Here we go again… Another attempt at remaking one of the scariest movies of all time. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) set new standards for tension and creepiness. The American remake, ironically by the same director, set new standards for incoherence and box office letdown. But… It’s been some time and horror fans would probably gobble up something with the same flavor that is halfway decent. Jeff Buhler (screen writer of Pet Sematary) and Nicolas Pesce (obscure filmmaker) think they have the secret sauce to make this reimagining palatable. They completed principal photography over a year ago. Stills and a new poster were released recently. Here they are:
I know it’s early, but the pics don’t instill much confidence. To complicate things further, this remake is based on a story by Buhler and Pesce themselves. So, they are actually endeavoring to create a movie, based on a story, based on a movie (I’m loving the originality)… But they have some help with this one: A pretty heavy hitter… None other than Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) is producing this through his Ghost House Pictures banner. And Sony Pictures has also chained themselves to these guys, planning to release the film in January 2020. (Although the release has already been postponed twice.)
There are some differences from the original. Sony released a synopsis:
‘A single mother and young detective discover that a suburban house is cursed by a vengeful ghost that dooms those who enter it with a violent death. Now she runs to save herself and her son from demonic spirits from the cursed house in her neighborhood.’
Okay… So, there aren’t that many differences. On previous occasions, Pesce has stated that the film would be darker, grittier and more realistic than any previous version. We’ll see. I’ll just hope there’s at least some entertaining scares and if there is more, it will be a pleasant surprise. I like surprises.
Interesting note: To save cash, this one was sent north. Nothing particularly unusual about that. But it was filmed in Winnipeg–Canadian plains! Gotta love it.