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.

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Plot Keywords:

telephone terror | ghost | schoolgirl | haunted house | cat | 

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Taglines:

What Began With One....Will End With Many.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was retitled Ju-on: Pandemic when released in Japan.

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Goofs

The runtime listed on the back of the Dutch Blu-ray has a typo. The listed runtime is 98 minutes but upon watching the disc, it can be seen that the runtime is actually 108 minutes (the unrated cut).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bill: [while Trish is frying bacon] You're gonna burn them... You gonna go shopping for three hours again today? Leave your cellphone off? You think I don't know what you're doing? You think I'm stupid, eh? Yet you can't make me a simple... damn breakfast.

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Crazy Credits

The Torch Lady in the Columbia Pictures logo gets possessed by Kayako, causing the logo to flicker (during which the film title briefly appears) and go dark.

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Alternate Versions

In the US, there is a PG-13 rated version of the film which was shown in theaters, and Takashi Shimizu's unrated director's cut of the film which was released on DVD, along with the PG-13 rated one.

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Connections

Referenced in FoundFlix: The Grudge (2020) (2020)

User Reviews

Okay, but nothing to get excited about.

Gruge 2 picks up immediately after the first. Having not seen the first, I was pleasantly surprised that the movie can stand alone and it was easy to understand what needed to be known. Despite being easy to understand, the movie is disjointed with several plots occurring at the same time. I found myself wishing they'd stick to one story instead of merging several.

The audience reaction was very mixed. Young people were literally screaming during scenes that made me laugh. Where the movie fails is that it uses the same gimmick repeatedly throughout. The gimmick is already obvious from the film's trailer.

There is no good side to the story as it unfolds. Like many other foreign films, the characters do not grow and learn. They are simply victims living as a pawn in the writer's imagination.

Ultimately, the only element of mystery is trying to figure out when the three stories will connect and relate to one another. I was so apathetic towards the end because essentially it all became irrelevant.

As I left the theater, I was just confused as to why Sarah Michelle Gellar had even survived the first movie. The sequel did not need her. As I write the review it dawns upon me that this story isn't even interesting enough to tell.

Wait for the DVD rental. It's probably not worth buying unless you are a fan of the actors or actresses.

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:

The Grudge 2

Filming Locations:

Yokohama, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,825,300, 15 October 2006

Gross USA:

$39,143,839

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,711,175

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Ghost House Pictures, Mandate Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 108 min (Unrated Director's Cut) 137 min (Unrated Director's Cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1