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-

Shoot me if you must. Shun me if necessary. But I actually really liked this movie. It kept me entertained for 102 minutes and provided some great scares. I never keep my hopes up for sequels and this movie was no different. This was atmospheric and despite what some people say, it did have a plot, although it was all over the place (so it's kind of hard to explain). The acting was good from all. Takashi Shimizu is a great director, he knows how to create suspense and keep it for the duration of the movie. He also knows how to keep an "all over the place plot" very easy to follow. I'm also glad he introduced some new elements into the plot which made it much more interesting. (Can't wait until the final installment)! And finally, the curse (Kayako and Toshio) is still as scary and creepy as ever. There were many scenes that had me very creeped out.

3½/5.

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

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.