The Grudge Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Grudge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 17, 2020

Which are harder to kill: Horror villains or Horror franchises? Many might argue it's the latter if the deluge of genre films with various numbers and colons attached to their titles and promises of world expansion, story building, character exploration, and the like are any indication. But, more often than not, franchise follow-ups simply offer more of the same at the end of the day: the plots are merely repackaged, the scenarios only rebranded, and the victims killed via regurgitated content in some form or fashion. The films often introduce new faces and places but otherwise plod along with the same old set-ups and scares. 2020's The Grudge has been billed as a "sidequel" (and this is the first time this reviewer has encountered that term) that connects to the Grudge timeline by intermixing storylines from the original film and its two sequels. While the film works well enough as a standalone yarn it's certainly more for the hardcore franchise fans who will more easily connect the dots and voraciously consume the various winks-and-nods scattered throughout. But for Average Joe, The Grudge will play as just another genre filler film, with some slick moviemaking holding it up, that wants to be creepier and needs to be more creative than it is.

While the film jumps around several timelines, characters, and stories, it primarily follows rookie detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough), mother of one and recently a widow, who finds herself going down the rabbit hole of a most unusual case that interconnects several deaths and stories from recent years. She comes to learn from a suicidal, now jailed, cop named Wilson (William Sadler) that there may be supernatural forces in play. Other characters who contribute to the story include a real estate agent named Peter (John Cho) and his pregnant wife Nina (Betty Gilpin) who are working on selling the cursed house; an assisted suicide specialist named Lorna (Jacki Weaver), her would-be patient Faith (Lin Shaye), and Faith's husband William (Frankie Faison); and Muldoon's fellow detective Goodman (Demián Bichir) who previously worked the case with Wilson.

The Grudge builds around a nonlinear structure that introduces the story in bits and pieces, and through a few different perspectives, over the course of a few years. But it's not particularly difficult to sort through. Writer/Director Nicolas Pesce keeps things in relative balance by building the segments almost as standalone vignettes that also happen to connect to one another. Each story is mildly intriguing and it's fun to watch them come together, to discover not just the individual stories behind tragedy but also find the connective tissues that bind them, though certainly that's the most obvious component in play. The movie is structurally mundane, offering the usual creepy-but-stale sights and sounds and jump scares that are effective in the moment but won't leave most anyone afraid to turn off the lights at night, save for the most novice Horror audience.

Even if the movie's story and scare outputs could be described as "effectively generic," the production is impressively solid. The movie looks great; the material just images well on the screen and the cinematography, while not in any way revolutionary, is polished and perfected. Production design may not have had a major challenge but the locations serve the encroaching creepiness nicely, with several key locations, like a bathtub, offering just the right build for that added look and feel for off-kilter pending terror. Nicolas Pesce and Cinematographer Zachary Galler certainly know their way around the making of a Horror movie and the cast, too, sinks into the key roles with impressive composure and focus. Genre fans will applaud when Lin Shaye appears on the screen, portraying a frail, mentally broken woman. Andrea Riseborough holds form as the de facto lead whose own physical and mental deterioration becomes evident as she draws closer to the truth.

The Grudge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Grudge's 1080p Blu-ray presentation is decidedly not scary. This is a very nice looking image in every way, which includes an often desaturated palette and many lower light scenes. Colors frequently appear in slight distress, dialed down a bit to give a number of scenes a colder, less welcoming appearance. There are some warmer shots and scenes here and there but the movie is at its most visually effective in low light and basking in bleak tones. Those occurrences of bright exteriors, such as when Muldoon and Goodman discover a long-lost corpse, do offer fine contrast and color steadiness, allowing for viewers to see the decomposed body in all its gruesome, gory glory. That example is plenty sharp and so is much of the movie. There's a mild underlying softness in places but generally the picture appears right on the money in terms of textural clarity and object intimacy. The Blu-ray resolution flatters the photography and more than the story or performances it's the visual style and structure that enjoys the broadest appeal here and Sony's Blu-ray does well by it. Essentials like sharp faces and finely defined clothes in close-up fare well, as do various environments across several key locations, namely home interiors. Black levels are pleasantly deep and rich and skin tones are fine within the lighting parameters and color specifics. Noise lingers in some lower light shots but never to any bothersome intensity. In fact, there's a pleasing film-like look to the picture, even as it was shot digitally. No other problematic source or encode eyesores are apparent. This one is stellar.

The Grudge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Grudge scares up a perfectly fine DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Musical engagement is steady and pleasing for both placement and clarity. It's wide, offers enough surround information to draw the listener in, and engages with a level of instrumental detail to bring out individual sounds within the larger harmony to life. Atmospheric effects are vital to the presentation and play with proper positioning, posture, and definition. Whether extremely subtle support sounds that add to the chilly atmosphere or more aggressive elements, like soaking rain in chapter seven, there's always commendable spacing and clarity at work to liven the experience. More intensive and invasive sound elements during the most vicious moments enjoy all of the spine-tingling clarity and spacing they demand. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized, grounded in a natural center channel location.

The Grudge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Grudge includes a few short featurettes and deleted scenes. No DVD copy is included but this release does ship with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code as well as a non-embossed slipcover.

• Designing Death (1080p, 3:03): A quick look at the "disturbing filmmaking style" that carries the film even beyond the core story and Horror notes. It also explores ghost makeup and prosthetics.
• The Cast of the Cursed (1080p, 3:44): A brief world recap followed by praise for Writer/Director Nicolas Pesce and the qualities the characters bring to the story.
• Easter Egg Haunt (1080p, 4:47): Looking at some of the little details that pay homage and connect to the original films.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 30:07 total runtime): Included are Who's Watching the Kid, Just Let it Go, Muldoon Shoots at Sam Landers, That's Sam Landers, Peter in Attic, Faith Suicide Attempts, and Alternate Ending.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

The Grudge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's not like the original version of The Grudge -- speaking of the US version -- made all that much of a cultural impact or dazzled with artistic merit, but here it is 16 year later and the franchise it helped spawn in the West is still a thing. This remake/reboot/retake/rewhatever made a good bit of money at the box office, at least compared to its otherwise by-Hollywood-standards paltry budget, so expect more in the coming years. As it is, it's not a bad time killing Horror film. It works well enough in isolation, even with the jumping timelines that aren't so confused as they could have been, but longstanding fans, those who are well-versed in the world of The Grudge, will get a bit more out of it. Sony's Blu-ray is just fine, delivering a well-rounded package that offers exceptional video and audio presentations and just about the right amount of bonus content one would expect to accompany a film of this sort. Recommended for franchise fans and worth a look for newcomers in search of a few reasonably well done thrills and chills.