The Grudge 2 (2006)

Three interwoven stories about a terrible curse. A young woman encounters a malevolent supernatural force while searching for her missing sister in Tokyo; a mean high school prank goes horribly wrong; a woman with a deadly secret moves into a Chicago apartment building.

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writers:

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

Stars:

Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (archive footage)
Jennifer Beals	...	Trish
Christopher Cousins	...	Bill
Zen Kajihara	...	Folklore Guy
Takashi Matsuyama	...	Takeo

Storyline

In Pasadena, Mrs. Davis sends her daughter Aubrey Davis to Tokyo to bring her sister Karen Davis, who is interned in a hospital after surviving a fire, back to the USA. After their meeting, Karen dies and Aubrey decides to investigate what happened to her and gets herself trapped in the same situation, being chased by the ghost of the house. Meanwhile in Tokyo, the three high school mates Allison, Vanessa and Miyuki visit the famous haunted house and are also chased by the ghost. In Chicago, Trish moves to the apartment of her boyfriend Bill, who lives with his children, the teenager Lacey and boy Jake. On the next door, weird things happen with their neighbor.

---

Plot Keywords:

high school | ghost | supernatural | curse | schoolgirl | 

---

Taglines:

What Was Once Trapped, Will Now Be Unleashed

---

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States] Sony Pictures (No Flash) [United States]

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

13 October 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Fluch - The Grudge 2

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$586,635 (Brazil) (13 October 2006)

Gross:

$1,723,396 (Mexico) (24 November 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Ghost House Pictures, Mandate Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 108 min (Unrated Director's Cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To keep the mood on the set light, the actors and director would often joke around and attempt to frighten one another. This included a Karaoke session performed by Takashi Shimizu on Arielle Kebbel's birthday.

---

Goofs

When Aubrey goes into the dark room and picks up the picture, the picture should be black. It was in the developer last. It would have had to go into the stop bath to stop developing, and then the fixer to not go black when it was exposed to real light.

---

Quotes

Allison: [whimpers] Why did you have to bring me into this house...?
Vanessa: Uuuh, you were the one who wanted to go in!
Allison: [stands up and cries] What did I ever do to you?

---

Crazy Credits

The Columbia Pictures title lady changed into Kayako Saeki with the torch light she was holding flickered on and off, also while flickering instead of saying Columbia it said Grudge 2.

---

Connections

Referenced in 'Grudge 2': Storyline Development (2007)

User Reviews

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.