The Grudge 2

Being a huge fan of the original Ju-On movies, as well as the original American remake, I was looking forward to this one. But my excitement dwindled right from the opening scene, as The Grudge 2 quickly became a predictable and mundane sequel. A typical American-ized sequel that sadly didn't follow the unique plot of Ju-On 2.

After Sarah Michelle Gellar's cameo, the movie focuses on her sister, but gives her nothing to do. What seems like a totally separate storyline inside an apartment building is more distracting than involving. The scares become very routine and there are so many characters here, that the viewer cannot become attached to any of them.

The movie does, however, kick it up in the final twenty minutes or so. And the ending is a lot darker and much more mean spirited than the original, and for that, it has to earn some points for not taking the safe way out.

The Grudge 2 is not a complete loss, but it could have been so much better.

I was very excited about seeing this, as I love the original series, I didn't think the first remake was that bad, Takashi Shimizu directed it, and I have gradually become a fan of Amber Tamblyn. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good as I had hoped. Of course, given the genre, and the fact that it was a sequel to a remake and not really a remake of a sequel, it was exactly what I expected. (Yes, I have high hopes, but realistic expectations.)

I prepped myself for this by watching the unrated DVD of the previous film just a few short hours before heading to the theater, which, in hindsight, was probably a mistake. While the first film relied heavily on cheap scares and "gotcha" moments, the second toned it down a little and aimed at being a little more suspenseful. The end result is a chaotic mess with a convoluted storyline that weaves through time without ever indicating it (slightly confusing at the start, as there is a two year difference between the events we see throughout the film, but I will refrain from spoilers).

The attempts at building suspense fall flat, as every significant event is telegraphed and, therefore, incredibly predictable even when you're not trying to think ahead of the film's pace. The kills themselves are far from satisfying, as they are simply more of the same that we saw the first time around. I'm sorry, but even if you have never watched the Asian originals, the creepy girl with the hair in her face and the hitch in her step fails to frighten after two Ring films, Dark Water, Pulse, and, of course, the previous Grudge film.

I had seriously hoped that Takashi Shimizu would bring some of his style to the film. Alas, we are the real victims here, not those portrayed on the screen, as we have to pay hard-earned dollars to witness (yet another) American Cinema (read: Hollywood) bastardization of a quality film. When will they learn that the true appeal of Asian cinema lies not with the creepy girl and the cheap scare, but with the overall feel of the film? The "boo!" moments may work for the casual viewer (and the target PG-13 audience), but it is the oppressive aura that haunts the viewer and keeps them awake at night.

This sequel now shows the infamous curse in more power and a greater range. But it does not improvise in any manner to its predecessor. The story remains the same. People are getting affected and dying the same deaths. Every thing that is going to happen can be pretty much well known in advance for a seasoned movie goer.

There are three parallel story lines that shift in ways that further reduce the fun in the movie and does not allow you get involved. Kayako's past is explained in more detail but the again the explanation does not seem too buy-able. All in all there is nothing much this sequel has to offer. It could be subjected to one watch, but on a rented DVD or VCD. But I would definitely not choose to buy the Grudge movies 1 and 2 for collection purpose.

Sequels are a tricky thing. You have to serve the core audience who saw the first film, while trying to not prove too bewildering to a new audience that may have not seen the original. Horror films are even more difficult to spin a sequel off from, as suspense and scares are often, by nature, dependent on a lack of expectation from the audience. With The Grudge 2, director Takashi Shimizu and screenwriter Stephen Susco have attempted to not fall into that trap by approaching the sequel a little differently, but by the time it's over, unfortunately, it still proves to be a little too repetitive for its own good.

Unlike 2004's The Grudge, which unfolded in a largely linear fashion, The Grudge 2 shakes things up a bit by splitting the narrative between three different plot lines that all take place at different times. First, there is the continuation, essentially, of the story from the first film, where Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is being kept in a hospital after surviving the ordeal of the first film, which centered around a house in Japan where a woman had been killed by her husband and thus created "The Grudge," a rage that consumes every living being that enters the house. Arriving from America to attempt to retrieve Karen is her sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn), who quickly becomes embroiled in the same situation as Karen. Second is a plot thread featuring Allison (Arielle Kebbel), an American girl in high school in Japan who is goaded by two classmates to enter the spooky house from the first film and finds that it lives up to its haunted house reputation. Finally, the third plot string plays out in Chicago, Illinois, where Trish (Jennifer Beals) has moved in with her boyfriend Bill (Christopher Cousins) and his two children, Lacey (Sarah Roehmer) and Jake (Matthew Knight). The same day as she moves in, so does a mysterious neighbor, after which everyone in the apartment complex starts acting weird.

When The Grudge 2 works, the best word to describe it is creepy. The horrific imagery, mostly of a long haired, blue skinned Japanese woman and a young child, is unsettling and when they appear on screen, accompanied by some equally disturbing sound effects, it can't help but send chills up and down your spine. However, the circumstances in which these characters make their appearances have used up the suspense quotient of this franchise. By now the rules are clear, when characters are alone and everything seems normal, these beings are popping up somewhere to scare the bejesus out of whoever is on screen and attempt to exact their revenge. It works sometimes, but the film fails to make any adjustments to the situations involving these beings, and you stop really being surprised by their appearance and begin expecting it. Yes, they are creepy, but the circumstances that surround them are relatively rote. Suspense works well when you can't predict what is going to happen, but in The Grudge 2, after a while, it all seems rather familiar.

The film's fractured narrative, while giving The Grudge 2 some difference from the previous entry, works against the film in many ways also. Because it is constantly switching back and forth between three different subplots, it is difficult to get attached to any of the characters. Of course, as this is a modern horror film, the characters are relatively thin to begin with, but with the constant cutting between stories, it becomes enormously difficult to get a bead on anyone and develop much attachment to them. So, when the characters find themselves in peril, you have a hard time feeling much sympathy for them. The Grudge 2 also has a plot twist, which early on becomes reasonably obvious, so when it plays out at the end, there isn't much surprise in store.

The actors are the usual batch of relative no names, for the most part. The girls in the film, which is what the stories largely center around, do their best to cry, scream and shake hysterically, and they are all reasonably effective, but there is nothing revolutionary being performed. Sarah Michelle Gellar reappears for a relatively small role, so she doesn't make much impact, and the other major actress, Jennifer Beals, is also saddled with what almost amounts to a bit part.

The Grudge 2 isn't a complete bomb, by any means, it is more than disturbing enough in moments to provide some general discomfort that horror films should try to apply. However, other than some chills here and there, The Grudge 2 doesn't offer anything tremendously original or scary, resulting in a largely mixed bag.

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?