About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

An unspectacular yet worthy direct-to-video continuation of the series.

Pros

• Has some scary moments
• Good ending
• Quick pace

Cons

• Cheap special effects
• Bland characters

Description

• Starring Shawnee Smith, Matthew Knight, Emi Ikehata, Johanna E. Braddy, Jadie Hobson, Gil McKinney, Beau Mirchoff
• Directed by Toby Wilkins
• Rated R
• DVD Release Date: May 12, 2009

Guide Review - 'The Grudge 3' DVD Review

The Grudge 3 picks up a few months after the end of part 2, with the sole survivor of the curse, young Jake, locked up in a psychiatric hospital.

Dr. Sullivan is skeptical of his stories of a ghostly woman out to get him, but after finding Jake dead in his room with every bone in his body broken, she starts to come around.

Dr. Sullivan travels to the Chicago apartment where Jake lived to investigate, not grasping the concept of this whole "curse" thing. She meets Max, the landlord, and his younger sisters, teenager Lisa and grade schooler Rose. Rose claims to have seen a young ghostly boy in the building, although no such children live there. How these people are still alive is anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, Max welcomes a new tenant from Japan, Naoko, who turns out to be ghost Kayako's sister. As such, she knows how to end the curse and has come to America to do so. She convinces Lisa of her mission but has to hurry because Kayako and her catty son have possessed Max, turning him increasingly hostile and violent.

The Grudge series can prove frustrating because of the hopelessness of fighting a curse that can never end, so the introduction of a viable cure in this film keeps it from falling into a predictable rut.

The croaking ghost Kayako is as unsettling as ever, despite cheaper special effects than the previous films and a new actress taking over the role. The boy playing her meowing ghost son Toshio, though, seems too old for the role.

The Grudge 3 isn't great -- the characters are a bit annoying, and the script could use a once-over to strengthen some plot points -- but it's fast-moving with a nice twist ending. It's not as good as the first (the American version) but could very well outperform the second, whose overpopulated plot made the pace lag.

The DVD

Special features include deleted scenes and featurettes.

Movie: C+
DVD: C+