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Directed By: Toby Wilkins
Starring:
Johanna Braddy as Lisa
Emi Ikehata as Naoko
Gil McKinney as Max
The problem with The Grudge 3 is the same problem that plagues most third installments in popular franchises. By the time they are released, audiences have already seen everything that the series has to offer. Even more problematic for this straight-to-video entry is the fact that The Grudge 2 was already stretching the material fairly thin; director Toby Wilkins and screenwriter Brad Keene have absolutely nowhere new to take this story and, quite frankly, the ghosts that were once so frightening are dull retreads. Kayako (now played by Aiko Horiuchi) still walks around like every bone in her body, except for her ankles, is broken. Toshio (now played by Shimba Tsuchiya) still crouches in hallways and meows like his dead cat. It is simply impossible to be scared by this pair anymore and, unfortunately, Keene’s script is so formulaic and uninspired that the entire fate of the film rests on its ability to terrify. Needless to say, it does not succeed.
Borrowing all of its presented themes from either The Grudge or The Grudge 2, the film relies solely on material that we have already seen before and that was far better constructed the first time around. It proudly stands as the first film in the American franchise to be rated R and yet, though it does spill more blood than the first two entries combined, they were far more frightening and disturbing. The Grudge 3 is certainly more violent, but that violence is so poorly-executed that it almost always seems silly and awkward. Take for example the opening scene, in which the only survivor from The Grudge 2, Jake (Matthew Knight), is hurled around a room until all of his bones are broken. His doctor, Sullivan (Shawnee Smith), finds his mangled body on the blood-splattered floor. Under the vision of Takashi Shimizu, this would have been a horrific scene. However, due to a flawed approach, Jake looks like a ragdoll and the scene only manages to elicit a few minor chuckles rather than the necessary chills.
After the death of Jake, we are introduced to a slew of characters, most of which are included only to be killed off as quickly as possible. Sadly, genre veteran Shawnee Smith is one of these hapless side characters. Obviously included only to convince hardened horror fans that this is a serious movie, Smith is entirely wasted in a miniscule and underdeveloped role. Instead, the film focuses on four other characters, all played by relative newcomers. Three of these are siblings: Max (McKinney), Lisa (Braddy), and Rose (Jadie Hobson). Max runs the Chicago apartment complex that became home to the vengeful spirits in the last film, and he lives there with his two sisters. The fourth and most interesting character is Naoko (Ikehata), Kayako’s sister and the only person alive capable of stopping the curse. She arrives in Chicago, hoping to help those plagued by her sister’s ghost. Yet again, people begin to die, just as Max, a once loving brother, becomes increasingly hot-tempered and violent.
If Ju-On: The Grudge was like a classic rock song originated by your favorite band and The Grudge was like an excellent cover of that song performed by a talented new group. Then, The Grudge 2 was like hearing a decent rendition of it sung by a slightly intoxicated wedding singer and The Grudge 3 is, well, like listening to a severely scratched CD of that wedding singer. There are moments when it sounds okay, but it is mostly just static that skips every few seconds. That is exactly what The Grudge 3 is like. You can tell what the filmmakers wanted it to be, can see the mistakes that they made, and yet the film is far more flawed than merely the problems of this production. Certainly, the acting is hokey, the ghosts look goofy, and the story is quite dull, but the film becomes even worse when you take into account its predecessors. It steals too much from The Grudge and especially from The Grudge 2, making us wish that we were watching those films rather than watching this infinitely inferior one.
Borrowing all of its presented themes from either The Grudge or The Grudge 2, the film relies solely on material that we have already seen before and that was far better constructed the first time around. It proudly stands as the first film in the American franchise to be rated R and yet, though it does spill more blood than the first two entries combined, they were far more frightening and disturbing. The Grudge 3 is certainly more violent, but that violence is so poorly-executed that it almost always seems silly and awkward. Take for example the opening scene, in which the only survivor from The Grudge 2, Jake (Matthew Knight), is hurled around a room until all of his bones are broken. His doctor, Sullivan (Shawnee Smith), finds his mangled body on the blood-splattered floor. Under the vision of Takashi Shimizu, this would have been a horrific scene. However, due to a flawed approach, Jake looks like a ragdoll and the scene only manages to elicit a few minor chuckles rather than the necessary chills.
After the death of Jake, we are introduced to a slew of characters, most of which are included only to be killed off as quickly as possible. Sadly, genre veteran Shawnee Smith is one of these hapless side characters. Obviously included only to convince hardened horror fans that this is a serious movie, Smith is entirely wasted in a miniscule and underdeveloped role. Instead, the film focuses on four other characters, all played by relative newcomers. Three of these are siblings: Max (McKinney), Lisa (Braddy), and Rose (Jadie Hobson). Max runs the Chicago apartment complex that became home to the vengeful spirits in the last film, and he lives there with his two sisters. The fourth and most interesting character is Naoko (Ikehata), Kayako’s sister and the only person alive capable of stopping the curse. She arrives in Chicago, hoping to help those plagued by her sister’s ghost. Yet again, people begin to die, just as Max, a once loving brother, becomes increasingly hot-tempered and violent.
If Ju-On: The Grudge was like a classic rock song originated by your favorite band and The Grudge was like an excellent cover of that song performed by a talented new group. Then, The Grudge 2 was like hearing a decent rendition of it sung by a slightly intoxicated wedding singer and The Grudge 3 is, well, like listening to a severely scratched CD of that wedding singer. There are moments when it sounds okay, but it is mostly just static that skips every few seconds. That is exactly what The Grudge 3 is like. You can tell what the filmmakers wanted it to be, can see the mistakes that they made, and yet the film is far more flawed than merely the problems of this production. Certainly, the acting is hokey, the ghosts look goofy, and the story is quite dull, but the film becomes even worse when you take into account its predecessors. It steals too much from The Grudge and especially from The Grudge 2, making us wish that we were watching those films rather than watching this infinitely inferior one.
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