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:

ghost | schoolgirl | haunted house | cat | urinating in fear | 

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Taglines:

What Was Once Trapped, Will Now Be Unleashed

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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

The film underperformed below expectations, and grossed $39.1 million in North America, making it the first ever film to open over $20 million yet gross less than 50% of its earnings after opening weekend. It also easily set the record for lowest gross of a $20 million opener.

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Goofs

(at around 57 mins) When reading the diary, the characters read the book left to right, like a book written in English. Japanese, when written in tategaki format (top to bottom) or yokogaki (left to right), still is opened and paged right to left. However, the characters correctly read the printed book in the same scene.

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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

Followed by The Grudge 3 (2009)

User Reviews

I actually like this movie........

Shoot me if you must. Shun me if necessary. But I actually really liked this movie. It kept me entertained for 102 minutes and provided some great scares. I never keep my hopes up for sequels and this movie was no different. This was atmospheric and despite what some people say, it did have a plot, although it was all over the place (so it's kind of hard to explain). The acting was good from all. Takashi Shimizu is a great director, he knows how to create suspense and keep it for the duration of the movie. He also knows how to keep an "all over the place plot" very easy to follow. I'm also glad he introduced some new elements into the plot which made it much more interesting. (Can't wait until the final installment)! And finally, the curse (Kayako and Toshio) is still as scary and creepy as ever. There were many scenes that had me very creeped out.

3½/5.

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:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

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