What did we learn from The Grudge?

[SmilinJackRoss]

I learned that Bill Pullman is not a morning person.

Hee hee hee!  This made me laugh out loud.

[SmilinJackRoss]

The Grudge succeeds as a horror movie through its use of atmosphere and suspense,

Oh, I thought it was a complete failure as a horror movie.  The scares were all cheap, the acting and script totally wooden, the plotting unreasonably (and unbearably) slow, and in the end, the "curse" really didn't make any sense.

*sorry, I've had a couple beers and I'm feeling pretty opinionated right now.

[kodiakthejuggler]

That even less happens in Japan than in Haddonfield, Illinois!


That an episode of Barney (yes, the purple dinosaur) is more scary!

[Busyman]

I learned that when you make a movie, you don't even have to come up with an actual ending. One can feel free to just end the movie, and assume that enough people will praise you for being "edgy" and "daring" for having the "guts" to end a movie without a resolution.

[6079SmithW]

Honestly, I just watched it again, and writing wise it fails on every conceivable level: we're never given even a strong impression of what exactly the grudge is, why it chooses the people it does, how it accomplishes its killings, where it's limitations lay, or what the damn point of the whole endeavor is. I'm not saying they need to explain everything, but let's compare this with what I believe to be the best pure horror/suspense movie (since the Shining is off in a category of its own and Hitchcock never really went into horror,) Alien.
         
What is the villain?:
Alien: A vicious alien with a definite point of origin and a built in mythology emanating from Giger's visual design
The Grudge: Uh, possibly the anger of some people who may have been murdered a few years ago, at least one of whom appears as a little boy or something. Definitely pale, though.

How does the villain operate?
Alien: By moving through the ventilation shafts and underbelly of the ship, picking the crew off one at a time when they're isolated.
The Grudge: Uh... I guess people just sort of blunder into it. And then it makes a weird noise at them.

What is the villain's motivation:
Alien: Hunger, amorality, and an innate predatory nature
The Grudge: Umm... it's pissed? I guess?

Who is vulnerable?
Alien: Any humans with whom it comes into direct contact.
The Grudge: People who go in the house. Or call it. But not all of them, I guess.

What characteristics enable the hero to win?
Alien: Ripley is pragmatic and unwilling to surrender. She's also a total badass.
The Grudge: I guess the girl, uh... I really have no idea. She's completely undistinguished.

God, this is just building my anger against that movie. It didn't have a plot, it was a boring haunted house of loud noises and things popping out. Not even particularly scary things, at that.

[Bob]

I learned that Bill Pullman is not a morning person.

Hee hee hee!  This made me laugh out loud.

Yeah, I really liked that one too!

[kodiakthejuggler]

Honestly, I just watched it again, and writing wise it fails on every conceivable level: we're never given even a strong impression of what exactly the grudge is, why it chooses the people it does, how it accomplishes its killings, where it's limitations lay, or what the damn point of the whole endeavor is. I'm not saying they need to explain everything, but let's compare this with what I believe to be the best pure horror/suspense movie (since the Shining is off in a category of its own and Hitchcock never really went into horror,) Alien.
         
What is the villain?:
Alien: A vicious alien with a definite point of origin and a built in mythology emanating from Giger's visual design
The Grudge: Uh, possibly the anger of some people who may have been murdered a few years ago, at least one of whom appears as a little boy or something. Definitely pale, though.

How does the villain operate?
Alien: By moving through the ventilation shafts and underbelly of the ship, picking the crew off one at a time when they're isolated.
The Grudge: Uh... I guess people just sort of blunder into it. And then it makes a weird noise at them.

What is the villain's motivation:
Alien: Hunger, amorality, and an innate predatory nature
The Grudge: Umm... it's pissed? I guess?

Who is vulnerable?
Alien: Any humans with whom it comes into direct contact.
The Grudge: People who go in the house. Or call it. But not all of them, I guess.

What characteristics enable the hero to win?
Alien: Ripley is pragmatic and unwilling to surrender. She's also a total badass.
The Grudge: I guess the girl, uh... I really have no idea. She's completely undistinguished.

God, this is just building my anger against that movie. It didn't have a plot, it was a boring haunted house of loud noises and things popping out. Not even particularly scary things, at that.

Excellent job with those comparisons!!!

[Winterkid]

Should spoiler that some of that, dude.  *Nod*

No, it didn't have a plot, but definitely it had a general outline.  Maybe in Japanese it has some sort of vague philosophical deep meaning in it's phrasing that just loses it's flavor in english.  I'll bet Carnival of Souls would seem downright wacko to them.

[J-Proof]

What I learned from The Grudge:

That zombies like croaking without telling us why...
That Japanese ghosts care more about killing US immigrants than Japanese police officers...
Japanese Grudge-Ghosts fluxuate the time they will take killing someone...

[PlayMSTie]

What characteristics enable the hero to win?
Alien: Ripley is pragmatic and unwilling to surrender. She's also a total badass.
The Grudge: I guess the girl, uh... I really have no idea. She's completely undistinguished.

No kidding. The blurb on my Netflix package says something about how Sarah Michelle Gellar "battles the forces of evil." All I could think after seeing the movie was, She does? When?

[Pak-Man]

I learned that evil grudge-ghosts mostly mess with your head. And then  they kill you off-screen. :^)

[Tyrant]

  I learned that creaking noises scare the hell out of people in Japan.

  I also learned that the best way to investigate creaking noises is to walk as slowly as humanly possible to the source of the sound.

[jdh3334]

I learned that my cat is easily fooled by the sound of a cat meowing on a television.  Little bugger thought he had a new grudge friend in the house.

[Sharktopus]

I learned that my cat is easily fooled by the sound of a cat meowing on a television.  Little bugger thought he had a new grudge friend in the house.

I wish there was some way to explain to my cat that that's not another kitty in the dishwasher, but's she just doesn't understand about reflections.

[davo]

    I learned that if you watch a movie for the third time that you found boring the first time you saw it in the theater...it's still boring.  The Grudge goes on my personal list as the "Monster-a-go-go" of Rifftrax.

ouch! monster a go-go was PAINful! i can't watch that msk it's so painful of a movie

    But I did laugh out loud when Mike called Kevin on the Fibber McGee's closet joke for a really out-dated allusion. But it's still a nice substitution for the standard "out of the closet" modern reference choice.

i'm glad someone else appreciated that reference. 


i learned sarah michelle gellar does not have much of a future in hollywood
i leaned bill pullman doesn't always make the smartest career choices
i learned japanese children don't cry, they mew.