This movie took place in Japan. Seemed kind of ridiculous. The Ring was much better.
And don't forget Bill Pullman. Poor Bill Pullman. His career has deteriorated into him making a 5 minute appearance in a d rate horror film.
The plot was weak too. If you go into the house, the dead people will kill you. Give me a break. And most the people were American. This movie took place in Japan. Seemed kind of ridiculous. The Ring was much better.
And don't forget Bill Pullman. Poor Bill Pullman. His career has deteriorated into him making a 5 minute appearance in a d rate horror film.
Hmmm, decent enough film for Halloween but it was no "The Ring" in terms of plot but it was a lot more creepy. I just want to know, what did the body of that woman actually DO to the boyfriend? Was she trying to kiss him or something? Maybe she was just horny for some lovin' that her husband couldn't give her as I'm guessing he had problems getting it up. That's just my take. Honestly, it'll all be in the prequel AND sequel to the film (which you can bet will happen, they're doing this with The Ring as well)
Apparently the DVD will have an alternative (Sam goes as far as to say, better) ending. Kinda lame that they would do that though.
Apparently the DVD will have an alternative (Sam goes as far as to say, better) ending. Kinda lame that they would do that though.
I haven't seen the movie, but CNN's weekend box office roundup says this thing only cost $10 million to make. That seems damned cheap for what they pulled off, at least you know, within the Hollywood system and from what I can gather from the trailer. No wonder a sequel is already being fast tracked...
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