After the huge success of the new Halloween movie, it’s pretty clear that audiences are more than willing to give the time of day to old horror properties. Even with that in mind, though, The Grudge still seems like a strange choice for a reboot, but considering that director Nicolas Pesce found himself with much acclaim for 2016’s The Eyes of My Mother, we remain hopeful that the upcoming remake of the 2004 remake of 2002’s Ju-on: The Grudge could perhaps yield some intriguing results.
With that in mind, we turn our attention to some new comments from Pesce, who recently went on record to inform fans that his take on the property might not be what we’re expecting. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker said:
“It’s a very different take on The Grudge than you know it from the past.”
Continuing on, he explained how they’re trying to update the story for “contemporary sensibilities” and promised that it’s going to feel exciting and fresh.
“I think that horror audiences these days are looking for a much more grounded, much more realistic, much more character-driven story in their horror movies. We see what’s doing well now and it is these kind of smarter, more nuanced horror stories, and that’s what this is going to be. We’re trying to update it for contemporary sensibilities, and we have an unbelievable cast, and I think it’s going to be something very different. There’s a thousand Grudge movies out there, and we wanted to figure out a way to kind of put a new, fresh spin on it, and it’s going to be exciting.”
Finally, Pesce compared The Grudge reboot to David Fincher’s Se7en, saying that there’s a cop drama which drives the plot.
“The movie is set up a lot more like Seven, that sort of movie,” Pesce explained of his take on the concept. “There’s a cop drama that drives the whole thing, and Andrea is the lead detective on this new case that they’ve come upon, and is the driving force through the movie. She’s incredible. She’s in absolutely everything and, when you see her act, you know why.”
The director’s comments here certainly have us intrigued and even a little excited, but from what we’ve heard, reactions to the flick’s recent test screening weren’t very good, teasing a scare-free work that relies on generic jump scares to frighten audiences. But given that we still have a while to go before it reaches theaters, perhaps it’s best not to despair quite yet.
Still, Grudge is arriving at a time where Hollywood has long got over its obsession with remaking popular J-horror films, so it’ll be interesting to see if Pesce can resurrect an old trend when the pic hits theaters on June 21st.