When it comes to Hollywood greenlighting reboots, the ones involving horror films in particular have proven to carry both a hit and miss approach in regards to successfully reviving popular horror franchises, that have experienced either franchise fatigue or burnouts years prior. A shining example of a horror reboot done right is David Gordon Green's 2018
Halloween sequel
. The latter not only proved to be highly successful as a sequel to the original 1978 classic, but also managed to successfully revive a classic horror franchise which flamed out years prior with it achieving never before seen box office heights with two largely anticipated sequels in development. An example of a reboot that failed to properly revive its franchise is 2017's
Rings, which aimed to reboot the once popular
Ring franchise (Which is based on a classic Japanese horror film called
Ringu) back to the heights of its 2002 American remake which starred Naomi Watts. In the case of 2020's
The Grudge, the film aims to reboot the series for a new generation of horror fans while loosely linking itself to the 2004 Sam Raimi produced hit that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar in the main lead. Like
The Ring, both movies were successful American remakes of their classic Japanese counterparts, though both franchises equally suffered due to their concepts trying to extend past being solo films within their own respective franchises as the sequels got progressively worse in regards to quality.
Rings ultimately failed to recapture any of the original films glory days in terms of being a well made hit with audiences, as well as being genuinely effective in regards to being creepy. Fast-forward sixteen years after the release of 2004's
The Grudge, Hollywood attempts once again to revive the franchise with a second reboot with no returning characters from the previous films. Having seen the newest installment of
The Grudge franchise, one wishes that the once creative and terrifying horror franchise remained buried as the newest sequel lacks all of the suspense, thrills, and creativity which made the original Japanese version a classic along with the 2004 American remake being both relatively successful as well as a decent Japanese turned American horror film remake.
The Grudge 2020 is a horror sequel/reboot that no one in particular asked for, and will make them wish that its filmmakers didn't bother trying given how uninspired and generic it ultimately comes across as being.
Based on the popular Japanese horror series titled
Ju-on,
The Grudge 2020 takes place between the 2004 film and it's lackluster 2006 sequel. The story centers around the ghosts of people who died due to unusual fits of rage with them haunting their own locations of death with there appearing to be no way to bring the deadly curse to a halt. Unlike the 2004 film nor its superior Japanese version, the new
Grudge is dull and relies on both watered down and generic horror movie cliches and scares in a desperate attempt to justify it's existence with the end result being an unwanted revival of the series that should've stayed dead. While the 2004 American remake of
Ju-on wasn't a perfect film nor matched the cinematic heights of its original Japanese creation, it attempted at the very least to do its source material justice. The newest
Grudge film doesn't feel like it has much of a compelling enough reason to be made and ultimately results in a wasted opportunity for both its strong cast and filmmakers to do something more exciting and scary. The script that the film carries is derivative of past works in the franchise with the films scary set-pieces lacking true suspense to make them effective in regards to genuinely creeping out audiences. While the 2004
Grudge film also failed to surpass the work of it's original creation, it at the very least possessed interesting characters, a creepy atmosphere and frightening images to make it a worthwhile experience for audiences ultimately. Sadly that isn't the case here as the new
Grudge lacks a legitimately terrifying atmosphere and contains throwaway characters whom the audience never connect with. The feeling that one gets after watching the reboot is how little the filmmakers tried to make it something special rather than just a souless cash grab while using the franchises name. Given the quality of the new film, one wishes that the studio left this particular horror franchise buried as the potential for a new set of
Grudge films looks both uninspiring and bleak.
With making and watching horror movies, one key element that audiences look towards in determining how successful the film is with both storytelling as well as frightening its audience, is the strength of it's main cast in regards to bringing both believability and realism to the story. The cast for
The Grudge does their best with the material and characters handed to them yet they ultimately feel wasted in trying to make the film more serious and intelligent than what it ultimately ends up being.
The strongest performances come from the main leads with Andrea Riseborough and Demian Bichir making the most of their roles as Detective Muldoon and Goodman. Riseborough makes for a somewhat appealing main female lead with her performance conveying all the right moments of fear and strength for her character as she investigates the different murders that all appear to be connected with same house. Demian Bichir is easily the strongest actor in the film and brings both class and a commanding performance to his role much like he did in 2018's The
Nun. Bichir brings both grit and edge to his character with him playing the typical senior detective, who appears to know more about the case he's investigating than anyone else with him knowing something is off. Bichir is no stranger to the horror genre and feels comfortable with the types of characters given to him as he tries to add an extra layer to them. The rest of the cast attempt (And succeed for the most part given the circumstances) to deliver notable performances with John Cho giving a minimal yet effective role as Peter Spencer along with Betty Gilipin as his wife Nina. Other supporting cast members include Lin Shaye as Faith Matheson, Jacki Weaver as Lorna Moody, William Sadler as Detective Wilson, and Frankie Faison as William Matheson. Despite the notable appeal of the cast as well as their efforts to make the story work with their characters, it still isn't enough to compensate for the lack of enthusiasm and suspense the rest of the film carries. Whereas Bichir appears to be the most comfortable person in terms of playing his role, it is Riseborough who tries the hardest to make her character work with giving Muldoon somewhat of an emotional complex. Her characters subplot involving her husband's death is mentioned but serves little to no purpose in any actions she takes within the story. Her character shows glimpses of her being interesting when she shows dedication in solving the cases behind the different murders occuring within the same residence. The rest of the cast carry minimal roles with them struggling to breathe life into their characters despite none of the performances being bad.
The films directing by Nicolas Pesce is underwhelming yet serviceable at best with him generating a few interesting and creepy moments to the film (The opening sequence involving the car in the swamp for example with the decayed remains), but those aren't enough to overcome a severe lack of creativity and passion behind telling the story. Pesce comes across as feeling like a strong enough filmmaker to make an effective horror film had he been presented with a different story altogether. He appears to have an eye for framing frightening horror images, but those moments are too far in between the rest of the film, which appears to be largely devoid of any true suspense and thrills. Instead of going the traditional PG-13 route that the 2004
Grudge film (And its painfully forgettable sequel) followed, Pesce aims for a nastier and gritter approach with the films R rating along with a heavy emphasis on the films gore. The films use of excessive gore wouldn't be a negative element against it if not for the fact that it feels thrown at the audience for the sake of shock value, rather than being stylistically done to fit with the rest of the story. Pesce paints the film with both a dark and bleak tone that doesn't match up with the previous films in the series, giving audiences the feeling that the film is seeking to have a more dramatic approach with its story than it needs to carry. The films cinematography by Zack Galler comes across as feeling uninspired, giving the film a dark and gritty tone rather than the well-staged and creepy atmosphere that Sam Raimi's film carried. With the new film, the audience doesn't get to see much during the films darkly lit moments, which creates more frustration rather than generating legitimate suspense. The films camera work gives glimpses of what could've been a visually striking horror film, had more thought been put into the moments that were meant to be terrifying. The films editing serves as being both choppy and brisk with the story feeling as if its all over the place and moving at a quick pace, that's designed to keep the audience at the edge of their seat, though leaves the story feeling rushed with minimal room left for character development. The score is effective in trying to add tension to the story where the writing and directing fall flat in regards to evoking scares. In terms of directing, Pesce's work feels less satisfying and underwhelming compared to Raimi's film as he doesn't quite capture the same type of creepiness nor moody atmosphere as that film, and relies heavily on jump scares that often feel cheap and not well thought out or executed. He doesn't manage to keep the tone of the film consistent with the frantic editing of the film, therefore making it feel incoherent overall. Whatever one thinks of Raimi's version of
The Grudge, what can be agreed upon watching and comparing both movies is one carried with it an atmosphere and tone that not only was visually striking, but carried with it a presence in the story. The latter can't be said about this reboot with Pesce ultimately underwhelming here.
The films screenplay also by Pesce, ends up being its greatest downfall and ultimately where it falls apart as a whole. The biggest problem with the new film is rather than completely reintroducing the story for audiences, it automatically assumes that they've seen Sam Raimi's film and follow the events of that film with its opening setup. For those who haven't seen the 2004
Grudge film, they'll have no clue what the opening scene signifies or how the story ties into the rest of the films universe. It almost feels as if the writers got lazy and decided instead of putting in the effort to completely reintroduce the concept of the
Grudge for today's audiences nor its clever premise of a single house with a vengeful ghost, who curses everyone that enters it with a violent demise, they chose wrote the script in a way that expects the viewer to either have seen Sam Raimi's film prior or remember minimal parts of it since the story takes place between that film and its sequel. What made the 2004 film such a smash hit with audiences (It grossed over 100 million domestically, which is a rare feat for a horror film) besides remaking the original Japanese creation, was how the story took the concept of a haunted house storyline and added its own surprise twists and turns to it. Watching the new film, one truly misses the presence of the possessed Japanese girl with long hair who terrified audiences 16 years prior as both her and the boy from the previous films are nowhere to be seen here. Another element that works against the films favor is the one-dimensional characters, that the script gives audiences with them delivering both generic and cliched dialogue. Outside of the main characters played by Riseborough and Bichir, the rest of the cast falls flat with one-note characters whom audience never becomes connected with nor care much for when terror strikes them, leaving it to the actors to try and make their parts somewhat interesting. One of the most critical mistakes the filmmakers of the new
Grudge made was eliminating the style of the villains from the previous films as the long-haired Japanese villains, who made both the original and Sam Raimi's film so effective are nowhere to be seen here. One gets that the filmmakers wanted to do something different this time but the extreme gory images of the now-dead families just doesn't work as well here. The film also feels as if it borrows from other films with similar plot structures (
The Ring for example) such as the subplot between Muldoon's character and her son giving audiences flashbacks to Naomi Watt's character in
The Ring as well as the subplot with both her and her characters child. The film includes the subplot of Muldoon's characters dead husband with that revelation having no real significance to the plot nor motivation behind her characters actions as stated previously. The audience doesn't care about the relationship between her and her son anywhere near what they felt for Naomi Watts and David Dorfman when watching
The Ring. The script for
The Grudge feels slapped together and convoluted as the multiple stories regarding the different families and couples being terrorized and ultimately killed within the same house often becomes hard to follow at times and uninteresting. The films intended scary moments feel forced and randomly tossed into the script in hopes of getting a reaction out of audiences with them ultimately feeling like cheap jump scares. One can't help but wonder what this film would've turned out like had more effort went into properly reimagining its story with strong and compelling characters the audience can grow connected with.
For fans of the franchise that awaited the release of this film as well as those involved with the making of the film, they deserved much better than what's presented here. The film lacks both passion and drive in telling its story with it showing in almost every aspect of the film in regards to filmmaking. Despite its talented casts efforts to make something more of the material, they ultimately couldn't save it and deserved a much better script with more plot and character depth to showcase their talents. Director Nicolas Pesce is not necessarily bad when it comes to directing horror, but surely could've benefitted from a much stronger script as his approach at times felt a little on the serious side given the mechanics of the plot. One hopes that he realizes though this experience, that its much more effective to build up the mood and creepy atmosphere of a scene rather than add an excessive amount of jump scares to compensate for the films lack of terror. The only true part of the film where it somewhat begins to play out like a standard horror film is within the films third act, but by then its too late for the film to be saved by brief moments of skillful directing and competent writing. The
Grudge 2020 is an unworthy and unnecessary reboot to the iconic horror franchise with the end result primed to not only frustrate long-term fans of the series, but make them wish that others never attempted to revive it as there's clearly no other direction to take the story. For that reason and many others mentioned, they're much better off rewatching
Ju-on or Sam Raimi's version if they want a more satisfying and genuinely creepy experience. Really, the latter is a much more satisfying and less frustrating result than this. It's a real shame that The
Grudge 2020 was the first major theatrical release for 2020 as it unfortunately started it off with a bad omen, that it has yet to overcome. If one values their time and patience, they'll skip this one and look for something more satisfying and worth their time (
The Invisible Man is currently available in redbox).
Final verdict: For fans of the
Grudge series as well as horror fans in general,
The Grudge 2020 is not worth the time and should be skipped.
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