Grudge director says new, R-rated entry is “more f**ked up” than past movies

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Horror properties of all kinds are getting the sequel, reboot, and general re-tinkering treatments, and this January, audiences can look forward to a new entry in the GRUDGE series. The new film from Nicolas Pesce (THE EYES OF MY MOTHER) will ditch the PG-13 rating of past movies – like the 2004 hit film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar – and adopt an R-rating that will fully embrace the playground the adult rating provides. Pesce, who also wrote the movie, opened up about how far they’re going with the movie, saying it goes further than even the original wave of Japanese horror films that led to remakes like THE GRUDGE in the first place.

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Pesce was speaking about the movie at New York Comic-Con (via IndieWire), where he was asked how this movie differs from the past English-language entries in the series. His response hinted at a new GRUDGE that will be far more brutal than anything we’ve seen from the series before.

 “The movie’s way more fucked up. Not that the wave of J-Horror in the early 2000s wasn’t fucked up — but this is really fucked up.”

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In making what they intended to be one vicious horror flick, Pesce (who also emphasized this is not a reboot) said they wanted to balance the vision in a way that provides enough new material while still calling back to the unnerving imagery that defines J-horror for countless fans. This includes certain classic images like a hand coming the back of a person’s head when they’re showering, forever instilling a fear of shampooing in the viewer.

“As far as the imagery, it was finding that balance between [old visuals and new visuals]. “We’re finding the key elements that are just how the grudge expresses itself. So much of this movie is about the fact that this can happen anywhere and that it happens everywhere. It can spread like wildfire. Having certain touchstones was important. Obviously with a franchise we don’t want to throw everything out. There is certain stuff that is fun for the fans to see again in a new context with a new spin…There are homages and odes to J-horror stylistically, but it is a whole new story and characters,” Pesce added. “We try to find new ways of doing similiar things they have done.”

This new approach with the focus on more gruesome imagery may not signal a bona fide success, per se, but it is refreshing to know this new entry won't just be the same ol' rehash of what we've seen before, reliant on creepy kids who really need a jacket. The PG-13 movies have some scares that remain solid nowadays, but they have lost some of their bite over the years, and another PG-13 entry just wouldn't fly. The movie has an impressive cast, including Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, and Jacki Weaver, and with a January 3 release date, we could see a trailer any day now.