[31 Days of Horror Part VI: Jason Lives] Day 22 – [Happy 15th Birthday!] The Grudge (2004)

Director: Takashi Shimizu

Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, KaDee Strickland, Clea DuVall, Bill Pullman

Screenplay: Stephen Susco

91 mins. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality.

The Grudge is 15 today! Not the original one. The English one. Is that a problem?

Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cruel Intentions, TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is living in Tokyo with her boyfriend Doug (Jason Behr, Dragon Wars: D-War, TV’s Roswell) and working as a care worker. When one of her coworkers doesn’t show up, she is assigned to care for Emma Williams, an older woman suffering from lethargy and dementia. While attending to Emma, Karen discovers something strange happening in the house. She hears noises and is seeing people that aren’t supposed to be there. She begins to unravel a strange mystery involving death, pain, grief, and a grudge upon the house, one that will not leave her alone.

I didn’t like The Grudge the first several times I elected to view it, but, being that it was coming up on the 15th anniversary and the upcoming sequel, I figured it was only right to try it one more time. So what’s changed this time, if anything? Well, I will say this: the first few times I watched the film, I didn’t find a whole lot to like, but this time, I actually found the mystery and story of the film quite engaging, but all that being said, it’s still not scary whatsoever. I still find the ghosts to be almost laughable and the sound design, while being important to the story, doesn’t work. The ASMR mouth sounds and the cat sounds being uttered by the ghosts is really not scary in the slightest.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is not doing anything special, and I really wish I’d gotten to see something better from her. I’m far more interested in the police officer character who gets involved in the story, but none of the main cast is given a lot to do. Jason Behr gives a mostly monotone reading of his dialogue. Truly, just about any part of the nonlinear story structure is better than Karen’s.

The Grudge may be fine for some, but I still didn’t think it provided enough of the thrills and excitement I was hoping for. I really want to like it, and I think that the story, the mystery, and especially the mythology is very strong in the film. The problem is that I’m just not feeling the central character arc of the film. I have to judge the film for what it is and what it wants to be. It’s just not scary, even with the same director as the original film. Go watch the original.

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

For more 31 Days of Horror, click here.

October 22, 2019 3

31 Days of Horror Part II: Day 15 – The Faculty (1998)

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Cast: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood

Screenplay: Kevin Williamson

104 mins. Rated R.

I always find it strange when a director known for writing and directing his or her own work decides to take on a project written by someone else. When the writer is well known too, it really increases my excitement. Of course, The Faculty came out when I was eight years old, so none of that really mattered, but still, something to think about.

The teachers of Herrington High School are acting a bit strange, and young Casey (Elijah Wood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Last Witch Hunter) and Delilah (Jordana Brewster, Fast Five, Home Sweet Hell) have just discovered their secret: they aren’t exactly from our planet. Now it rests on several students to stop the impending alien invasion before their school is overrun.

The Faculty is a rather fun little sendup to alien invasion stories like Invasion of the Body Snatchers from director Robert Rodriguez (Grindhouse, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) and screenwriter Kevin Williamson (TV’s The Following, Scream 2). Rodriguez gathered a rather impressive group of young actors for his film also including Josh Hartnett (TV’s Penny Dreadful, Black Hawk Down).

I found the various faculty members were portrayed by some impressive genre performers like Robert Patrick, Salma Hayek, Piper Laurie, Daniel von Bargen, and John Stewart. Sure, the film itself has problems that stem from it being a studio horror film, but overall Rodriguez is able to apply his mythical sense of the macabre to this film, keeping the style mostly high but not perfectly so.

I enjoyed The Faculty at age eight. I also did at age twenty-five. It has aged pretty well. Check it out.

3.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

For more 31 Days of Horror, click here.

For my review of Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City, click here.

For my review of Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, click here.

October 15, 2015 2

Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014)

Director: Nick Gomez

Cast: Christina Ricci, Clea Duvall, Billy Campbell

Screenplay: Stephen Kay

91 mins. Not Rated by the MPAA.

Do you want to know the story of Lizzie Borden? Good, because this is practically a documentary. Lizzie Borden Took an Ax is the story of, well, Lizzie Borden (Christina Ricci, Sleepy Hollow, The Smurfs 2) and when she, well, takes an ax…to her parents. Clea Duvall (Argo, Conviction) is Emma, the sister. Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer, Killing Lincoln) is the family’s law representative. The plot is nothing of great merit. Lizzie Borden finds her parents murdered in the upstairs of her home, she goes for help, and then people start believing that she may have been the culprit. Everything about this movie is predictable, down to the title being a major giveaway (granted, I understand that the film is based on true events and most people already know the story enough to put the pieces together. This film is very simplistic, the plotline runs very television movie-ish, which makes sense because it is a Lifetime television movie. The performances are so-so, really nothing special.

All of this film is meh. There is no cinematography. The camera is more nailed down than the sets. The film’s editing allows for commercial breaks, which I have always found to be very meh as well. Really, the reason this film gets a extra point is for detail to the actual events. I looked up actual information after seeing the film, and it was pretty spot on. So, for that, I give Lizzie Borden Took an Ax 2/5.

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

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August 5, 2014 1