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The Grudge, Saw& Employee of the Month Reviews
by Ray Garton
Horror is in the air! As I write this, there are three horror films in theaters – White Noise, Hide and Seek, and Boogeyman, with plenty more to come. And there have been a few new releases on DVD. Here’s a triple review of two horror films and one very dark comedy currently at your local video store.
T he Grudge
2004
Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
Written by: Stephen Susco
Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar - Karen
Jason Behr - Doug
William Mapother - Matthew
Clea DuVall - Jennifer
KaDee Strickland - Susan
Japanese horror films are very popular in America these days. They’re being remade here right and left. They allow the American team to make a possibly lucrative horror film without having to deal with the daunting task of coming up with something original. The Ring was very successful, although I didn’t care for it much (I have yet to see the Japanese original), and a remake of the sequel is on the way.
And now we have The Grudge, a remake of Ju-On. The difference here is that the American remake is directed by the director of the Japanese original, Takashi Shimizu. It makes sense – who better to remake the film? I’m afraid I haven’t seen Ju-On, so this won’t be a comparison of the two.
Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Karen, an American nurse living in Japan. She is given the job of filling in for another nurse in a home-care situation. The other nurse, Yoko, has disappeared – but we know what happened to her, because we see her fate early in the picture.
While Karen is caring for Emma (Grace Zabriskie), she hears strange sounds coming from somewhere in the house. She discovers an upstairs door that’s been taped shut, and she hears a cat meowing on the other side. When she tears the tape off and opens the door, she finds not only a cat, but a little boy.
Why was the boy trapped beyond that door? Who is he and where did he come from? We don’t know until the end, but this little boy shows up throughout the movie, and he’s bad news.
The movie’s premise is paper-thin and it doesn’t really have much in the way of a plot. We are told that in Japan, it is said that when someone dies in the grip of great sorrow or a terrible rage, the emotion leaves a stain on the location of this death, which consumes all whom it touches from that point on. Clearly, something terrible happened in the house in which Karen finds herself. But what? Who died, and under what circumstances?
The Grudge jumps around in time a bit jarringly. Some have said it’s confusing, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. Rather, in spite of its plotlessness, it was quite gripping. Most of all, it is creepy as hell.
In a time when overbearing CGI effects rule the screen, The Grudge is very simple and, for the most part, free of elaborate effects. We watch as one person after another is touched by this metaphysical stain left in this house. In the end, we’re given glimpses of what happened there, but by then, it’s almost unimportant. What matters in The Grudge is the chill that goes down our backs each time this thing reaches out to someone.
There’s Yoko, who makes the mistake of looking in the attic. There’s Jennifer, and her husband Matthew, and his sister Susan, and his mother Emma. And then there’s Peter, played by Bill Pullman in a small but effective role. Peter does something terrible in the film’s first scene, and after that, it’s difficult not to keep watching to find out why.
The Grudge is about as substantial as a slice of Wonder Bread, but it manages to make us jump and cringe and gasp, all the things a good horror movie should do.
I dare you to watch it in the dark.
[Out of a possible four Bloodshot Eyeballs.]
The Grudge
 SAW
2004
Directed by: James Wan
Written by: Leigh Whannell - screenplay/story
James Wan - story
Starring:
Leigh Whannell - Adam
Cary Elwes - Dr. Lawrence Gordon
Danny Glover - Detective David Tapp
Monica Potter - Allison Gordon
As I’ve written in this space before, horror movie fans have to forgive a lot. We wade through swamps of bad movies looking for that gem, or even for that memorable moment, that genuine scare. Because of those moments, those rare frights, we sometimes develop affection for movies that are, otherwise, quite bad. For example, one of my guilty pleasures is a movie called Society. It’s an absolutely terrible movie – but it’s such a great idea that I have a copy on laserdisc, in spite of the fact that the great idea was poorly executed. Some people even have a great fondness for the endless cookie-cutter sequels in the Freddy and Jason series. I swear, it’s true. Sometimes it’s worth sitting through an otherwise bad movie for that bright moment of brilliance, or that stand-out original murder. We’re a patient people, we horror movie fans – we take time to find what we want, and we appreciate the hell out of it when we get it.
Saw is something of a mess. The script by Leigh Wannel is all over the place, like a drunk in an SUV on a four-lane highway. It contains flashbacks within flashbacks and has no discernable point of view – well, it does for awhile, but then it fractures and gets a little goofy – and it’s even confusing at times. It’s improbable and wildly contrived and features some of the worst dialogue I’ve heard since 1979's Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline.
But what a ride! This movie reaches off the screen, grabs your face, and doesn’t let go until it’s over. Yes, it gets more ridiculous as it goes along, until it finally drops over the edge into a sea of silliness. But it’s grueling and tense and yes, it’s horrifying, the way a horror movie should be. If you can get past the nonsense, this is an extremely entertaining horror film. Just roll with the flow and there are some rewards to be had here.
Saw features one of the most wacked-out, goofy-assed serial killers you’ll ever encounter in the movies. The Jigsaw Killer is not technically a killer – he devises outrageous ways for others to kill themselves or someone else.
In one especially unnerving sequence – a flashback within a flashback – the great Shawnee Smith (The Blob) plays the Jigsaw’s only survivor. She finds herself with an ugly mask contraption on her head which will soon rip her face open unless she finds the key to unlock it first. The key is hidden in the intestines of a man lying drugged on the floor with a knife provided for her. Smith gives a brief but memorable performance as she does what she has to do to stay alive. Director Wan handles it beautifully, too – he shows us just enough to give us the feeling we’ve just watched a horribly gory scene.
That’s one of the rewards you get for forgiving Saw it’s many shortcomings – at least long enough to watch it.
Most of the action takes place in a dilapidated restroom that’s so filthy and ugly, you can smell it. Saw is a movie made quickly on a low budget, and that’s evident, but it’s not fatal. Because of the movie’s tension and momentum, none of its faults are fatal – but you’ll probably laugh out loud at times when you’re not supposed to, like when poor Cary Elwes has to utter some of the more ridiculous lines.
There’s something else about Saw that’s too seldom seen in horror movies today – a tremendous glee, a hard-driving desire to make you squirm and want to cover your eyes, but be unable to.
[Out of a possible four Bloodshot Eyeballs.]
Saw
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1/2 |
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 Employee of the Month
2004
Directed by: Mitch Rouse
Written by: Mitch Rouse & Jay Leggett
Starring:
Matt Dillon - David Walsh
Steve Zahn - Jack
Christina Applegate - Sara Goodwin
Mitch Rouse was the creator of Comedy Central’s bizarre series, Strangers With Candy, and if you’ve seen that show, you know his sense of humor is a little twisted. Employee of the Month is about a man whose life, in the space of one day, completely falls apart. It’s is not a horror movie, it’s the most cynical dark comedy I’ve ever seen. It’s a movie best watched cold, without knowing anything about it. So I’m not going to tell you anymore than I have already.
Rent it.
[Out of a possible four Bloodshot Eyeballs.]
Employee of the Month
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