The Grudge UNRATED DVD later this year?? (1 Viewer)

[David_Blackwell]

Aaron, I don't think The Grudge 2 will be a remake of Ju-On 2. It is good to point out the Ju-On movies were remakes of two earlier TV movies from the same director.

I received my review copy of the Unrated Extended cut yesterday and I will watch it sometime next week (I did watch the two video diaries on the DVD from KaDee Strickland and Sarah Michelle Gellar).

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Thanks, David. I also requested a review copy, but it hasn't arrived. (I never got my screener for the first one, although I have seen Ju-On.)

 

[David_Blackwell]

My review of the Unrated Extended Director's Cut DVD can be found here. I am going back with more thoughts on the DC. I am slightly confused over the release date. First, Sony said May 3rd and now it is May 17th, but then ShopKo had the DVD listed on sale in their flyer last week (I didn't go check to see if it was out in stores).

 

[George_W_K]

Nice review, David.

Anyone else have opinions?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Sure. The PG-13 version's not very good and the unrated one's no better. Here's my review:

http://www.dvdmg.com/grudgedc.shtml

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I've only seen the original Japanese version. If the remake is anything like the original, then it's for fans of Japanese-style bizarrity only. (That said, the US version has gotten some very good reviews from people who are into that sort of thing.)

 

[Jack Johnson]

The Grudge is mostly misunderstood by those who don't care for it. It's a visceral exercise; a primal, gut-level film. As was ALIEN. Very simple story, the end result being a showcase of style, technique... No overt moral or message. A sensation machine.

Of course ALIEN was a far more lavish film in the production values department. But the essential thrust is the same.

At any rate, I loved The Grudge for being one of the most effective Creep-fests I've seen in my adult life. The goose-bumps came on early and the didn't subside until long after the credits rolled. That just never happens for me at the movies anymore, so I can't praise Takashi Shimizu and the whole production team enough for pulling it off. I mean, I've seen everything, and considered myself jaded. If it's going to work for you, you'll know. My advice: get away from big crowds and sit down with a trusted friend who isn't prone to talk or laugh--especially during tense moments--at the screen and run this at night on some quiet evening. Then see how it plays.

The Director's cut is like any cut of a film that hasn't been compromised for commercial purposes. Whether that amounts to a voluminous amount of footage restored or a mere few minutes worth is beside the point. It's the intended form, and if you love the film that should decide for you whether it's worth picking up or not. Beyond that, it plays a lot better, with a much more intense and disquieting climax.


--Jack

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Jack,
i'm with you 100%.

I don't get why so many horror fans are down on this film. I saw it in a packed theater the night before Halloween and the crowd I saw it with went nuts for it, including myself! No horror film had ever made me jump out of my seat so often, people were yelling, screaming and laughing (at themselves for screaming) all in sync with one another...it was a ride!

I could not ask for more from a horror film, it did it's job big time.

 

[Chris Tedesco]

I agree again. People at my work were telling me it was a borefest. What? So me and my wife sat down to watch it with low expectations. Much to our suprised we were impressed with it. Good Movie. Haven't seen the unrated, not sure if it's worth the double dip

 

[Jack Johnson]

Yeah, it's weird, I don't get The Grudge's luke-warm, semi-hostile reception either.

Unless it has something to do with expectations, the fact that--ultimately--The Grudge is a pretty restrained piece of work.

It might be a sensitivity issue in that sense: audiences accustomed to being hit over the head with a sledge hammer don't know what to make of quiet suspense or subtle atmospherics. They want films that are "on" all the time. The art of building suspense, then springing the shocks is lost on them.

Another theory: it's actually playing better for people than they let on. How else to explain this film's legs at the box office? If it was an actual disappointment on the level of The Ring Two, I think the grosses would've dropped off much more substantially than they did.

Yet another theory: Western audiences didn't dig the fatalistic storyline, which basically set up the premise and showed--spoiler--how The Grudge would "...never let them go". No hope or appeal, no means of appeasement will ever stop The Grudge. I actually read reviews where that alone soured a critic on it. I don't know, maybe it was a downer because of that.

For me, though, it all translated to one thing: Scary.




--Jack