The Grudge (2020)

Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Demain Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, Jacki Weaver, William Sadler
Directed by: Nicolas Pesce
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A detective (Andrea Riseborough) investigates a house seemingly connected to multiple mysterious deaths.

Review:

Tim: I really hated 2004's The Grudge. It was a terrible horror movie. I disliked it so much that I skipped the second and the third films in the franchise. I decided to give this movie a look, though. It's 2020 and it's hard to find movies since so many moved off the calendar. While this movie is better than the 2004 version, it's still a pretty terrible horror film. I'm disappointed once again.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it's creatively bankrupt. It has no way to scare the audience, other than jump scares. It felt like the vast majority of the movie is just a set up to the next jump scare. Outside of those startlingly moments (which angered me more than scared me), there's just not much in terms of actual horror. Nicolas Pesce's film does manage a decent atmosphere of creepiness, but it feels like the movie never delivers on that promise. I want a horror movie to frighten me and that didn't happen here. I mostly just braced myself for the next jump scare, which did nothing to advance the story. It ends up making the movie feel incredibly tiresome. Thankfully, it's a short movie.

What really upsets me is actually the film's biggest strength- the cast is actually really good. They're just given a lackluster story (Pesce again) and asked to do too much. I like Andrea Riseborough and she delivers a truly solid performance. She makes for a strong horror heroine, but the story around her character is just too weak. At one point, I totally forgot she had a son in the beginning, as the movie treats him like an afterthought until he's needed again at the end. Riseborough's stripped down performance certainly connected well the intention delivering a horrifying movie. It's perhaps the biggest strength of the film, which in some ways hurts the movie because everything around her is so obviously not up to her level. Demian Bichir was a great addition, too. I loved his world weary performance. Unfortunately, the dialogue he's given is just bad and it doesn't help his cause. I loved seeing John Cho here. Again, great casting. His scenes were among the most enjoyable of the film, but they never live up to their promise. Lin Shaye was completely wasted. I was so excited when I saw her, but quickly became disappointed with how she was utilized. Betty Gilpin was totally forgettable (more on the film than her). Jacki Weaver created a few creepy moments, but she could have achieved more with better direction.

It felt like the story just never came together. I felt a similar feeling of dissatisfaction with the 2004 version's story. The narrative is so unbelievably weak. There's this haunted house in Japan and this malevolent ghost. It follows someone to the United States and sets up home in a new location. Nearly everyone who comes in contact with this spirit dies or murders someone and dies. I'm not entirely clear on why any of this is happening. Maybe the film tried to explain it, but it just felt so surface-level to me. "Bad ghost attacking people" is pretty much the extent of it. We get all these different characters (too many, in fact) and some of them kind of have interesting stories, but we don't spend enough time digging into any of the characters to really care about them. They're just caught up by being in the wrong house at the wrong time. The evil spirit creates problems for them, blah blah blah. I couldn't really stay focused because the whole thing felt so generic, so weak in its narrative. I enjoyed the performances of the cast, but didn't believe anything that they were saying or doing. It also felt like this was a rehash of the 2004 film. I know it's a sidesequel, but it didn't really do much to expand the larger mythology. If this movie had been decent at all, I'd have felt an urge to go back and see the second and third films. It didn't do that. If anything, it reiterated that I was right to stay away.

You might have been forgiven for giving the 2004 film a pass. You can't do that here. Horror has seen a resurgence in recent years that has proven the possibility of the genre. The Grudge feels like it didn't learn a single lesson from that. It presents a messy story with weak characters. It's the kind of cheap horror movie made over a decade ago under the belief that people go to horror movies and have little taste or expectation. This is an offensive movie, especially because it had some solid pieces in place. Ultimately, it's an utter failure and this remains of the worst franchises ever.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 3.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Ring, The Grudge (2004), Ju-On: The Grudge