Ju-on 2 - La maledizione

While driving on the road, the pregnant horror movies actress Kyoko Harase (Noriko Sakai) and her fiancé have a car crash caused by the fiend of Toshio, and Kyoko loses her baby and her fiancé stays in coma. Kyoko was cursed together with all the television crew when she hosted a show in the haunted house where Kayako was brutally murdered by her husband. While each member of the team dies or disappears, Kyoko is informed that she has a three and half month fetus in her womb.

"Ju-on: The Grudge 2" is a very creepy and scary horror movie, based on a Japanese legend, and disclosed in a non-linear screenplay. In the beginning of this sequel, the explanation of the curse is presented again. When a person is killed in a violent way, his or her death generates a curse that will stay in the place where the crime took place. If another person visits the haunted place, he or she will be chased by the fiends till death generating another curse.

Like the first one, this movie impresses because there is no bloody scene, only a tense psychological exploration of the inner fear of human beings for the unknown. The story is very simple and low paced, there are very few special effects, a great use of sound, no gore, but the creepy atmosphere is really frightening. I startled many times while watching this film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ju-On, O Grito 2" ("Ju-On, The Scream 2")

This is a sequel of 'Ju-on' , the creepy and terrifying film that revolutionized Japanese horror cinema, a profitable picture that created a hit franchise. Basing on the premise: ¨When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is born¨. While their curse spreads on, the ghosts find their chance to live once again through the pregnancy of a cursed woman. While driving , the pregnant horror-movie actress Kyôko Harase (Noriko Sakai) and her boyfriend suffer a car crash caused by a creepy ghost kid who suddenly shows up. Kyôko loses her baby and her fiancé winds up in a coma. Kyôko was cursed together with a television crew when they were filming a show in the haunted house where Kayako was brutally murdered by her husband years ago, events depicted in Ju-on (2002). The actress working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, she encounters a terrible spirit who is vengeful and often possesses its victims, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim. Later on, each member of the cinematographic team dies or missing, Kyôko is informed that she has a fetus in her womb . After that, a series of horrifying and mysterious deaths start to occur, with the spirit passing its curse onto each victim. She must now find a way to break this spell, before she becomes its next victim !. Do you have a grudge? It never forgets !. Once you see it, you can never forget !. Once it sees you, you can never escape !. The whole time I was in that house, I knew something was wrong !. They say that when someone dies in a powerful rage. A curse is made. The curse is about to claim another victim. Even if you die, you can never escape !.

The premise of this Japan setting, low resolution, short gloss film simply transcribes the standard of the horrible curses and haunted houses exegesis. Director builts his film out of chronologically jumbled set pieces. Each proceeds by an alternative pattern of tense lulls and pay-off jolts. The resentment that resides in someone who dies in deep anger generates a painful curse, which is concentrated in the places that the deceased frequented in life. This curse works on those who visit him, constantly renewing his legacy and unleashing a spiral of panic. The type of ghost is based on the Japanese legend of the Onryo, a vengeful spirit that can actually physically manifest itself to attack and kill victims. 'Ju-on 1 and 2' are two successful horror movies which themselves borrrowed liberally from Hideo Nakata's 'Ring' and 'Dark Water'. The overdeterminated approach preempts the character shadings or social subtext that Japanese horror maestro Nakata prizes, while the soundtrack thumps and screaming sounds head off any genuine scares.

The Grudge and The Grudge II, with its insane combination of terror and raw emotions, follows the horror film legacy of classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead that shocked several generations of fans. Toshio's spirit is often heard meowing throughout the film. Not only does this imply that his spirit merged with his deceased cat Mar, but it also relates to an old Japanese legend where the damned spirits of lost children become strays and as a result, produce a cat's meow. The house used in the film was not a constructed set but a real location, which had to be rented for film production. It became a tourist attraction following the film franchise's popularity. The house was demolished in 2019. The heroine of this terrifying thriller is Noriko Sakai playing a terror actress and aside from the ghosts, the only actor to return from the previous film is Yui Ichikawa as Chiharu. The main sources of the Japanese terror in the 2000s are the two installments of 'Ju-on', films shot on video about ghosts capable of freezing the blood with which Takashi Shimizu debuted. His great talent was discovered by Hiroshi Takahashi whose scripts in the nineties and especially that of Ringu (The Ring), generated a spectacular boom in horror cinema in Japan. Since then, the legions of followers of this phenomenon have multiplied around the world, especially thanks to the Internet and specialized festivals. Shimizu was personally commissioned to prepare the North American version, with production support from Sam Raimi and Robert Tappert.

The series is formed by ¨Ju-on (The Grudge)¨ (2002) by Takashi Shimuzu with Megumi Okina, Misaki Itô, Misa Uehara Misa Uehara, Yui Ichikawa. Followed by ¨Ju-on 2, (The Grudge 2)¨ (2003) by Takashi Shimuzu with Noriko Sakai, Kei Horie , Yui Ichikawa. Would be the last installment in the Ju-on series to be written and directed by Takashi Shimizu and going on the American remake ¨The Grudge¨ (2004) by Shimizu with Sarah Michellle Gellar, Jason Behr, KaDee Strickland, Grace Zabriske and Yuya Ozeki, Takako Fuji, and Takashi Matsuyama all appeared in The grudge (2002) and II (2003), the Japanese films upon which this film was based, all reprising their roles as the doomed Saeki family; unlike the other Japanese horror remakes like The Ring (2002), Dark Water (2005), Pulse (2006), and One missed call(2008), this was the only film out of all the others that actually remained in Japan instead of moving the story to America. And¨The Grudge 2¨ (2006) by director Shimizu himself with Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kabel, Jennifer Beals, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

I was disappointed by the original but this sequel was much, much better. Everything about it has been improved - the plot, the character development, the direction, the mood, the fear factor. The over all feeling of this film is very very creepy. It's exactly how a ghost story should be. It doesn't give you the kind of scares that make you jump out of your skin like some movies do but what it does give you is a very uneasy and haunting feeling.

The arrangement and fragmentation of script was excellent. It's broken up into separate stories or chapters like the first one but they've played with the time line in this one in a very wonderful way which contributes to the ghostly feeling of the film as a whole. The story with the banging on the wall was a particular favourite of mine, and, I think, pretty genius.

I am so glad I watched this! It has now become one of my favourite Japanese horror films.

I always get kind of agitated when producers feel a need to make sequels. I have never seen one that actually mattered. This one didn't either.

Having said that I do feel a need to actually recommend this Ju-On part. Besides the obvious rerun of old tricks, some of the new material is actually quite interesting and well-thought of. For example the thuds on the wall (that the couple hears every night around 12.30)are later explained in an eerie way. The wig-on-the-floor-thing was nicely done.

Finally, I thought the birth was original as well as the ending of the movie.

All in all entertaining (for a "Part two" movie) but not a MUST SEE.

I'm happy to say that, after a slight disappointment with 'Ju On: The Grudge,' the series returns to form with this installment.

Just when you thought Takashi Shimizu had done everything there was to do with 'Ju On,' this third sequel (and second theatrical film) takes things in a slightly new direction...and gives us some of the most terrifying scenes yet.

Yes, Toshio and his Mum are still on the prowl. Yes, the plot is told in the same disjointed segment style. But, without spoiling the surprises, some new and unexpected twists are added to the mythology. And just as expected, there are plenty of images and sounds that will haunt you till your dying day.

I can't wait to see what Shimizu has in store with the fifth film (the American installment) and dread the thought of seeing these images on a big screen!