10 Horror Movie Villain Replacements Fans REJECTED

Kayako is one hell of a villain, and part of what made the Grudge franchise last for so long. Eerie, tragic and accompanied by her creepy son, the queen of death rattles was finally laid to rest with what was thought to be the end of her story in The Grudge 3 in 2009.

Then, because apparently 2020 needed a Grudge movie, that’s exactly what we got. The film acted as a sort of sidequel to the American and Japanese versions of the franchise, which could have been really interesting. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

While Kayako’s curse looms large in the background of the film, she only appears a grand total of once. Instead we were given mother daughter duo, Melinda and Fiona. Fiona was in fact the nurse who was replaced by Yoko in the 2004 Grudge film.

Unlike Kayako’s unique and terrifying appearance, these two look like your average ghost with none of the distinctive flair that the onryō-inspired ghosts that the other films used. With nothing interesting or different about them, the pair harass and cause the murder of several families throughout the film without any of the cold terror associated with Kayako. They simply are nowhere near as interesting or creepy to watch.

Fans not only hated the film for being formulaic and bringing nothing new to the table, but also because they missed the beloved murderous mother. Fiona and Melinda are utterly forgettable and unscary (that is a real word, I checked) – everything that Kayako certainly is not.