The Grudge
You're reading Mikko Saari's blog Life and opinions. This entry was written 01/ 6/2005, at 12:16.
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The Grudge was a positive surprise. Having the director of the original version direct this new one (and not Sam Raimi, as I thought) was probably critical, but whatever the reason, the remake was good work. I especially enjoyed the fact that despite all main characters being American, the movie was still set in Japan. The house where the horrors happened was almost identical to the one used in the original version.
There were changes. One significant plot turn (Toyamas) was cut and replaced with something new that was less complicated. The new plot explained the reasons behind the original killings, which was left as a mystery in the original version. Events were generally explained a bit more. While Rika was obviously the main character of the original version, Sarah Michelle Gellar's Karen had a significantly stronger role in the remake.
The plot changes were ok, except the ending. The original has much more interesting ending, which was ruined in the remake. The spirits of the original version aren't one-dimensionally evil, unlike in the remake. How boring. However, the movie was scary and the very important sounds were beautifully done in the remake.
It's Ring all over again, but the other way around. Now it was the original version that was richer and more impressive. The Grudge isn't a bad movie, but the original is better. I gave the remake 3½ stars in Movielens, while I gave 4½ stars to the original.
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