2008 Woodie Awards
Scare Youself During an Evening With "The Grudge" Fright Scenes
Prepare to be scared with the new Geller flick based on a Japanese film.
Selena Moshell
Issue date: 11/19/04 Section: Entertainment
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Karen, (Gellar) a student studying social work in Japan, is asked to cover for a missing nurse at her social services internship and finds herself caring for a catatonic woman in a disheveled home. Picking her way through the clutter, Karen finds her way upstairs into a room with a closet emitting a soft scratching sound and sealed shut with masking tape. (It's at this point when my hands first clapped over my eyes.) A mysterious little boy, a picture of a professor (Bill Pullman) who committed suicide, and a few bodies in the attic are the first clues of the horrors that took place which left a residue of evil that stains the house and eventually kills everyone who enters. Yet when Karen finally does uncover the house's gruesome history, which is the reason for the Grudge, it's not entirely satisfying or even logical, which leaves you wondering what how a movie with little-to-no plot was so enjoyable.
Don't get me wrong, there is a thin veil of a plotline involving a family, tragedy, love, and obsession, but there are just too many loose ends. For example, why does a highly trained police detective revert to a simple arsonist in a vain attempt to destroy the house that killed his friends? And why do these ghosts choose to exact their revenge on everyone who simply walks into the house? And why didn't every lowly beat cop that was at the house during the murder investigation also die? The ghost's haunting techniques are unorthodox; haunting the victims no matter where they are and not limiting the shocks to just the house. These issues that seem integral to the movie are glossed over, and amazingly, the audience doesn't seem to notice. Once you see the entire movie, neither will you.
This lack of plot does not imply a bad movie. The gaping holes in the story are truly unnoticeable during the film. The main reason for this is because during the movie, you're fighting the urge to scream bloody murder and run out of the theater with your popcorn flying behind you in a trail of shame. (At least, that's what I was doing.) The unorthodox fright pattern throughout the movie will take up most of your senses, leaving little with which to criticize. Most of the film felt like the old internet chain letters which contained that pretty movie clip and urged you to turn up your speakers and move closer to the screen... and then showed you a white, emaciated, bloody ghost girl and shrieked in your ear. The entire film is a condensed adrenaline shot which blasts pure fright through every conduit in your body. It's one scare after another, one shrill sound and flash of fright followed quickly by another, and another, until you feel like you are being haunted by the Grudge yourself.