It shouldn’t come as a jump scare to moviegoers about horror’s recent dominance. Fueled by a mix of terrifyingly good originals such as Get Out, A Quiet Place and Midsommar, and remakes for Halloween, Child’s Play and Stephen King’s IT (previously a miniseries), the genre has become magnificently popular again. Lin Shaye, who has starred in many horror entries through the years, such as Critters, Insidious, Ouija and the new Grudge remake, had this to say about why the genre is doing so well:
CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb sat down with Lin Shaye ahead of the recent release of The Grudge, and she gave some interesting insights as to why she thinks horror is so popular right now. The actress said in the genre, the very powerful emotions associated with our greatest fears are being exploited, and audiences are interested in going down that dark hole. She talked about how people want to feel scared in a safe place, and horror movies provide them this sanctuary of sorts.
This certainly sounds right even though we may not regularly assess why exactly we get excited about scary movies. Lin Shaye has certainly had a part in the horror renaissance since she appeared in James Wan’s Insidious. The 2011 film was a commercial success with its $97 million worldwide haul on a $1.5 million production budget. It spawned an even more financially successful sequel and led Wan to create the Conjuring universe – also featuring the Annabelle and Nun films.
Sadly, Lin Shaye’s new contribution to the genre won’t go down in history as such a success. Nicolas Pesce’s The Grudge has received brutal reviews from critics with a 16% RT score. Audiences are not loving it either considering the movie has a 21% score from them and a rare F Cinemascore. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave the film a 2 out of 5 in his review – calling it an “eye roll-inducer.”
The Grudge also isn’t scaring up much money at the box office. During its first weekend (as the only newcomer in the lot too), the movie, made on a reported $10 million production budget, only brought in a meager $11 million domestically. It took the fourth spot below Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level and Little Women.
The movie is the second American reboot of 2002 Japanese film Ju-on. It’s about a house that is cursed by a vengeful ghost who haunts all who enter its doors. The first Grudge came out in 2004 and starred Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar, and was followed by a sequel two years later.
Not to mention that the new Grudge was held up from theaters for over a year by a producer from the original Japanese film who filed a lawsuit against the production for allegedly being denied a credit on the film. That's not a great start of horror in 2020. Check out our favorite films in the genre for 2019!
