Review of Grudge 2, The

Introduction

After I first saw `Ring` on Channel 4 and was blown away by it, I decided to investigate other horror films from Asia and bought the DVDs of, amongst others, `Dark Water`, `The Eye` and the two `Ju-on: The Grudge` films. Since then, Hollywood has caught on and has re-made (or is re-making) just about every Asian horror film I`ve seen.

`The Grudge 2`, like its predecessor, uses a non-linear narrative and is broken into interlinking chapters, each focusing on a different character, thus moving through time and space. A powerful curse, or `grudge` is unleashed wherever someone dies a violent death. In the case of this franchise, Kayako was killed by her husband who then dies himself, leaving their son, Toshio, alone in the house.

Using many of the same characters and the same setting as `Ju-on: The Grudge`, the sequel is set around an actress, Kyoko (Noriko Sakai) who, together with her fiancé, has a car crash in which she miscarries. She then becomes involved in a TV documentary, filmed in the house in which the events of the first film took place and is still haunted by Kayako and Toshio. The documentary is about the events that took place in the first film and, following the shoot in the house, Kyoko finds out that she is pregnant again. As with `Ju-on: The Grudge`, Kayako and Toshio haunt everyone who has ever set foot in the house as `the grudge` has its way leading to some genuinely creepy setups and scares.

Video

The anamorphic widescreen transfer is generally good although shamefully there is a contrast problem with the darker scenes and a `ghosting` effect is far too evident.

The subtitles are very clear and a step up from the frequently misspelled and grammatically incorrect subtitles on the region 3 release.

Audio

There are three audio options, Japanese DTS, Japanese DD 5.1 and English DD 5.1. The two Japanese tracks are both clear and use the surrounds brilliantly to emphasise the eerie atmosphere and crank up the tension. I dislike dubbed soundtracks intensely and feel that they only have a place as an option on animated features. As with other dubs, the English dub just sounds `wrong` as the Japanese actors should be speaking Japanese and not English. I tried to watch the film with the English soundtrack, but I had a major problem with accepting the authenticity of the movie as it is perfectly clear that the actors were not saying the lines I heard. If you find it difficult to watch a film and read subtitles, then you are likely to welcome the inclusion of a DD 5.1 English soundtrack.

Features

The commentary by `Mr. Asian Cinema` is busy and informative as Bey Logan inundates you with facts, telling you the cast and crew`s filmography, full name date of birth, phone number and shoe size (OK, I made the last two up!). He has really expanded from working with Hong Kong Legends on the commentaries for martial arts films and has recently provided good commentaries for both this and the Korean War drama `Brotherhood`.

Disc one also contains `future attractions`, which comprise trailers and technical information for: The Grudge; Ong-Bak; Brotherhood; Once Upon a Time in High School; Initial D: Drift Racer and Crying Fist.

Disc two starts with a promotional gallery which contains a host of trailers and publicity material for this film from around the world.

`The Curse Continued` gives you three featurettes: `Terror Re-Born: The Making of Ju-on: The Grudge 2`; `A New Nightmare: Behind the Scenes of Ju-on: The Grudge 2` and `Master of Horror: An Interview With Director Shimizu Takashi`. The `making of` is an interesting and revealing piece, running at nearly twenty minutes and shows you how several scenes were accomplished. The `behind the scenes` featurette is comprised of interviews with the cast and crew and includes anecdotes about filming and what different actors thought when they signed on to the project. The interview with Shimizu Takashi isn`t exactly fascinating but is a decent one-on-one with the director who talks about the process of realising the film, prank calls and what goes on in his head.

The four deleted scenes are really extended scenes which add to the film once you have seen it and a strong argument could be made against the cuts.

The `House of Horrors` is a guided tour around the house which you explore with your remote and there is information about the film, interviews and out-takes to be found. It`s an interesting gimmick which is surprisingly not entirely pointless, but does get a little tiresome after a while.

Conclusion

This is the fourth time that Shimizu has visited the `Ju-on` franchise in Japan, along with directing the American remake and its sequel, and this is the most accomplished of the four. Having not seen the two straight-to-video installments, I prefer the original theatrical release, but this is evidence that Shimizu is becoming a better filmmaker and director with each outing.

I really like the `Ju-on` films and think Shimizu is a talented director but consider the `Ju-on` films to be on the second-tier of Asian horrors below Hideo Nakata`s `Ring` and `Dark Water`. Anyone familiar with any of the `Ju-on` films should know what to expect from `The Grudge 2` and Shimizu delivers with genuinely unsettling scenes and well worked shocks. This film leaves the way open for a third instalment which Shimizu is apparently working on and given that he has spent almost his entire career working on the same story, I hope that part 3 concludes the series and enables him to turn his talent to creating new and fresh horror films.