The Grudge

Looking for a good scare this Halloween week? "The Grudge" has everything you're looking for if you're into scary movies that stick to the general formula of mixing freaky creatures with psychological thrills. The plot to Sarah Michelle Gellar's weekend hit is beside the point. Basically there's a house where evil dwells. At the same time, this evil will occasionally leave the house, follow you home, and freak the moviegoer out.

The first two scenes of "The Grudge" set the tone. Bill Pullman throws himself over a balcony within the first minute of the movie. A caregiver gets sucked into the attic of a house by an unseen creature in the fourth minute. From there we bounce around in the present and the past as the story of murder and adultery unfolds. And throughout the movie is a creepy little Asian boy (Yuya Ozeki) who tends to go all Gollum on you just to scare the crap out of you.

Yes, I jumped in my seat multiple times. I also caught myself laughing out loud at some of the cheesier moments, such as when the girl decides to check out that noise in the attic, or when another character decides the best place to run from a strange noise in her empty office building is the stairwell of the building.

While there's not a lot of originality here, "The Grudge" will provide you with the thrills and chills you both dread and expect from a movie released the week before Halloween. I give it a B+.

"The Grudge" is rated PG-13 with a running time of 90 minutes.