The Grudge 2 (2006)

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Susco (written by)
Takashi Shimizu (film "Ju-On: The Grudge")

Release Date:

13 October 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

What Was Once Trapped, Will Now Be Unleashed

Plot:

In Tokyo, a young woman (Tamblyn) is exposed to the same mysterious curse that afflicted her sister (Gellar). The supernatural force, which fills a person with rage before spreading to its next victim, brings together a group of previously unrelated people who attempt to unlock its secret to save their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Curse | Hospital | Drowning | Ghost Story | Cell Phone

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Karen
Amber Tamblyn	...	Aubrey
Arielle Kebbel	...	Allison
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako
Edison Chen	...	Eason
Sarah Roemer	...	Lacey
Matthew Knight	...	Jake
Misako Uno	...	Miyuki
Teresa Palmer	...	Vanessa
Ohga Tanaka	...	Toshio (as Oga Tanaka)
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio
Jennifer Beals	...	Trish
Christopher Cousins	...	Bill
Zen Kajihara	...	Folklore Guy
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo

Also Known As:

El grito 2 (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
La maldición 2 (Colombia) (Venezuela) [es]
Der Fluch - The Grudge 2 (Germany) [de]
Garez 2 (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Grudge - Klatwa 2 (Poland) [pl]
Grudge - La maldición 2 (Mexico) [es]
I katara 2 (Greece) [el]
Juon pandemic (Japan) [ja]
Kauna 2 (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality.

Runtime:

102 min | 108 min (Unrated Director's Cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Indonesia:Dewasa | Philippines:R-13 | Netherlands:16 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42011) | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/12 | France:-12 | Italy:T | South Korea:15 | India:UA | Sweden:15 | Australia:M | Japan:U | Iceland:16 | South Africa:13V

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The role of Vanessa was originally written for Vanessa Lengies, who eventually turned it down to film "My Suicide"; the part still bares her name.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Audrey enters Eason's dark room, she turns on the lights, but seconds later the light is red again.

Quotes:

Eason: [talking about kayako's mother] She used to take evil spirits out from a person and feed them to her daughter.

Movie Connections:

References The Ring (2002)

Mundane

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.