The Grudge

[DarkWiccan]

"The Grudge" - Not as Bad as VanHelsing... but still pretty damn bad.



To read my review, please be so kind as to visit my website. A link to my site is available on my ezboard profile page.



Thank you so very much. I send warm fuzzy-bunny hugs to you all.

Edited by: DarkWiccan at: 11/7/04 3:41 pm

[LosingAllHope]

I still, stupidly, intend to go see it. You can tell me 'I told you so' next week.

[urnofosiris]

Oh I am definitely going to see it. Unfortunately I have to wait till January for it to hit the theatres over here.

[Kieli]

I read this against my better judgement. Oh well, lesson learned. I hate when people review stuff. Reviews are usually just a matter of personal preference and opinion anyway *shrug* I like Japanese horror flicks, I'm interested in seeing what Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert have done with it. So...I'm going to undo reading this and decide for myself if I like it. Hey, I loved Sky Captain so...I wouldn't be the first to have alternative tastes Shouldn't this go in the "I hate hate hate this movie" thread? Just curious....

Time flies by when the Devil drives.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.

[DarkWiccan]

You are all wonderful people and I love you all.



I am a huge fan of the horror genre... American, Japanese, German, or otherwise... and with each nationality comes a certain style... a certain je ne sais quoi...that makes their films unique to the country from which it was made. "The Grudge" is an example of what happens when two styles collide, fist-fight and ultimately vomit on each other.



The audience seemed to laugh more watching "The Grudge" than they did during "50 First Dates," although to be honest, folks seemed to cringe in disgust more frequently while watching "50 First Dates." Modern Asian cinema is known for creepy visuals, dark atmospheres, and terribly nonsensical plotlines which constantly require the viewer to suspend disbelief. Modern American horror is known for it's white and blue film, sound effects suddenly playing at 100 million decibels to signify something scary has happened and you should therefore be very scared, and telling stories about a bunch of annoying retarded teenagers figuring out mysteries by using the Internet. Combine both together and you get... well, I'm not exactly sure what you get, but it wasn't very good. "Horror" does not mean eliminating every non-blue color of the rainbow and flashing clips of a cat boy emitting screeching noises in a closet at ear-shattering levels, and the only "grudge" I had during this movie was one against Sam Raimi for tricking me into spending my money to watch a bastardized Asian horror film processed in a Smurf's intestine.



It is true of course that this is all just my own opinion...but that doesn't necessarily make it invalid. If you insist on dropping your precious dinero on a full price ticket to this film... that is your choice. I am merely doing my civic duty in warning that this is not the best movie to spend your precious gas money on.



Cheers

DW

"Promise me you'll never be linear." "On my trout."

Edited by: DarkWiccan at: 11/7/04 4:04 pm

[Hyo Shin]

>and ultimately commits arson.



I'm really happy about that. I've seen all of the Juon movies and am really really really annoyed by the house and ghosts.



But they want to make another American sequel.

[urnofosiris]

Quote:

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Shouldn't this go in the "I hate hate hate this movie" thread? Just curious....

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Nah, it could go there as well, but if people don´t like a movie or a TV show they can say so in it´s own thread too. I like reading other people´s opinions, but not in the form of reviews. I don´t like reading reviews in newspapers or magazines either, so I stopped reading this one after that first sentence.



I any case, I love this genre. I watched the US version of the Ring last year and it was deliciously creepy. From the previews I have seen of this movie I shall love this one just as well. I have not seen the original so I don´t know what to expect, but if that one was any good, I trust this one will be as well. It was written and directed by the same guy, maybe he knows what he is doing. I am just bummed I have to wait 2 more months.

[Hyo Shin]

The original Ringu is quite OK. But it's not the best J-Horror movie. Many people hate the remake version but I don't think it's specially worse than the original. They are just two different movies. And Naomi Watts is much better than Nanako Matsushima. Anyway, Ringu is not a holy grail of J-Horror. It's just another successful horror movie.



I don't expect many things from the remake version of Dark Water. The director's OK. The actress is great. But without the desperate situation of divorced single moms in Japan, you can't make a Dark Water movie.



I can't imagine the American version of A Tale of Two Sisters. But it would be fun to watch a Hollywood movie based by a Korean Folktale!

[Warduke]

First thing...this thread is about The Grudge, not who's been on some show before. So let's keep it about this movie guys.



I want to see this movie too. The trailer looked creepy and I like that. I may hate it, but I still want to see it.

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Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[DarkWiccan]

I am filled with an indescribable feeling of joy. My love for all of you has no bounds.



Despite my extreme displeasure with the movie, I can safely say that nothing, and I repeat NOTHING, was as horrible as the people around me watching the movie. In case you missed the memo, all American teenagers are apparently federally required to carry at least two cellphones everywhere they go. If they at any point fail to use these phones nonstop, the translucent electrical collar around their neck will detonate, showering the surrounding area with fragments of bone and Hot Topic clothing. Now some of you may claim I sound like a bitter old woman, but if the desire to systematically torture and then execute every single teenager messing around with their Nelly ring tone during a feature film makes me a bitter old woman, then so be it.



All in all, it was a miserable moviegoing experience. On one hand, "The Grudge" was an absolutely terrible horror film which wasn't as much frightening as it was laughable, but on the other hand I really couldn't even pay attention to the film due to the fact that the movie theater was apparently built inside a giant Sprint store haunted by the hundreds of spirits who died in there while waiting to speak to an actual human being. Until the youth of America stop being so damn annoying, I plan on attending only NC-17 movies whose title has the word "nurse" or "engorged" somewhere in it. This may be a sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for America and our fantastic white and blue cinema experiences.





DW

"Promise me you'll never be linear." "On my trout."

Edited by: DarkWiccan at: 11/7/04 4:05 pm

[urnofosiris]

Quote:

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posted by darkwiccan



"If you hate reviews...DON'T READ THEM! And don't bitch at the people who write them, either in singular or et al."

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Actually, if someone wants to criticize a review, whether it is yours or anyone else´s, they can. Just like you can criticize a movie you don´t like. As long as it is done so within the guidelines of this forum, so no flaming etc. If you feel someone stepped over the line in the way in which they replied to you feel free to email one of the moderators and we can check it out to see if we overlooked anything.



As for mobile phones during movies, if someone does not turn theirs off they should be kicked out. Bleh, another thing that annoys me to no end is people munching on chips or popcorn, loudly, I mean at least try to camouflage the noise by taking a bite when the music is loud. That´s what I do.

Edited by: DrG at: 11/7/04 11:11 pm

[Hemiola]

I'm no expert, of course, but I just thought I'd mention two really terrific Japanese horror films that greatly impressed me:



1. "Onibaba" (1964)--a thoroughly creepy black & white film about a murderous mother and daughter team who get their comeuppance from a haunted samurai war mask



2. "Kawaidan"--an anthology of ghost stories with atmospheric music by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Eerily chill-inducing

[Kieli]

Oooh I liked Kawaidan (I've often seen it spelled as "Kwaidan" too)....it was creepy. The Japanese Ringu did more for me than "The Ring"....although Naomi Watts always rings my bells. I'll have to look up Onibaba.

Time flies by when the Devil drives.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.

[urnofosiris]

Thanks for the recommendation Hemiola. Next time I am in Amsterdam I´m going to see if I can find those.

[anyone somewhere]

I'll probably see this movie at one time or another. I haven't seen a scary movie I've found to be amazing, well made, or good on any terms really. Maybe Wrong Turn, it was good, but I think Eliza Dushku was a factor in that. Anyways, i'll wait untill i can see it for free on stars or hbo or something because i'm cheap that way and relativly not interested but i'll have to see it's bad for myself. I'm a glutton for punishment that way.

[Sheridan]

Interestingly US audiences seem to be enjoying the film, it's held the top spot in the US chart for two weeks running, confounding a lot of people by pulling in better than $60 million in that fortnight.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[LosingAllHope]

Well, SMG is a hottie.

[maudmac]

I saw it this afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't find it near as horrible as most reviews have suggested. I thought it was nicely creepy and had more than a few good boo! moments.



I also liked the messed up timeline. Gotta pay attention and remember stuff. Not many movies make you do that and I always appreciate a film that doesn't insult my intelligence.



As just a straightforward horror movie, I actually liked The Grudge more than I liked The Ring. I think the premise of The Ring is far superior and much more intriguing, but I still felt let down by what I thought was an almost total lack of creepiness.



It's all about your personal taste, I'd say. And that's why I don't care much for reviews, either. That's just someone's opinion and no more or less valid than mine or anyone else's. Unless I know someone has the exact same taste in movies that I do (and I haven't met that person yet), I'd take any opinion or review with a grain of salt.

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rain ain't gonna hurt me

[laurelfan31]

I thought the Grudge rocked hard...and yes, way better than the Ring. Much scarier and creepier. Worth the $ on the ticket, I thought. It was nice to see SMG again. I'd like to see Alysson in a scary movie, now that would be most excellent.

[Auburn]

I really don't think the movie was as bad as Dark Wiccan seems to think, but then I guess everybody's tastes are different. Your review was a little harsh though. I kept getting frustrated by her 'oh no a big bad please dont hurt me' routine after seeing her for so many years kicking vampire butt a little curse that goes boo just didn't seem feesable enough to frighten her. I kept expecting her to make the plan and execute the plan, not pout and whine and be all.... submissive!



Jason behr was, well.... crap! I'm not entirely sure why he was even in it he didn't do anything... not a tiny little bit.



The little boy... well he was blumming creepy!



and yes I did jump out of my seat more than a few times and found my friend beside me hugging her popcorn, so wrapped up in the movie that she had actually forgotten to eat it. The teenage boy besides me took the 'jumpy' parts as an excuse to cop a feel of my thigh to which I took a handful of my friends popcorn and made sure I aimed it at his head!



I did keep getting confused as to what the bloody hell was going on, but honestly it wasn't a bad film... I've seen a lot worse and I did actually prefere 'The Grudge' to 'The Ring'



Your review Dark Wiccan seemed a little venomous when the movie really wasn't all that bad.



Auburn

Edited by: Warduke at: 11/15/04 1:25 pm

[veiled isis moon]

I'm still gonna go see it regardless of what people think, i wanna know for myself you know, and i tend to enjoy most films that other people hate and vice versa and anyhow, everyone takes away something different from a movie so one person saying it's crap doesn't necessarily mean it's crap, it just obviously didn't float your boat, which is cool, but if you only ever go and watch the films everyone raves about your never gonna get to experience anything different or amazing or even realise that you actually really enjoy those kinda films. So i'm gonna go watch the film with an open mind.........lose myself for a couple of hours.........and see what happens...........and also get off my high horse if someone could just pass me the step.......yeah, that one right there..........what??.......it's high up here!

[BFR from Paris]

Quote:

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Until the youth of America stop being so damn annoying, I plan on attending only NC-17 movies whose title has the word "nurse" or "engorged" somewhere in it. This may be a sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for America and our fantastic white and blue cinema experiences.

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As for "The Grudge", I read a few comments on a French site, and apparently, even the Japanese movies (I & II) are not that good compared to "Ringu" (which was quite terrifying indeed )



So, a Japanese/American sequel/remake, starring SMG who gets on my nerves, I don't think I'll go see it



BTW, "Exorcist: The Beginning" is coming out next week over here, is it any good?

[Pinocchio1940]

I own the DVD, but honestly, even with SMG, the film wasn't my favorite.