Ju-on: The Grudge 2

Horrorphile

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

Horrorphile - October 2008

Ju-on: The Grudge 2

October 30th 2008 00:32

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003) was released the same year as Ju-on: The Grudge, and is more of the same deadly shenanigans from malevolent ghosts Kayako (Takako Fuji) and Toshio (Yuya Ozeki). More croaking and crawling, squatting and staring, with more people frozen in fear and either ending up paralyzed corpses or vanishing altogether. If you enjoyed the terrorizing in the first movie, then you’ll no doubt have a right old scary experience this time round too.

Pregnant Kyoko (Noriko Sakai) and her fiancé Masashi (Ayumu Saitô) are driving along when the spectre of young Toshio appears below the steering wheel and gives the couple the fright of their lives. The car crashes, Kyoko loses her baby, and Masashi ends up in a coma.

Noriko Sakai as Kyoko

It’s revealed that Kyoko was involved in a television production that investigates haunted houses. She and her skeleton crew have been cursed after entering and tampering with the home where Kayako and Toshio once lived, before they were murdered by their husband/father. The cursed rage – Ju-on - is as strong as ever, perhaps even more wicked than ever. It certainly likes to “play” with its “food” so to speak, preying most heinously with its victims before they shuffle violently off this mortal coil, petrified shells of their former selves.

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Yui Ichikawa and Takako Fuji

Yui Ichikawa as Chihura and Takako Fuji as Kayako

Writer/director Takashi Shimizu is certainly having fun with his set-pieces. Ju-on: The Grudge 2 might not have quite the same concise feel as the first movie, but there’s definitely a lot going for it. At times it feels like a David Lynch movie, swinging wildly through dream and nightmare logic (or should that be nightmare non-sequiturs?) I was even reminded of A Nightmare on Elm Street during one imaginative scene involving schoolgirl Chihura (Yui Ichikawa) who somehow survived the first movie.

There are numerous excellent fright-pieces through-out the movie, my favourites being the double murder strangulation by Kayako’s poison ivy hair. Top marks for originality there! When Megumi is combing the wigs and you’re expecting Kayako to appear under one of them, but instead she appears from behind the changing room curtains, when the television director is freaked out by the photocopier machine duplicating blurred images of Kayako’s face and he’s about to leave the room you can make out Kayako’s face filling the whole of the monitor room window, yikes!

Kayako does the terror-crawl

Like I said, there are lots of great moments, and perhaps this sequel is less a sum of its parts, and more about the individual brilliant set-pieces (Dario Argento comes to mind). The Ju-on movies have polarised some viewers; they just don’t find them scary at all. Dare I say it, but there is a risibility that exists in both movies; imagery that should be disturbing, but can appear amusing. Then the grotesque truth emerges, rearing its ingeniously ugly head: the imagery combined with the sound effects, the music rising, the way director Shimizu moves his camera to reveal or has the actor slowly turn. These elements combined are pure nightmare material, and for those who aren’t scared, I suggest you check your pulse … perhaps you’re already dead?

Yuya Ozeki as hellboy, err, Toshio

Ju-on: The Grudge features a birth scene that wasn’t too dissimilar to the outrageousness of Takashi Miike’s Gozu and its over-the-top denouement. The finale scene leaves a nasty, but satisfying taste in the mouth and paves the way for what is apparently to be the third and final part which director Shimizu is currently in production on.

Straight black wigs will never be the same

Curiously although the Hollywood remake of the original (The Grudge) followed the narrative of the Japanese version, the remake of the sequel (The Grudge 2) did not follow the plot of this, but instead Shimizu wrote entirely new narrative threads, apart from the schoolgirl’s plight. If a third Hollywood movie is made, which direction will it take?

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Yuya Ozeki and Erika Kuroishi

Hiromi (Erika Kuroishi) craddles Chihura, whilst Toshio lingers

Ju-on: The Grudge and Ju-on: The Grudge 2 make a terrific double whammy ghost fest. If you haven’t seen either, make sure you indulge over the weekend; it’s Halloween remember, a perfect time to scare yourself and several mates shitless.

Here's the UK trailer:

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 DVD is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, and is also part of The Grudge Boxset (1 & 2), many thanks!

Shared on

Subscribe to this blog

Email this post to a friend

Go to the Orble Film Channel

Start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - Halloween III: Season of the Witch ]

[ Next - Ju-on: The Grudge ]

Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

October 30th 2008 01:29

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

I am actually waiting for the school holidays so I can rent this baby.

I love the Japanese School girl uniform since seeing 'Blood '.

Comment by Bryn

October 30th 2008 03:23

Horrorphile

Damo, so I'm assuming you've seen the first one? Or are you planning on doing a double whammy/
Re: Jap school girl ... stay tuned for my review of Machine Girl in a couple of weeks.

Comment by charles

October 31st 2008 06:52

FanFootball
ZCars
Ponderous

Noriko Sakai was HUGE in Japan in the mid-90s. I bet a lot of fan boys watched this for her alone.

Comment by Bryn

November 2nd 2008 23:16

Horrorphile

charles, hey there, yeah, she was great. Shimizu casts well.

[ Previous - Halloween III: Season of the Witch ]

[ Next - Ju-on: The Grudge ]

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.

CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag

Home Page (optional)

Comments

Notify me of replies

Notify extra people about this comment

Is this a private comment?

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment

One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.

One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)

Your Email Address

(optional)

(required for reply notification)

Submit

January 2009

2 Posts

December 2008

13 Posts

November 2008

7 Posts