Please remember that you are choosing to read my opinions.

The Grudge is one of the movies that looks more interesting in the trailor than on the screen. It happens a lot, I know. Hyping up a movie isn't always a good thing. The way a movie is recieved comes back to the sort of expectations a person has going into the movie. Personally I went into this movie with very low expectations. That isn't to say that I didn't think it'd be a good movie, it's just that I didn't have unrealistic expectations. I just expected something on par with The Ring.

What I didn't expect was Ring Junior. The Grudge is basically The Ring except instead of having creepy imagery, suspense, and a plot, you have a dead/alive boy/cat. I can't think of one moment when I actually was uncomfortable watching the movie. I didn't jump in my seat, I didn't get lost in the amazing story, but I did get confused as to why I watched the whole thing.

The Grudge revolves around a seemingly normal house which is, in actuality, housing restless spirits who hold a grudge, so to speak. Sarah Michell Gellar of Buffy fame plays the lead role as an exchange student in Japan who covers for a fellow social worker when she doesn't show up for work. Throughout the movie, the plot is revealed through flashbacks. While this is sometimes a dramatic way to tell a story in a suspenseful way, something is lost in the process. The plot feels watered down and transparent, and too predictable to boot.

I felt that The Grudge was too easily compared to The Ring. You have the same concepts in both movies. Someone dies a certain way, bad feelings live on in (insert object) and causes people to die after they come into contact with the (object). In the Ring, it was the video tape. in this movie it is the house.The cat boy, Ju-on itself, feels like a by-product. it doesn't help that the last 15 minutes fells rushed and loses even more of the already thin plot.

I wouldn't reccomend this movie to anyone that likes the cheap thrills of a slasher, the jolts of a shocker, or even people who like good movies. I'd give this movie two and a half thumbs down if I had enough thumbs. On the other hand, I hear that Ju-on: The Grudge (the orignial) is much better. You may want to check it out first or in place of The Grudge.