A supernatural attachment ghost is brought to the USA, and a detective investigates a murder scene that has a connection to a case that her new partner handled in the past.
The latest The Grudge is written and directed effectively by Nicolas Pesce. From the off it jumps around time wise, taking place in 2004, 2005 and 2006. There are plenty of jump scares and creepy visuals that are elevated by the sound design and music, contrary to reports that Pesce's offering lacks scares.
The whole cast are pretty grounded, lead Andrea Riseborough and Demián Bichir do a good job of selling the supernatural elements in the investigations. John Cho is particularly notable in his role despite limited screen time. William Sadler and Frankie Faison are memorable. Lin Shaye adds her usual creepy factor effortlessly. The supporting cast (too many to mention), including the child actors are on point here.
Produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Takashige Ichise, the production values are high for what is a pretty much paint by numbers horror flick. However, the genre is saturated, remakes, sequels and everything in between, from the Ring to Shutter, The Conjuring series, The Possession of Hannah Grace, No One Gets Out Alive to name a few. This takes the edge off the material. Nevertheless, to Pesce's credit it successfully works as a Grudge film and cleverly echoes the series instalments while laying down new ground.
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