Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

The Grudge 3 (2009) Directed by Toby Wilkins

"GGGGRrrrrrriiuuuUUUUNNNNKKKKKKKK-kkkk-kkkkaaaahhh" Sakei Kayako

The Grudge was one of the better Japanese horror movies to be remade for Western Audiences.  In that review I discussed the effect of the Subway Sarin Attacks on the Japanese Psyche, and how Americans are going through similar things in the wake or our own terror tragedies. 

The Sequel was not as successful; it lacked the structured build to terror the first possessed.  It assumed you had seen the first, and threw you into the next part of the story.  It was like watching the last third of the first movie three times.  And it was far less effective than the first.

So, when I heard the sequel was coming out, straight to video and not directed by Shimizu Takishi, I was a bit concerned.... More on that later.

What has gone before:

Karen Davis came in contact with a family being destroyed by the ghosts of the Sakei family; the husband, Takeo, killed the wife Kayako, for falling in love with another man, then drowned their only child, a little boy named Tashio.  Now, anyone who comes in contact with that house is killed by the angry spirits.
Karen survived the first movie, only to die at the beginning of the second, after coming in contact with her sister Aubrey, and passing the curse along.  Her final legacy, Aubrey takes the curse with her to Chicago where it destroys the family down the hall systematically.

The curse destroys one of two ways; either someone, usually a male, inherits Takeo's rage, and pulls a Jack Nicholson from the Shining, or the ghosts of Toshio and Kayako appear to the person before finally killing them.  Favored methods include snapping the neck and drowning in bathtubs.

The Plot.

The sole survivor of the Chicago family destroyed by the Curse, Jake (Matthew Knight) is not a happy child.  Confined to a sanitarium, he can't convince his shrink, Dr Sullivan (Shawnee Smith), that the ghost is real, and after him.  For some reason, she thinks it's a delusion... until she watches the security tapes of Jake's invisible delusion bouncing him around his padded cell hard enough to break every bone in his body.

Dr. Sullivan visits Jake's apartment where she meets Lisa (Johanna E. Braddy).  Lisa's older brother Max (Gil McKinney) is the apartment manager.  Together, they care for Rose (Jadie Hobson) their 8 year old sister who suffers from a chronic lung condition.  Lisa is planning to move to New York for fashion school, and an internship that could really open doors for her.  However, she sees Toshio (Shimba Tsuchiya) lurking in the hallway.  A half naked child in black and white (skin tone, not clothes) who vanishes when you move to get a better look at him is something that is noteworthy, and unsettling.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Naoko (Emi Ikehata) learns that there may be a link to the Tokyo killings to the new ones in Chicago.  She seems to feel it is her duty to do something about it.  Soon, she is in Chicago, renting an apartment in Max's building.

It is apparent that the ghosts followed back to America, as Toshio and Kayako (Haruichi Aiko) begin collecting victims.  Dr. Sullivan, a young girl who just moved from the apartment, and Gretchen (Marina Sirtis) a resident and friend of the family all die gruesome deaths.  And Toshio is stalking Rose.

As the building empties, Max's job as manager becomes more tenuous.  The owner is threatening to go Management service.  And with Lisa planning on moving, he is left with his chronically ill sister to raise, and looking at the prospects of loosing house and job all in one fell swoop.  He begins to get angry...very angry...much like Takeo did.

We finally learn Naoko's connection...she is here to stop Kayako...her sister.  They were both used by their exorcist mother, but for Kayako, it was worse, because her mother used her as a holding cell for the afflictions she removed from her customers.  It is like Kayako is the ghost of a Sin Eater.  I suppose that would explain her unusual power....

Now, will Kayako be laid to rest, or will it be another clean sweep for the ghosts?

The Analysis.

Only one actor made the jump from the second movie, Matthew Knight who played Jake.  Even the ghosts have been recast.  So, how does this movie stand up to the other two?

Surprisingly well.  It is not the classic I consider the first movie to be, but it is superior to the second, because you have that same build up to the great killing orgy.  Furthermore, it is built with several plot twists that I found quite refreshing (nothing like a chill up the spine to clear the head!)  It may lack some of the brilliance in cinematography, direction and mood the first two enjoyed, but the story is far superior to the second tale.  All in all, I would say this movie is superior to the Grudge 2, but not as good as The Grudge.

What does that say for the franchise?  Who can say?  The Grudge 2 let down fans of the first movie.  Will they be back for a straight to video sequel?  Not likely.  But we can only hope they will give it a chance; this is a better effort than the one shown in theaters.

When Someone Dies In the Grip of Rage....
The Grudge

The Grudge 2

The Grudge 3.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age