The Grudge
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) | Release Date: October 22, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
23
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
A master of atmosphere, Japanese director Takashi Shimizu leads his audience along on a celluloid leash to his pitch-black attic of horror, inviting each hair on the back of your neck to stand up. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
There is no "why" in The Grudge, at least not an explanation that provides comfort or cure. It simply is. That's what makes it really scary. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The only character with any personality in The Grudge is a Tokyo house, but not to worry - it's got enough mean in it to keep any horror movie afloat. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Slightly less frightening than the original, but it's still a scary psycho-horror that effectively replicates its bleak and crisp shocks. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
One of the flat-out creepiest films ever released by a major American studio. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's enough to send you home with jiggly knees and a tummy ache. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
This is an eerie, inventively mounted movie: It's a shivery fun time, filled with dark corners, deserted hallways and sudden apparitions. But it never manages to genuinely rattle you. Read full review
60
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's effectively frightening. It's just not the kind of frightening that stays with you very long, unless of course someone decides to make the same movie . . . yet again. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly Richards
A lean, atmospheric and acutely creepy little horror pic - nothing more, nothing less. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A horror film that consists of virtually nothing but don't-go-in-the-attic suspense scenes strung together with a reasonable degree of brooding mood and a minimum of logic. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
In the hands of a less-skilled director, this Hollywood-mandated need to impose order could have ended in disaster. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The overdetermined approach preempts character shadings or social subtext-just compare Hideo Nakata's original "Ring," which tapped its dread from viral-replicant mass culture and its pathos from a broken home, or Nakata's "Dark Water," which channeled the sorrow, guilt, and paranoia felt by a young divorcée mired in a custody battle. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Less a film than a terror delivery system, The Grudge repeatedly shows off Shimizu's technical chops, but never gives viewers a reason to care about or identify with the victims. Read full review
50
PremierePeter Debruge
American audiences have seen Ju-On. And The Grudge just goes to show why remaking it is such a frivolous idea: What's the use in wasting so much energy if the filmmakers aren't going to fix what was wrong with the movie in the first place? Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Less scary than creepy, The Grudge may have lost some oomph in the translation from Japanese to English, and the desire for a PG-13 rating probably muted the violence and perhaps the scares. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The cast is drab and lifeless, the characterization non-existent, the ending simply impossible. Between our jumps of fright come lumps of time that take forever to pass. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
It isn't frightening. Sometimes, in fact, it's laughable. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
At least the horror premise here has a hook - a house can spread its curse like a plague to adversely affect all who enter. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It’s not a disaster by any stretch, but purists will ache to show newcomers the horrific genius of "Ju-on" over The Grudge as soon as they exit the theatre. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The Grudge offers a bit more exposition than did "Ju-On," but the plot is still wispy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
There are so many events here but no real story. Perhaps that is what's making the drowned kabuki ghost so irate: She's desperate to find a coherent script. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Like a good horror movie, the images, jolts and artistically directed disorientation will keep your stomach clenched...Like a bad one, it doesn't make a lick of sense. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Shimizu can't quite pull everything together, trying to get off easy with a bargain-bin twist ending that most of the audience will see coming by the time the pile of corpses reaches double digits. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Takes a leaf from the "Psycho" handbook and abandons its star for stretches here and there. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
The benchmark for any horror movie, of course, is how well it frightens you, and The Grudge is pretty satisfactory in that regard. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Pretty much a one-trick pony, and, after a while, that trick loses its ability to impress. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Most of the chills have been faithfully re-created, though first-time screenwriter Stephen Susco hasn't done much to straighten out the muddled narrative. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Despite the tighter rewrite and the slicker production, it's obvious that Shimizu is still searching for what scares him, and until he finds it, he doesn't stand--ahem--a ghost of a chance of frightening us. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Isn't art, but as date-night fright flicks go, it's effective. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
More than anything, The Grudge suggests that it's time for Shimizu to move on. Read full review
30
VarietyScott Foundas
Viewers of this Sam Raimi-produced, sub-"Amityville" scarefest are likely to hold the real grudge. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Sarah Michelle Gellar, the nominal star, has been in her share of horror movies, and all by herself could have written and directed a better one than this. Read full review
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