*** Official THE GRUDGE Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

quote:Gotta give the actress credit in The Grudge, that was all her acting according to the SMG intreview over at chud.com

I give her much credit, it's just too bad the editing in that scene was so terribly done. The stair climb was far more effective in the original. The camera stayed focused on her the whole way down and really gave you an uncomfortable feeling as you watched her lerch slowly out of her body bag. (Not too mention some of the facial expressions the actress made!!)

 

[David Galindo]

Thanks Romier!

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now designated the Official Discussion Thread for "The Grudge" please, post all comments, links to outside reviews, film and box office discussion items to this thread.

All HTF member film reviews of "The Grudge" should be posted to the Official Review Thread.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.



Crawdaddy

 

[Jonathan Carter]

Well, I'll agree that the score ruined to many dramatic, tense moments, and that the film had it's fair share of plot holes, but I enjoyed it anyway. I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been for the row of jackasses behind me who talked the entire movie. Apparently they let the zoo animals out on Sat afternoons and the damn monkeys come to my theater.



I wasn't terribly impressed by the acting, but with such minimal dialog and plot, it wasn't a deterrant either. Besides, I'll watch SMG in just about anything (other than Simply Irresistible) and Behr gets some props for being a Buffy baddy and being on Roswell.



The creepy scenes worked well for me, but there just weren't enough of them. I was especially creeped out Spoiler:when the sister was killed in her bed and during the scene when SMG discovered the pictures of Pullman's character with his student in the background of each and every one.



My question, and maybe I just missed this due to the irritation in the row behind me, was whether or not Spoiler:the little boy was dead when Bill Pullman was in house looking for his student/the wife or if he died in that closet where SMG found him taped up with the cat?

 

[Alex Spindler]

Spoilers, as to be expected in a discussion thread.



Jonathan,

I'd say he was dead when Bill pulled up. I base this on the cat sounds he made as Bill looked out of the window. Consider that Bill heard the thumping sound of the father having already hanged himself, so the boy was likely already dead.



Also, I took the taping of the closet to be the work of the near-catatonic mother.

 

[Jonathan Carter]

Kind of what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. I wasn't really sure since he kept going from a ghostly gray coloring to a normal, living skin tone.



Wonder why he kept making the cat sounds anyway. I had assumed at 1st that he was locked in that closet by his father for so long with the cat that it had become the only thing he thought he could communicate with, so he started mimicing it. But I guess if he was killed when his mother was killed, that wouldn't be the case. It would have been nice for them to clear up exactly how the kid had died.

 

[Marti D.]

quote:BrettV

quote:The BGs were WAY too low. It's difficult to use silence as an element when everything but dialogue is quiet to begin with. There's no contrast ... no dynamics. I think the mixers really missed the boat on that one.

Marti D. replies,



Brent V,

Having carefully mixed the Movie that you describe as "No contrast, no dynamics" and” the BG's were way to low" makes me curious on where you saw the movie. I am a 26 year veteran Re-Recording Mixer who definitely uses dynamics. I am surprised by a comment like that and ask you to contact me so I can arrange for you to hear the movie as it was meant to be heard, in a calibrated dubbing stage. I await your e-mail.

Sincerely,

 

[Darren Haycock]

First of all, what's BG?



Second of all, I thought the sound was pretty dang awesome. You must've caught it at a bad theater dude.

 

[Chris Brock]

I have a question, does the house/curse simply kill every person that enters the house? I mean during the crime investigation there were dozens of other people that entered the house. So were they all makred for death as soon as they entering the front door, or in order to be marked do you have to have some type of closer interaction with the with house? Like exploring it or speding a certain amount of time in it?

 

[Grant H]

quote:Terrified? I didn't see anyone even remotley scared.

Same here.

Most (of the few people) leaving the theater when I did were saying "it was okay" or echoing my sentiments, "it was stupid.".

No jump moments for me; didn't see anyone else jump. They were all so telegraphed, by the time they came I just didn't care. Didn't find the score to help the atmosphere either.

I found "Darkness Falls" a superior scary movie in all respects. The only remotely cool part was the video monitor portion which was pretty much a direct rip-off of The Ring. Well, the elevator sequence was kind of cool.

I found myself forgetting Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr were even in the movie at times. What a waste of talent, and five dollars.
Couldn't believe a friend of mine couldn't sleep upstairs after watching this movie, he was so freaked out by it. Then again, he's pretty girly. He said all the friends he talked to liked it and were scared by it, but they were all women or gay men.

I wasn't crazy about The Ring either, but it was more entertaining than The Suck, er The Grudge.

 

[WayneG]

Question: Did anything ultimately happen to the real estate agent? He was in the house.



Good creep factor, but no story or characters. I've recently seen The Eye and Ringu and enjoyed them much more.



Was the original a TV movie, because this one played like a TV movie - with the constant fadeouts for commericals.



There are too many story points that I didn't understand to bother asking about. I did enjoy seeing Tokyo though - still smoggy!

 

[Matt Stone]

quote:Was the original a TV movie, because this one played like a TV movie - with the constant fadeouts for commericals.

Are you talking about the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge or the American remake The Grudge, because this is a discussion thread for the latter.

 

[WayneG]

The American remake. It was made by the same people I understand who made the Japanese version, and I understood, perhaps incorrectly, that the original version was made for TV. The Buffy version certainly felt like a TV movie with its pacing and constant cuts to black for commercials.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

quote:constant cuts to black for commercials.

Yeah.. What was up with that?

I had a jump in my seat moment, with that reflection on the bus window..

The rest was just dread..

Was ok.. Ring kinda stole the thunder fom this movie, though.. Built up my immunity..

 

[Shawn_KE]

Just saw a trailer for The Grudge on TV. It said it was the most terrifying movie of 2004. I had to chuckle at that.

 

[Grant H]

quote:Just saw a trailer for The Grudge on TV. It said it was the most terrifying movie of 2004. I had to chuckle at that.

I'd have to go with Van Helsing there. Terrifyingly bad.

 

[Malcolm R]

quote:Couldn't believe a friend of mine couldn't sleep upstairs after watching this movie, he was so freaked out by it.

You should call him up and make those gurgling/clicking sounds made by the ghost.

quote:Samara and her cousin It hair do same as the chinese woman, the drownings in a well and in the bathub, The freaky movements of the dead woman crawling down the stairs was similar to Samara coming out of the tv.

The Japanese must have some phobia about pale girls with long stringy hair. It seems to be a theme.



I thought the film was pretty effective, though I would have enjoyed it more without the gaggle of giggling girls sitting in the back of the theater.



I think one of my most creepy moments was when she was following the cat up the stairs and the pair of arms shot out from around the bend in the stairs and grabbed the cat. The vision in the bus window was also freaky.



I did have to laugh when the sister ran back into her apartment, jumped into bed, and pulled the covers up around her head. It led into a decent scare scene, but it seemed pretty ridiculous.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

quote:I think one of my most creepy moments was when she was following the cat up the stairs and the pair of arms shot out from around the bend in the stairs and grabbed the cat. The vision in the bus window was also freaky.

Yup..



Those were my cry-out-loud moments, too..

 

[ChrisYK]

Just got done watching the Japanese version, Ju-On.
Creepy in parts, but like people have stated, no story or character development whatsoever. I was not impressed. I'm glad I didn't go see the Grudge in the theaters and will wait for it to come out on DVD.

 

[Matt Stone]

Which one? Ju-On or Ju-On: The Grudge?

I liked them both, but loved Ju-On. Your right about character development, but that didn't bother me. Atmosphere really sold the movie.