"The Grudge 2" Movie Review

The explosive frights of "The Grudge" are replaced by a series of disappointing misfires in the weak sequel.


Perhaps "The Grudge 2" would be a pleasing curiosity if it were a low budget offering from a fledgling director with some new ideas, but the truth is that this latest sequel to a remake from a well-worn genre is simply too tame and too lame to be recommended.

Sarah Michelle Gellar returns as Karen Davis, though all too briefly, still hospitalized after the trauma she experienced in "The Grudge." Karen's sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) arrives to take the distraught girl home, but she quickly becomes involved with the deadly curse invoked by the vengeful spirit Takako.

Surprisingly, "The Grudge 2" offers none of the gruesome shocks that peppered the original, as if it were intentionally stripped of its horrific bite for the sake of catering to a younger and broader audience. Ironically and inexplicably, Grudge 1 and 2 each carry the same PG-13 rating.

There are a few scattered moments of creepy special effects, particularly one scene reminscent of Samara's entry from image to reality in "The Ring." But for those who have seen "The Ring," "Ringu," "The Grudge," "Ju-On," "Pulse," etc, the kind of limp, predictable scares and unconvincing acting to be found in "Grudge 2" just aren't going to satisfy.

As in the original film, the stories of several different and seemingly unrelated Americans are intermixed, though their relationship to each other is not known until the final scenes. The result is a lot of murky and disjointed plot development in service to a weak denouement.

The coy secrecy involved in the unfolding of the story ultimately reveals that "the grudge" has changed as a result of Karen's burning of the accursed house. Now one need not enter the accursed house to be victims of its ghosts, but merely to come into contact with someone who did. It's an idea that's not played out with much effectiveness at all.

Horror fans who are grudgingly lured back to theatres for this lame excercise in J-horror are likely to leave harboring a grudge of their own against director Takashi Shimizu as well as the venerated Sam Raimi for placing his Ghost House imprimatur on this near-camp retread.

Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Amber Tamblyn
Arielle Kebbel
Teresa Palmer
Jennifer Beals

Directed by: Takashi Shimizu