German to English Art/Literary Slang

It's a story about a kid, Max, who's 12 years old and finds himself dumped in an old well by two older, bigger bullies in his school. The expression could also be "Verfluchte Krütze!" but I suspect "Krütze" is a misspelling.

Here's some of what leads up to the expression:

Kalle und Ari schnappen sich Max, schleppen ihn in die Tiefen des Brunnens und fesseln ihn dort. Da soll er die Nacht über schmoren. [...] Und Max's Schreie verhallen in der dunklen Nacht. Nicht mal Lisa, die mit ihrer Mutter in der Hausmeisterwohnung der Schule wohnt, hört ihn, weil sie ihre Kopfhörer auf hat und durch ihr Zimmer tanzt. Verfluchte Grütze!

[Then it's the end of the paragraph and moves on to other things, so no help from what comes afterwards.]

"Verfluchte Grütze" is obviously from Max's point of view. He's clearly upset and frustrated and miserable. But I don't know if "Verfluchte Grütze" refers to Lisa here (something along the lines of "silly bimbo," but that's the wrong tone, too disparaging), or to the mess he's in.

Anybody have a suggestion?