Review: The Grudge : Cine Observer

Film: The Grudge (2020)
Director: Nicolas Pesce
Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye & Jackie Weaver
Cinematography- Zachary Galler
Music- Newton Brothers
Rating: 2 stars

Director Nicolas Pesce’s Grudge, the latest instalment in the franchise by the same name, manages to occasionally stun you but ultimately, fails in its mission of scaring you.

The story revolves around Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough), a young detective from the police department who also happens to be a single mom. Having lost her husband to cancer, Muldoon and her young son have just moved to the new town of Cross River. It is here that she begins to investigate a case against a woman who has murdered her own family members in cold blood. Her investigations bring her to 44, Reyburn Drive, a haunted house that’s already claimed quite a few lives.

It doesn’t take long for Muldoon to realise that there are sinister happenings inside the building and that this is no ordinary case.

But then, little does Muldoon know that anybody who enters the building possessed by a spirit from Japan is doomed for life!

For the uninitiated, The Grudge is a horror film series that is based on Takashi Shimuzu’s Ju-On franchise. Until now, the franchise has had three instalments The Grudge (2004), The Grudge 2 (2006) and The Grudge 3 (2009). The Grudge (2020) is the latest instalment. The central plot of the series focusses on those affected by a curse created in a house in Suginami by a deceased family’s rage that destroys the lives of everyone who enters it.

The Grudge (2020) is a new version of the supernatural horror film series that is a reboot of The Grudge (2004) that was a remake of the Japanese horror film, Ju-On: The Grudge.

Nicolas Pesce’s latest instalment moves at a dreadfully slow pace, so much so that you almost forget that this is a horror film and that you are supposed to be in a state of tension all through. However, there are the occasional surprises that do rattle you in the second half. Just when you think that the film is picking up pace, the film comes to an end, leaving you disappointed and in a sense, cheated.