The Grudge 2

"The Grudge 2" is one of the most scariest ghost/horror movie sequels I have ever seen. Set two year after the events of "The Grudge" left off, Aubrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn) goes to Tokyo to bring her sister Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar) back to the United States. However, this leads to Aubrey exposing to the same ghost that has plagued Karen. Meanwhile in Tokyo, high school students Allison, Vanessa and Miyuki visit the haunted house and are also chased by the ghost, and in Chicago, Trish (Jennifer Beals) moves into the apartment of her boyfriend Bill (Christopher Cousins), where paranormal events take place at their next-door neighbor's.

This movie starts out with Aubrey visiting Tokyo to find her sister Karen and discover what troubling her, where we get a taste of suspense that quickly captures the thrills and horror of the first movie. The tension builds when Aubrey also encounters the mysterious events in the house Karen was a caretaker in and, what follows, are one creepy moment one after the other as main ghosts Kayako (Takako Fuji) and Toshiro (Yuya Ozeki) take center stage, terrorizing not only Aubrey but two groups of people, three high school students and a Chicago family.

Takashi Shimizu did a great job directing this sequel, which grabs the audience's attention with bone-chilling scenes and with moments that make you jump. Like the first movie, this sequel has disturbing and creepy images that will stick in your mind after the movie is over. The mysterious yet dramatic atmosphere of the movie created an eerie feeling of the ongoing horror and the built-up suspense, which are contributed by the cast members' dramatic acting. However, I do feel that the separate story lines involving the different character groups is a distraction to the film and makes it difficult for the viewers to concentrate on a single character. This takes away from the character development and the flow of the plot.

Overall, this is a movie with the right balance of horror and drama, but doesn't surpass its prequel.

Grade B-

In Pasadena, Mrs. Davis (Joanna Cassidy) sends her daughter Aubrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn) to Tokyo to bring her sister Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who is interned in a hospital after surviving a fire, back to the USA. After their meeting, Karen dies and Aubrey decides to investigate what happened to her and gets herself cursed in the same situation, being chased by the ghost of the house. Meanwhile in Tokyo, the three high school mates Allison (Arielle Kebbel), Vanessa (Teresa Palmer) and Miyuki (Misako Uno) visit the famous haunted house and are also cursed and chased by the ghost. In Chicago, Trish (Jennifer Beals) moves to the apartment of her boyfriend Bill (Christopher Cousins), who lives with his children, the teenager Lacey (Sarah Roehmer) and boy Jake (Matthew Knight). On the next door, weird things happen with their neighbor.

"The Grudge 2" has scary sound and visual effects, with the creepy woman and boy, and I have startled a couple of times while watching this movie. However, the complex screenplay with three subplots is totally confused, making the entwined story a complete mess. There are too much characters and situations, and in a certain moment I was completely lost with the disconnected and fragmented narrative. In the end, I was completely disappointed with this confused, but also spooky film. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Grito 2" ("The Scream 2")

Including two shorts, the Japanese original Ju-on, its sequel, the American remake and now its follow-up, Takashi Shimizu has directed six films about the grudge curse. Shimizu has grown fond of his ghosts and in The Grudge 2, this fondness is apparent. He puts them everywhere - in cupboards, under covers, behind mirrors, under desks and rather inexplicably, lurking within the hoods of sweaters. It was a good, pretty scary movie, but the first like i said was way scarier and better! I would watch the first one five times then watch this again, like it was OK, but i wouldn't buy it, maybe give it a chance and rent it!

I did enjoy the movie for the Ghost attack scenes as well as the story in general. I do think the movie had some very poor acting in it. Now the bad acting was obviously not present during the scare scenes but every time any of the characters spoke a line I cringed, especially in the first scene with the 3 school girls. I also found that Amber Tamblyn gave a bad performance. The only performance that didn't suck was Sarah Michelle Gellar. I think the bad performances can be attributed to the language barrier between the Japanese director and the English speaking cast. And here is what bothered me the most about the movie... How is it that a 70 year old Japanese exorcist who has lived in a very rural area of Japan her whole life and has gone quite crazy learn to speak perfect English?

Although the blue, black - haired ghost plot has been done, this film is enjoyable. People took things too seriously. I took this as a popcorn film. The acting could have been better with some characters. Sarah Michelle Gellar did a pretty good job, although she has little screen time. The effects and scares are most of the time pop - ups. The story is a bit messy and has too many things happening at the same time. Some moments are also rather stupid. There are pretty good scares throughout the whole film. I would recommend this film to all fans of the first. If your not a fan, don't see it; you'll most likely hate it.

Rated PG - 13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality