THE STORY: From Sam Raimi and Columbia Pictures comes the eerie thriller The Grudge 2, which explores the dark secrets behind the revenge-seeking grudge’s wrath as the terrifying supernatural curse is unleashed on a group of seemingly unrelated victims, moving out of the burned-out house and spreading everywhere.
The much-anticipated sequel to the 2004 hit The Grudge, which earned over $188 million in worldwide box office receipts, stars Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia”), with Sarah Michelle Gellar returning briefly in the memorable role of Karen, once again under the direction of Takashi Shimizu, from a screenplay written by Stephen Susco. The producers are Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise.
Japanese actress Takako Fuji reprises her role as the terrorizing Kayako, Ryo Ishibashi returns in a cameo as Detective Nakagawa and nine-year-old Ohga Tanaka takes on the role of the tortured Toshio. Edison Chen (Infernal Affairs), Arielle Kebbel (Aquamarine), Teresa Palmer (December Boys), Sarah Roemer (upcoming Disturbia), Jenna Dewan (Step Up), Matthew Knight (The Greatest Game Ever Played), Christopher Cousins (Wicker Park), Jennifer Beals (“The L Word”) and Joanna Cassidy (“Six Feet Under”) make up the rest of the ensemble cast.
THE GRUDGE
The Grudge 2 carries the infectious, vengeful curse forward as it attacks a group of seemingly unrelated individuals:
Aubrey Davis (AMBER TAMBLYN) discovers from her bedridden mother, Mrs. Davis (JOANNA CASSIDY), that her sister Karen (SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR) is in a hospital in Japan. She also finds out that Karen is under investigation for the death of her boyfriend in a fire she started in a house located in Tokyo. Since Mrs. Davis is too ill to make the trip, she asks Aubrey to go to Tokyo and bring her sister home.
Shortly after she arrives in Tokyo, reporter and photographer Eason (EDISON CHEN), seeks out Aubrey to warn her that her sister, Karen, is in the thrall of something unseen and dangerous.
THE REVIEW: There doesn’t need to be a frankly in this review because frankly there is only so much we can complain about. The Grudge 2 is horrifyingly boring. No matter how hard they try, those little ghosts couldn’t scare me enough to stop yawning. The little boy and his mother try really hard to muster up the same amount of terror as in the first Grudge movie. The sequel isn’t funny and only evoked memories of the parody in Scary Movie 4.
THE GRUDGE
One has to wonder how far Sara Michelle Gellar has fallen to take up with a movie that is this awful. She should have just bailed. Gellar is barely in the movie but she couldn’t give up the easy paycheck? The Grudge franchise can’t possibly live on past this mess. Or can it? There are a few more editions of the franchise in Japan. Now that is scary!
+ Charlie Craine
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