The Grudge

The recent trend of remaking Japanese horror films continues in an unusual way with The Grudge. Released to popular and critical acclaim in Japan under the name Ju-On The Grudge it was quickly bought up by American distributors. However this remake has been directed by the same director, though adheres to many of the criticisms of American remakes that have gone before. By transporting the story to Americans and burying the plot the film may be more accessible now to the general public, but it makes it more confusing and befuddled. Sarah Michelle Gellar never really manages to step beyond the shadow of Buffy but is pleasant enough as the lead, investigating the goings on in a typical Japanese house with a dark secret. Her relationship with her boyfriend is never really developed enough though which lessens the emotional impact of the ending. What the film does well though is scares. The feel has a creepy atmosphere right the from the start and the film manages to make you jump at regular intervals. There are some very creative scares as well, as the formless apparition haunts the characters in many impossible ways. However this is one of the problems with this and the other Japanese imports, many of the scares rely on the supernatural and events so unbelievable they are rendered bizarre and fantastical. Often the scariest cinema comes from that which could really happen, and could be lurking outside, not mystical unexplained events. However the grudge does manage to step beyond that and at times (the staircase scene springs to mind) can really scare you and draw you in. However again it comes back to the basics of plot and character, and in both departments the film is severely lacking. The characters are not that well developed and so as an audience member you are not as concerned for their safety. The plot is also amazingly thin, a whole section of it revolves around a single line spoken by a random police officer which is then accepted as truth and is no further explained by the characters. This is a crippling problem and leaves much of the film making little sense and simply not working. The Grudge seems too preoccupied with trying to be scary that it leave behind many of the essentials of film making. It is a successfully creepy and scary film but one that afterwards doesn't add up and ends up making you feel the whole thing is a bit pointless really. Shame. An unsettling and creepy film that has scares-a-plenty, however the lack of a coherant story and cut-out characters make the whole thing fall apart under any scrutiny and so tarnish what could have been a great horror film.