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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The Grudge 2 is a spooky installment in Takashi Shimizu's hardworking Ju-on/Grudge series of horror pictures. It doesn't carry the disorienting thrill of the very first Japanese Ju-on features, but it's a lot creepier than anybody could have expected. The story picks up from the end of the first Hollywood version of The Grudge, and has nothing to do with Ju-on 2, Shimizu's Japanese sequel. Sarah Michelle Gellar returns (a distinctly supporting role) as an American woman traumatized by her experiences with a haunted house in Tokyo; younger sister Amber Tamblyn flies over to help out. This particular storyline doesn't have much meat on it; the murder house is still there, and people who go inside have a disconcerting habit of dropping dead. Fortunately, two other plots thread into the basic one: a group of American schoolgirls in Tokyo become intrigued by the legend of the house, and some Chicago apartment dwellers are unsettled by domestic anxiety and the weird sounds coming from next door. (This storyline, featuring Jennifer Beals, gives the film its extremely satisfying opening sequence.) As usual with these movies, sequences come to us in non-chronological order, and it's up to us to piece it together. You can guess where the film is going, but the slow trajectory toward its final sequences is surprisingly involving. The movie was widely panned upon its release, which says more about the presumption of the law of diminishing sequel returns than the film itself--it's a decent little horror flick. --Robert Horton
Stills from The Grudge 2 (click for larger image)
More The Grudge 2 at Amazon.com
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The Grudge 2 Reviews:
Will scare you out of your seat 
2008-11-26 - I loved the opening scene where Jennifer Beals character first pours hor bacon grease over her live in boyfriends head, and to finish it off then hits him over the head with a cast iron frying pan. Awsome. We don't know at that point she has been taken over by the "thing". One of the better horror shows in years. Beals can do it all, but gets little credit.
SCARY BUT STUPID 
2008-10-10 - ALL THIS MOVIE WAS ABOUT IS A GHOST WITH HER EYE'S POPING OUT. WHOOPEEE! LOL
Mediocre writing, directing, and acting
2008-08-05 - Japanese films have a long tradition of ghost stories, both played for scares and morality lessons. The new wave of ghost stories have caught on in the West but the results are bumpy. Grudge 2 doesn't have the surprise factors that the first movie did and has to rely on other devices to be engaging. It fails. Many of the scenes have the actors slowly walking around dark rooms and then finding something, maybe a ghost, maybe a body, maybe someone just hiding. Sound familiar? It has all the conventional scenes of horror films and none of what made Grudge a thrilling scary ride. I prefer mystery to horror and gore so I liked the Grudge well enough. However Grudge 2 oculd easily be skipped.
CONFUSING AND BORING 
2008-06-21 - This movie makes no sense at all , it does not explain why anything is happening, the cronologic line of the film is extreme confusing , and the characters are boring and has the carisma of a pineapple , do not buy this movie , do not rent this movie , if you see it in a store somewere run away screaming in terror .
Not that dreadful. 
2008-06-06 - The Grudge 2 is a pretty lame in parts but as a whole this sequel isn't a total trainwreck. Amber Tamblyn saves this film with her honest acting. Sarah Michelle Gellar has a small role in this one and you probably know why. Some of the plots didn't make sense but I didn't feel the need to turn this movie off either. It's a mixed bag, decide for yourself.
