The Grudge: The Untold Chapter is too little too late in adding another story to The Grudge franchise. With a focus on too much story with little substance, a film that is well made with some effective scares and gore just doesn't connect to the viewer.
“A curse born in Japan is simultaneously unleashed in the U.S. Those who encounter it are consumed by its fury and met with a violent fate. Producer Sam Raimi brings us the untold chapter of this horror classic starring Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho and Betty Gilpin, with horror movie legend Lin Shaye (INSIDIOUS, OUIJA) and Jacki Weaver, in the darkest, creepiest, most shocking film in the series.”
Originally intended to be a reboot of the franchise, The Grudge: The Untold Chapter later became a standalone film marking it as a chapter in The Grudge saga. Now, if you’re like me, and haven’t seen the American remake in a decade and a half, you might only remember a few key things: Japanese ghost with tangled hair, and that awful glottal sound they make. Other than that, it might as well have been a reboot, because honestly, did anyone ask for another chapter in this franchise? My guess is going to be no, and that a lot of people were in the same boat as me; not remembering anything about the franchise to make this intriguing from the beginning.
Now, in a Hollywood climate ripe with reboot after reboot, it was actually refreshing to learn that this was going to be a standalone chapter in the saga. For that, I give credit where it’s due. That being said, it does seem too little too late in bringing back another story featuring the Grudge curse. But, for those that don’t remember, they literally spell it out for you at the beginning of the film: when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is born, once you encounter it, it will never let you go.
The film opens in 2004 in Japan, with the same family featured in the original American version. The curse, much like a virus, is passed on to another person and is taken back to the states where it infects their home, infecting anybody else who steps foot into the home as well. As far as curses go, I think that’s a pretty lame idea honestly. Take, for example, Drag Me To Hell, where a woman is cursed for denying a loan. Yeah, this doesn’t seem all that fair either, but at least that is in directly correlation to some kind of action taken by the main character. In this point, all the characters do is walk in the front door and they’re cursed. If this is the case, and supposedly curses go out anytime anyone is enraged while dying, why isn’t the entire planet cursed at this point? To me, this never seemed very sound, in turn, making it not very frightening. Where the film gets way too convoluted is the fact it tries to tell multiple storylines taking place in different time periods, all having to do with the same house. In one instance you could be in one year, then instantly in another with no real semblance of a coherent timeline to follow. It tries to set up these stories to unfold all coalescing but really fails to tell anything meaningful about the storylines. The characters have no depth to them, are bland and offer no real sympathy for any of them. You can’t really wish them to overcome this curse because as far as we know, all you have to do is walk into a four walled structure which can somehow house a curse. This unfortunately leads to a very dull film in which I was constantly looking at the running time to see how much longer I had to endure the boredom.
Despite the painfully dull story, the film does do some things well. Overall, it’s extremely well-made. The beginning sequence especially immediately establishes a big difference from most films as you are immediately face-to-face with the monster. Now, it does try to utilize some jump-scare tactics which are pretty generic, but there are also some great practical effect scares that are genuinely creepy, reminiscent of the original American remake of that Japanese boy in the attic that scared the hell out of me back then. It also has some great gore-filled moments that will make your stomach turn, the mark of a great horror film! The film also has a great cast that delivers on telling the story to the best of its ability, but sadly there just isn’t any substance to what they have to convey.
Video
The Grudge: The Untold Chapter is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.39:1. The film looks great, with a great balance in color throughout the film. There is a wide variety of portions in the film in which color signifies a particular timeline: muted but bright in the modern day, dark and dreary in another, and so on. Everything is very detailed and clear, with no defects of note. The cinematography and overall look of the film is definitely one of its highlights.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. This track sounds exceptional, utilizing the surrounds in a perfect manner to deliver the scares very effectively. The screams, the ghost glottal sound, all sound chilling as they ring throughout your system. Dialogue is clear and concise and well balanced against the surrounds, with no defects noted. The score is well-done also, nothing too extravagant but balances out the film adequately.
Special Features
The set touts over 40 minutes of special features including an alternate ending. For those who may enjoy the film, there is plenty of stuff to dive into after it. These include:
- Making of The Grudge
- Behind-The-Scenes With Cast & Crew
- Extended and Alternate Scenes
- Easter Egg Haunt – Connections to The Grudge franchise
The Grudge: The Untold Chapter may have been more accepted if it hadn’t come sixteen years after the original American remake that it links itself to. The film is a very slow burn, giving you a lot of story with little substance, and unfortunately doesn’t hold the viewer interest long enough for you to become invested in any of the characters, let alone the story itself. Fans of the franchise may find it a good companion film, but for the casual viewer this leaves a lot to be desired.