THE GRUDGE MOVIE REVIEW

Nicolas Pesce's "The Grudge" is a 2020 horror movie that stands out among the competition. Pesce takes on the challenge of directing a studio project, which is the second American remake of the 2002 Japanese movie, a task not for the faint of heart. Despite the difficult start, Pesce delivers an engaging and disturbing movie that is as meanness as it is impressive. Unlike other horror films, "The Grudge" doesn't rely on jump scares or gimmicks to thrill the audience. Pesce builds a dense and foreboding atmosphere, where the supernatural entities invade and torment the unlucky souls.

The story of "The Grudge" revolves around a cursed Japanese home that carries the vengeful spirit of a murder victim, and anyone who enters the house falls victim to the supernatural entity. In this version, an American woman brings the curse to the United States, setting the stage for a new saga of cursed people. Pesce's focus is on creating a bleak and oppressive mood, where characters must grapple with their oppressive sadness and the shadowy entities that pop up in the dark.

One of the most striking aspects of "The Grudge" is the way characters are introduced. Pesce portrays them as victims of life's brutal cards, the kind that no one wants to receive. Detective Muldoon, played by Andrea Riseborough, is one such character. She recently moved to Cross River after her husband died of cancer, and she learns about a house on 44 Reyburn Drive that is connected to several murder cases in the town. Among them is a real estate agent named Peter, played by John Cho, and his wife Nina, played by Betty Gilpin. When they get life-shattering news about their unborn baby, their arc becomes gut-wrenching, and the horror that follows is more potent because of the emotional connection.

Another plotline follows Frankie Faison, who plays a Reyburn resident. Faison wants to euthanize his wife of nearly 50 years, played by Jacki Weaver, because of her deteriorating mental state. He wants to do it in the Reyburn home to take advantage of the property's tenuous boundaries with life and death. Faison's brief monologue expresses his bottled-up pain and highlights the depth of the characters in this movie.

"The Grudge" gets its power from the spectacle of suffering. Pesce uses his signature freaky images to create an intense and unnerving atmosphere. A scene that introduces horror legend Lin Shaye is particularly effective. Shaye's wailing voice is palpable and nightmarish, and when she steps forward, we see her hands, adding to the horror. Pesce also shows a meticulously gnarly corpse illuminated by the sudden fuzz of a TV screen. The ensemble cast provides emotional fortification for lean character detail, and everyone gets their own harrowing sequence.

Pesce's "The Grudge" creates a seamless backstory that focuses more on the entity's kill count than on individual characters. He achieves a strong pacing that takes us on a downhill trajectory of how the characters unwittingly cursed themselves, and became prey to a force that has little logic other than to appear in the shadows, be angry, and be consistent. The supernatural force that attacks the characters isn't like the bad-luck ghost from Shimizu's version, but feels as ever-present and ruthless as grief itself.

In conclusion, Nicolas Pesce's "The Grudge" is a horror movie that stands out from the competition. Pesce creates a dense and foreboding atmosphere that relies on the spectacle of suffering rather than jump scares or gimmicks. The cast delivers strong performances that highlight the vulnerability and helplessness of the characters. The movie's pacing takes us on a downhill trajectory that creates a backstory more