The million-dollar question we have to ask here is this, is The Grudge 3 worse than The Grudge from 2020? I would have to say no, I am not saying that The Grudge 3 is a fantastic movie, but I do think that it is better than what came after it. I thought that the first Grudge movie was great, 2 was not terrible, but this 3rd entry felt like it was missing something.
How to Download The Grudge 3
The Grudge 3 was released on May 12, 2009. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Unlike the first Grudge and The Grudge 2. The Grudge 3 was a straight-to-DVD movie and I remember actually being pretty excited about this in the weeks leading up to its release. I ended up pre-ordering it as soon as it was available and I did have high hopes and my wife was also very excited to see where this third movie would go.
A Direct Sequel
This is a direct sequel to The Grudge 2. Our soul survivor from the last movie, Jake has been put in a mental hospital with no one believing his story. Following what went down in the last movie, Jake is not long for this world. The way Jake gets killed is pretty awesome and gruesome stuff, a real highlight of the movie.
The Curse Continues
The apartment building where Jake lived is now infested with the curse of the spirit of Kayako causing all kinds of mayhem and death! A young woman called Lisa and her sister Rose end up caught in the curse’s grasp, but they have help in the form of Naoko. Also, in watching this movie recently, I completely forgot that Shawnee Smith from Saw was in this so that was kind of cool.
Naoko’s Intervention
What was cool about Naoko was that she was the sister of Kayako! Naoko knows about the curse and she is going to help Lisa and Rose put a stop to it once and for all. Like the second movie, The Grudge 3 has some pretty fun ideas. I thought that bringing Naoko into it and her having an idea of how to stop the curse was great.
The Outcome
The problem was, by this point horror movies were all about “the monster/ghost/killer winning” and I felt like that was always going to be the case here. There was not a single moment where I thought that Naoko and her new American friends were going to be able to put a stop to things here. They do try to do a “twist” but it was so predictable.
I am not going to say that this is a bad movie or the worst horror movie I have ever seen. I really do think that it is better than the 2020 Grudge, but that is not exactly the strongest praise. I feel like if you watch the original 2004 Grudge and like it, you may as well watch the other two.
The Grudge 3 is the kind of movie that you have to go into with low expectations, if you do this, you may have fun with it. It does have some creepy moments and I still think the Grudge sound is one of the most awesome and creepy sounds of any horror movie. I just wish that this was able to live up to the high bar that was set by the first movie.
