Ju-on (The Grudge) 2
NR
2003
** out of ****

I very much enjoy watching the original Japanese horror flicks that America likes to remake. Interestingly enough, as much as I like to slam anything that America remakes as being inferior, these Japanese horror movies are actually worse than their American counterparts. Usually the acting and the ghost design are the biggest problems. But I still love watching them anyway, so when I was at Hollywood Video last night (with French film “Empire of the Wolves” already in hand) and passed Ju-on (the grudge) 2, I had to pick it up.

As a side note, this movie was completely different than The Grudge 2. I thought that The Grudge 2 was another remake, especially since Ju-on 2 was made in 2003 and has the same writer, but nope, Ju-on 2 is a completely different movie. So that was a nice surprise - I wasn’t just seeing the Asian version of a movie that I had already seen. Premise: The story follows several characters during and after they film an episode of a popular TV show in a haunted house. If you’ve seen Ju-on, you know exactly which house the idiots chose for their location. ^_^ Angry ghosts cheerfully go after their new targets, causing terror and death wherever they go… except for in one character’s case, where there’s this whole silly (and typical) pregnancy storyline. You know what I’m talking about. The whole “she’s pregnant… but with what?!” storyline.

On the whole, I was entertained by this movie, but completely unimpressed. There were a couple of neat things about two of the storylines, and that was it. Amusingly enough, for the most part the characters seemed content to sit, stare, and make horrified noises as the ghost approaches them at a pace a slug could outrun. Now, I’ve never been in this situation, but I am pretty sure that if a crazy dead lady was inching her way towards me, I would not sit still and scream, I would run away and scream. If the ghosts are really as incapable of quick movement as they seem, then you could stay away from them indefinitely!

The ghosts were, true to form, less impressive than their American counterparts. Although I will say that in the Japanese versions of The Grudge movies the little boy ghost is much more malevolent. Take this scene, for instance. The main ghost has just hung one of the characters (Nori) with her hair, and the character remains suspended from the ceiling. Girlfriend walks in, and the little boy ghost is looking directly at her as he pushes Nori’s legs, causing him to swing back and forth, back and forth, a macabre pendulum.



The movie doesn’t really start to get bad until the last half an hour, twenty minutes or so. Then the pregnancy aspect of the storyline concludes, and it’s just so ridiculous that you’re left rolling your eyes. It’s not even worth laughing at.

So, bottom line: fun movie, the end sucks. I enjoyed watching it, and I never need to see it again. ^_^