It is often the case that when an American version of a Japanese horror film attempts a reboot or a remake, the original version performs significantly better. The Grudge, the most recent remake of a well-liked Japanese horror series, once again falls short of capturing what made the Japanese franchise a cult favorite in the first place.
This is not meant to imply that the upcoming director Nicolas Pesce had not made a worthy effort. Reviews for the films he has created over the years have been generally favorable. However, The Grudge fails to connect at capturing what drives the vengeful essence of the spirit Kayako in this latest reboot of the critically acclaimed franchise.
With the new installment of The Grudge, much of the intent surrounding the film lands in its gory approach. While there is nothing wrong with this by today's horror standards, what is lost is any source of originality or any subtle nods to its source material. Takashi Shimizu, who wrote the script and directed the 2004 remake, made the sagacious choice to retain the terrifying elements that had made Ju-on favored among many in the horror genre. This would give viewers the Kayako that so many people cherished and loved.
With her ghostly pale skin, long dark hair, and striking demeanor, Kayako became the supernatural force of horror many feared as the dead housewife who sought revenge on others by cursing and killing those that entered her home. Her spider and contortionist-like capabilities added to her character a level of terror and intensity audiences had not seen since The Exorcist. Shimizu would respect this character's haunting presence within the franchise, keeping the Japanese concept of the vengeful spirit true to its nature.
Overlooked with 2020's version of Kayako, as a result, the audience's favorite aspect of the original wrathful spirit vanishes. Lifeless and indistinct, Pesce doesn't quite retain the flavors of what Shimizu creatively gave both films that came before, without the need to give up story authenticity. Kayako is the story: The Grudge's lifeline and heartbeat for why this franchise succeeds. Similar techniques have been used this approach in other films, such as the Evil Dead franchise, which has remained successful in keeping its structural elements of fear in its movies. When the audience isn't terrified by a story's central tenet of fear, the impact of that terror also diminishes. Removing the primary source of trepidation renders The Grudge reboot a hollow shell of its past endeavors, losing its fearful edge.
As we move into the initial atmosphere of the 2020 remake of the movie, The Grudge heavily relies on the audience's capacity to succumb to the fear of the dark yellow settings and jump scares, and there is a lot of it. Much like contemporary horror heavy hitters such as Insidious to The Conjuring that bank a similar atmosphere, the film relies on copious amounts of murky settings, jump scares, ghosts, and not enough close encounters with the entities, which feel almost alien to a Ju-on experience. Most would not even know it was if the name was not attached to it. Taking the setting out of Japan deeply hurt the identity of this story as well. With Kayako's lack of presence and location, The Grudge, simply put, fails to feel like a return or even a callback to the franchise.
While the cast itself is worth praise on paper, much of it is wasted in ways that don't retain the essence of what the franchise or 2004 film did with Sarah Michelle Gellar or Amber Tamblyn as the Davis sisters. While the story does its best to make the viewer care about a strong and caring mother such as Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough), compared to Detective Nakagawa, her character is not powerful enough to hold up against an already failing story, The Grudge reboot results in just thoughtless killing for no reasons to make people care enough as to why they continue to happen in the first place.
The Grudge reboot tries to recapture in "textbook theory" that makes The Grudge so unique by physically placing things into the film and trying to make them fit without really trying to understand why they work together, as typical of many American adaptations of foreign films. With an underused cast, sluggish plot, and a Kayako who ends up being nothing more than a cheap imitation of the well-known and respected horror icon.
The Grudge exhibits a typical horror experience where viewers do not clearly understand why the antagonist continues to wreak havoc on the protagonist even after they have already won. With the technological advances we have today, The Grudge had the opportunity to revitalize a great franchise while maintaining a subtly creative open-mindedness to honor its past. The biggest gripe with The Grudge is that it does not attempt to do anything different, nor does it try to embrace the material from the sources that came before it, which is something the Japanese and prior American installments pulled off amazingly well.