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Average User Score: 7 (95 sources)

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Anthropophagus

-1

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"A stylishly horrifying piece of work."

'The Grudge' is by no means an excellent film, but it's an incredibly effective, and stylishly horrifying horror film where no one except poncy film critics should be caring about the...
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"A stylishly horrifying piece of work."

'The Grudge' is by no means an excellent film, but it's an incredibly effective, and stylishly horrifying horror film where no one except poncy film critics should be caring about the plot when such deliciously horrific images are popping up on screen. Storytelling maybe isn't this film's strongest point, but I also don't think whoever made this film was trying to make a masterpiece of modern storytelling either - the purpose of 'The Grudge' is to scare, and at that it most definitely succeeds. Ignore the reviews, watch it, and make up your own opinion of it.

If you like to be scared in a film, 'The Grudge' is an absolute must-see. It's completely terrifying and entertaining, and, while it's not quite as good as 'The Ring', which is actually even scarier, 'Grudge' knows why it was made and doesn't need overly intelligent writing to accomplish what it accomplishes.

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Posted sep 14, 2008 1:49 pm pt

CoCoGirl886

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The movie was just okay to me. There were some creepy parts but overall, I did not think it was really that scary. I clearly remember a scene in the attic where the kid spirit was behind the main character. She used a lighter as a light and was...
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The movie was just okay to me. There were some creepy parts but overall, I did not think it was really that scary. I clearly remember a scene in the attic where the kid spirit was behind the main character. She used a lighter as a light and was turning in a circle to look around. I saw the shadow of the kid even before she (and the rest of the audience) saw it.

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Posted jun 24, 2008 2:42 pm pt

StarBlade_0_0_9

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The movie was okay. It's not my best horror movie but it kept me interested to watch.

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Posted mar 25, 2008 10:09 pm pt

zophar53

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This movie actually has many similarities to another freaky horror flick, The Ring, Mainly in the way they were made. Both are remakes of Japanese horror movies redone for an American audience, and both accomplish their scares not by using...
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This movie actually has many similarities to another freaky horror flick, The Ring, Mainly in the way they were made. Both are remakes of Japanese horror movies redone for an American audience, and both accomplish their scares not by using tons of blood and gore, but with good old fashioned atmosphere and genuine creepiness. One of the main differences is that this film is set and was filmed in Japan, adding a unique believability to it.
The plot of The Grudge is based around an old Japanese belief that when someone dies in great sorrow or pain, that same anguish becomes a part of the place forever, overwhelming everything that becomes part of it. Not far into the movie we meet Karen, who is an exchange student living with her boyfriend. She works for a home care center, going to people's homes to clean and help take care of old relatives. When Karen arrives at her first solo assignment she is greeted with a very chilling and strange house. She eventually meets a little boy in the house and appears to be attacked by a ghost.
The story is told very uniquely, as you start in the middle of the tale. The movie moves along in present time, but slowly starts going backwards, showing you more and more of the backstory, so that by the end of the film you are viewing both the beginning and the end of the story at the same time. It sounds confusing and it is a little bit the first time you see it. Once you get a grip on the timeframe however, you realize that it's very effective in building suspense because the picture doesn't come into full focus until the end. It's not exactly the most complicated story in the world, it's just a very fun ride.
You start to realize that there is something very wrong with this house, and everybody who becomes connected to it is marked for haunting. As I said there is very little gore, but there is plenty of building atmosphere, as both the eerie music and sound effects are used to great effect, for those of you that have surround sound. Anybody who loves psychological thrillers will totally dig it, as the most effective way to describe the shock moments is creepy, best seen in a very dark room!
Many people believe that Japanese horror is so much better than American horror, and I believe it. At the very core, this movie could be described as a haunted house flick. Whereas American movies have a very situation-solution-problem solved-happy ending formula, the common theme in the east is that the situation is bigger than any of the insignificant people that happen accross it and there is no stopping it. That is the spirit that is invoked here. One of my favorite horror movies out there.

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Posted feb 13, 2008 11:10 am pt

kylehannah

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This re-make of the Japanese cult hit is a new and improved version of Takashi Shimizu's JU-ON.The Grudge focuses on scaring you with very effective jump scares and disturbing images,which occur throughout the entire film a lot of the time when...
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This re-make of the Japanese cult hit is a new and improved version of Takashi Shimizu's JU-ON.The Grudge focuses on scaring you with very effective jump scares and disturbing images,which occur throughout the entire film a lot of the time when you least expect it.The Grudge does what most horrors do not do and that is bend the rules of the classic setting of the haunted house.In everyday American horror usually the main character is tormented by the inhabitants of the house,then they leave the house to be safe,and then find a way to stop it.The Grudge isthe opposite which is a very pleasant surprise,when you leave thishaunted house you are sure as hell not safe.The interesting thingis that generally those who die in horror films either deserve it or have something to do with the conflict but in The Grudge everyday people who even set one foot in the house are doomed to perish.I think that The Grudge is very original,very unique,and very effective at inflicting fear into it's audience.The storyline however is hard to follow at times and can be very confusing but without taking anything away from the movie.The Grudge is also full of typical horror film clichés but for the most part is very original and different.The acting is top notch as far as horror flicks go and the characters are all believable and easy to buy into.The Grudge is a must see horror film.

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Posted jul 25, 2007 9:04 am pt

Terminator8888

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Nice movie but the grudge 2 is better.

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Posted jun 26, 2007 2:50 am pt

gruffi40

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This movie made me want to stab out my eyes. This was such a piece of crap. Usually, I am a fan of Japanese horror but this was just pathetic. Don't waste your time.

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Posted jun 18, 2007 2:57 am pt

saxa246

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Started cool, turned out to be belove average. And you know what? I can imitate that sound perfectly! I scared the hell out of a few of my friends during the movie...

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Posted may 10, 2007 4:55 am pt

maoonparas

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creepy movie:)
+creepy feeling
+the monsters (or what they are)

-no gore

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Posted mar 18, 2007 1:54 am pt

CrazyChica25

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Kept me up all night. Just saw it last night since they played it on TNT. I don't know but after watching that movie I definitely don't want to ever go to Japan. (Yeah I take things too literally after seeing movies and such even if they aren't...
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Kept me up all night. Just saw it last night since they played it on TNT. I don't know but after watching that movie I definitely don't want to ever go to Japan. (Yeah I take things too literally after seeing movies and such even if they aren't real life stories.)

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Posted feb 10, 2007 5:19 am pt

• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  A master of atmosphere, Japanese director Takashi Shimizu leads his audience along on a celluloid leash to his pitch-black attic of horror, inviting each hair on the back of your neck to stand up.

  by Robert K. Elder | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  75
  There is no "why" in The Grudge, at least not an explanation that provides comfort or cure. It simply is. That's what makes it really scary.

  by Sean Axmaker | Read Full Review »
• [+] Baltimore Sun
  
  75
  The only character with any personality in The Grudge is a Tokyo house, but not to worry - it's got enough mean in it to keep any horror movie afloat.

  by Chris Kaltenbach | Read Full Review »
• [+] Washington Post
  
  70
  It's enough to send you home with jiggly knees and a tummy ache.

  by Stephen Hunter | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  70
  One of the flat-out creepiest films ever released by a major American studio.

  by Maitland McDonagh | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  70
  Slightly less frightening than the original, but it's still a scary psycho-horror that effectively replicates its bleak and crisp shocks.

  by Richard James Havis | Read Full Review »
• [+] Miami Herald
  
  63
  This is an eerie, inventively mounted movie: It's a shivery fun time, filled with dark corners, deserted hallways and sudden apparitions. But it never manages to genuinely rattle you.

  by Rene Rodriguez | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  60
  A lean, atmospheric and acutely creepy little horror pic - nothing more, nothing less.

  by Olly Richards | Read Full Review »
• [+] Washington Post
  
  60
  It's effectively frightening. It's just not the kind of frightening that stays with you very long, unless of course someone decides to make the same movie . . . yet again.

  by Michael O'Sullivan | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  58
  A horror film that consists of virtually nothing but don't-go-in-the-attic suspense scenes strung together with a reasonable degree of brooding mood and a minimum of logic.

  by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  58
  In the hands of a less-skilled director, this Hollywood-mandated need to impose order could have ended in disaster.

  by M. E. Russell | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  50
  Most of the chills have been faithfully re-created, though first-time screenwriter Stephen Susco hasn't done much to straighten out the muddled narrative.

  by J.R. Jones | Read Full Review »
• [+] ReelViews
  
  50
  Pretty much a one-trick pony, and, after a while, that trick loses its ability to impress.

  by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
• [+] Philadelphia Inquirer
  
  50
  It isn't frightening. Sometimes, in fact, it's laughable.

  by Steven Rea | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
  
  50
  There are so many events here but no real story. Perhaps that is what's making the drowned kabuki ghost so irate: She's desperate to find a coherent script.

  by Liam Lacey | Read Full Review »