Director – Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother, Piercing)
Starring – Tara Westwood (Ed, Rescue Me), Junko Bailey (Category 6: Day of Destruction), and David Lawrence Brown (Fargo, Hell on Wheels)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 1/5
Tagline – “It’ll never let you go”
When I was in high school I was already head deep in horror. I couldn’t get enough but I was sure trying. It was around this time that some modern horror classics was released. The Ring and The Grudge were huge hits in Japan that gained a cult following all across the world so it made sense for America to remake them. Both were solid films but were overhyped in my opinion. Over the years both films spawned sequels and then nothing for several years.
Not long ago news broke that The Grudge was getting another American reboot but soon it was revealed that it wouldn’t be a reboot but a sequel of sorts. It has been a long ass time since I watched the first American remake of The Grudge but I thought it would be fun to check out this follow up film.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a house with an evil past. A nurse leaves Japan after witnessing a horrifying event and becomes possessed. When she arrives in her home she kills her husband and daughter. The curse of that house continues as multiple people live in or visit the home and soon find themselves succumbing to the curse of the little girl from Japan that followed the unsuspecting nurse home. **Spoiler Alert**
I wasn’t expecting a genre defining film but I was looking for some supernatural fun with this one but what I was given was an unusual anthology of sorts that was painfully boring. Fans of the other films went into this one with excitement only to be extremely disappointed with what feels like a tossed together film with little to no redeeming qualities.
The acting in this one is underwhelming to say the least. The characters are very generic and flat with no personality for the cast to work with. Their do their part but most of the scenes are still boring and, at times, very trying to finish. The viewer makes no connection with the characters so the viewer doesn’t care if they live or die which ruins the sense of dread the film tries to capture.
The story for this one consists of several different shorter segments centered around the home and the people that occupy it or enter it. These short scenarios are non-linear and could be confusing at times. Aside from that, these stories are predictable and not that fun to watch. The horror is lacking and the scenes lack atmosphere. They are dark but they do a horrible job building tension and atmosphere.
Finally, the film has blood and some make-up effects but those of you wanting gore will be very disappointed. The blood and practical effects we get are solid, along with the make-up effects. Sadly, they just blend in with the rest of the film and are forgettable. Overall, The Grudge: The Untold Stories is a poor excuse for a follow up to a film that has left it’s stamp on horror cinema. The movie is clearly a cheap cash in on the name established almost 20 years ago. I highly suggest skipping this one.
