The Grudge review – the deathly curse of a franchise that refuses to die

Andrea Riseborough does her best in a horror reboot that offers murders, maggots, corpses, a haunted house " and zero scares

"It's happening again! It's NEVER going to end!" That's a cop, locked up in a secure psychiatric facility after shooting half his face off, ranting about the curse that drove him insane. His words may also be a healthy response to news that Sam Raimi has rebooted The Grudge haunted-house franchise. (Brief history: Takashi Shimizu directed the decent original and a sequel in Japan and made two out of three of the subpar Hollywood follow-ons.) Raimi produces here while directing duties pass to 30-year-old American Nicolas Pesce, who has come up with this franchise oddity: a mainstream horror movie with arthouse sensibilities, a potentially interesting streak of bleak realism and naturalistic performances - but zero scares. Forget about chilling to the bone, The Grudge barely drops below room temperature.

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