Another week sees another horror sequel hit cinemas here in the UK and thankfully, it was a vast improvement over the original Japanese sequel.
The film deals with three (apparently separate) story threads. One of them deals with the aftermath of the first film’s climax, in which wee see Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Karen in hospital where her sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) visits her to find out what happened in the house she set alight. We also follow three school girls as they encounter the ‘haunted house’ and an American family who begin acting strangely, along with the rest of the residents in their apartment block.
The Grudge 2 adopts the same non-linear format present in the previous films in the series but thankfully makes things a little clearer by film’s end than the Japanese sequel did. The cast is full of rising stars and familiar faces this time around, and everyone works well together in their respective story segments.
The scares are probably doubled here, but this may be down to the fact that they also play on our expectations, such as a familiar ghost under the duvet sequence which plays out very differently in the end, than one would at first assume.
The film, like its predecessor is aesthetically pleasing, technically impressive and benefits from an even better score from Christopher Young than the first film did. It also manages to sustain interest and builds towards a suitable climax, although in essence it’s a bit pointless as characters seem to be no farther forward in the grand scheme of things, most likely in the hopes that it would make enough cash to warrant a third entry (which it has).
OVERALL SUMMARY
The Grudge 2 is a well made and pleasing sequel which is scary and interesting. It’s not as good as the first film, but they tried some new things out here, and I personally enjoyed it more than the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel.
