The Grudge 3

There aren't many people that have seen Tales of the Grudge, three shorts, totalling eight minutes, which gave additional roots to the grudge curse, and was conveniently helmed by Grudge 3 director Toby Wilkins. While unrelated, they provided some interesting mythology for the handful of fans still curious about the franchise. Given this background, in addition to the impressive job that Wilkins did with last year's indie horror chiller Splinter, it seemed possible that this instalment might actually be worth checking out. Sadly, this assumption was nothing more than a delusion, as The Grudge 3 is merely competent, acting as a more brightly lit, more violent and less stylized counterpart to the first two films. It might be an appropriate rental for a teenage girl's slumber party but probably won't interest many over the age of 16. Mostly taking place in the same apartment building as the second film, this movie opens with the fairly graphic and amusing death of Grudge 2 sole survivor Jake (Matthew Knight) while under psychiatric observation. Unable to understand the death, his doctor (Shawnee Smith) starts investigating his old digs where siblings Lisa (Joanna E. Braddy) and Max (Gil McKinney) are looking after their terminally ill little sister Rose (Jadie Hobson). Inevitably, herky-jerky, longhaired Japanese ghosts pop up around the building, much to the chagrin of the family and Star Trek: TNG vet Marina Sirtis. While the gore quotient has increased slightly with this entry, the stylization has been reduced to the quality of a mediocre TV movie, with a perfunctory storyline that inspires little confidence. At best, The Grudge 3 can be described as the film that made Boogeyman 3 seem downright creative. Included with the DVD is a brief featurette titled "Tokyagoaria," which elaborates on the challenges of recreating Chicago and Japan in Bulgaria, with a crew that doesn't speak English. Deleted scenes are included as well, along with a mini-supplement on the artistic approach taken with this third instalment.