The Grudge 3
Sub-Genre- Supernatural/Curse
In Attendance- Moi.
Cast Members of Note- Shawnee Smith! Johanna Braddy, and Matthew Knight.
What's it about?- With the kid from the end of The Grudge 2 locked in an insane asylum and babbling about dead Asian women and meowing little ghost boys, it's up to Dr. Shawnee Smith and her hotness to inject the kid with Thorazine and pat his head while saying "sure you saw ghosts. Sure you did."
Obviously the kid bites it, and Dr. Sex heads off to unravel the mystery of his insane babbling. While investigating, she meets the family who runs his old apartment building, only to find that "Strange things" have been happening to them too... it seems as if everyone sees meowing little ghost boys in this building.
Our favorite ghost family with a grudge starts offing neighbors left and right, possessing people, and doing home repairs... it seems as if people can still be very handy in the afterlife! I won't ruin the ending here, but suffice it to say that you can never truly escape the ju-on.
The Good- With a slew of uninspired sequels taking the DTV route (Vacancy 2, Boogeyman 3, Pulse 2 and 3, Feast 2 and 3 etc...), Grudge 3 stands above them all in terms of quality and storyline. It isn't perfect mind you, but it's far from the kick in the nuts that 3rd installments usually give us.
I particularly liked the ending of this one, as in the whole "trying to stop the curse" thing, though the final shot was a tad predictable. It was mostly satisfying.
G3 was well made overall, and didn't overuse the ever popular "jump scare" to death. I really liked the scene where Shawnee is talking with Johanna; it was quiet and very indicative of the mood that Wilkins goes for. I'm a sucker for snow scenes, what can I say.
The Bad- *SPOILERS* Did Shawnee Smith deserve what she got in this movie? I don't think so! She is a genre queen, and very hot, and she deserves better than only making ti halfway through the movie! Also, she deserves nude scenes. Lesbian nude scenes.
The Downright Horrendous- I have never been creeped out by Mr. Potato Head until now.
The Gory- G3 was surprisingly gory, especially towards the end.
The Naked- Nope.
Best Line- "Ahhh...ahhh...ahhh...ahhh..." or "Meow!" Yeah, pretty much the same things we heard in the first two.
What did we learn?- DTV releases aren't all total crap. Also, the grudge really can't be stopped, now can it?
Rating- C It wasn't as good as the first two, but it managed to hold it's own for the most part and be a decent addition to the series. If you love the series, but it, if you're on the fence, rent it. Either way, this one is worth a watch.
Final Thoughts- Here's a leaked pic from Grudge 4: The Smile of Death:
