Review of The Grudge (2004) by Andreia B — 04 Apr 2011

I don't know what it is, but the American version of The Grudge is just way less freaky and creepy than the original Japanese one. Of course, this actually represents the third version of the same film that Shimizu made.

I think my mine problem with The Grudge is that it uses the same scares over and over again--it never deviates from the long-haired creepy girl and pasty white creepy boy. It's just them appearing and making creepy noises over and over and over again.

The Japanese version never feels this way to me. Instead, it crafts a genuinly bizarre, surrealistic aesthetic that marks the film as a unique modern example of J-Horror. Ju-On, the original Japanese film, is creepy, but The Grudge, the American remake, just feels like a ripoff of The Ring that doesn't know anything about scary other than weird sounds and long black hair, the two most tired cliches of Asian horror.