The Grudge (Mini-Review)

The Grudge is another tale in The Grudge Universe, though not directly connected to any other movie in the franchise, and was released in early January 2020. It stars Tara Westwood, Junko Bailey, and David Lawrence Brown. It is directed by Nicolas Pesce. The film follows the effects of a curse accidentally brought over from Japan.

The only The Grudge movie I've seen was the American Remake released in 2004. That movie scared me but was an overall bad film. Just because a movie or book scares me doesn't mean it did horror well. The Grudge released in 2020 both scared me and is a good film.

The Grudge is told out of order with Detective Muldoon giving the film structure. The reason for this is because she went into the cursed house and is trying to figure out what may happen to her. So when we get flashbacks it always follows her investigations.

While the rules of The Grudge are followed, there are a few instances when I wondered why some characters didn't die sooner. There are three characters that managed to live for some time after entering the house. Maybe it all has to do about how a person acts while inside the house? But then why would a curse born out of rage care if you were polite?

The sound the boy made in the original American Remake of The Grudge scared me more. While the new sound is creepy it doesn't have the same edge as the former had.

I would recommend The Grudge for someone who wants a good film and some scares. If I was more familiar with The Grudge franchise I could tell if it was good for fans of the series.