Many many years ago, before he obtained any kind of mainstream popularity here in the states, I remember seeing Jackie Chan in a film called The Protector (not to be confused with the more recent film of the same name starring Tony Jaa). The film ends with a climatic fight scene between Jackie Chan and kickboxing legend, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace. I found out years later that they actually created two different versions of that fight scene. One version was for the American release of the film, and the other for the Asian release. Why did they do this? Because Asians and Americans differed on how they liked their fight scenes. Asians went for a fast-paced, but graceful, melee between the fighters, while Americans (at least in the mid-80's) preferred a slower-paced, slug-fest.
Twenty years later I'm finding that same discrepancy in horror movies. Within the last few years, the U.S. has been exposed to the Japanese horror film market (a/k/a "J-horror"). However like the fight scenes from the 1980's, the Japanese and Americans seem to differ on how they like their horror movie scares. The Japanese prefer a dark, creepy, atmosphere where the scares come slowly and subtly. Americans, on the other hand, seem to prefer the jump-out-at-you "gotcha!" scares. When I watched The Grudge 2, I didn't feel like I was watching a Japanese-made horror film, but rather an Americanized version of a J-horror film.
The Grudge 2, is the sequel to 2004's breakout hit The Grudge. Again, it was directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also directed the original Japanese version of the film (called Ju-on). Throughout the movie, I had the unfortunate sense that Shimizu wasn't sure what kind of film he wanted to make. The result is a horror movie that's a bastardization of true J-horror, and an Americanized version of J-horror. I didn't find this new hybrid of horror to be very effective, and in trying to combine the differing styles, I believe he may have alienated horror movie fans on both sides of the Pacific.
The plot of The Grudge 2 is relatively simple. A young girl, played by Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), is sent to Japan by her mother in order to retrieve her older sister, Karen. (Played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of The Grudge). Upon her arrival in Japan, she quickly gets caught up in the same curse that afflicted her sister, and she spends the remainder of the movie investigation the origin of the "grudge". The storyline could have ended there, but to the credit of Stephen Susco, the writer of The Grudge and The Grudge 2, there are a couple sub-plots intertwined in the story that elevates the movie slightly higher than the run of the mill sequel. Unfortunately, when the storylines combine at the end of the film, it may leave some movie goers feeling unfulfilled.
There are a few scary moments in the film, but I was disappointed to see that a couple of the scenes were merely recycled horror bits from either Ju-on, or other J-horror movies. So if you're not familiar with Ju-on, or other J-horror titles you might find these scenes scary, or at least somewhat clever. Otherwise you'll probably get a feeling of deja-vu.
One possible reason that Takashi Shimizu needed to visit the recycle bin is that including Ju-on, its remakes and sequels, this is essentially his 6th time telling the story of "Kayako", the ghost with a grudge. Takako Fuji, the actress that plays Kayoko, is quoted in Fangoria #257 that "It can be difficult to keep up my motivation, because I've played [Kayako] so many times." Perhaps this statement applies to Shimizu as well.
Fans of J-horror and the original The Grudge may enjoy this film, however it probably isn't strong enough to stand on its own for the overall mainstream movie audience.
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