Kyoko, an actress known as the 'horror queen', is out driving with her fiancé when they all of a sudden run over a cat on the road. They stop, only to take off a minute later again, leaving the cat dead on the road. After driving for a short while after the accident, suddenly a ghostly looking boy shows up in the car under the steering wheel, and so making them crash. Kyoko's fiancé ends up in a coma, and Kyoko herself is left alone and pregnant. A short while after, Kyoko is invited to star in some sort of documentary about a haunted house. The cast and crew go there to film, but strange things happen, and soon all that was involved in the making of the documentary starts dying in horrible ways, one after the other.
While Ju-on: The Grudge was a good movie but that didn't do too much for me, Ju-on: The Grudge 2 really scared me the first time I watched it a couple of years back. Watching it now again, it wasn't half as scary but as I've been overdosing on Asian horror for a long time, it's quite hard to find stuff that will have a major effect. Still, I consider Ju-on: The Grudge 2 to be one of the best Japanese horror movies I've seen, and I think it's definitely the best one of the Japanese Ju-on movies and tv-series. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are two series made for tv, and two theatrical releases out there which makes this one part 4 in the whole Ju-on 'thing' (not counting the American remake crap).
If you're new or somewhat new to Asian horror, then Ju-on: The Grudge 2 is truly recommended. It's creepy as hell, has a great eerie atmosphere going all the way throughout the movie, and has a lot of great scares that'll definitely make you jump. There are of course some horror scenes that are better than others, but there are really no 'cheap scares' that ever takes the seriousness away. Every time it tends to be scary, it succeeds in doing so as well. Awesome.
 
Ju-on: The Grudge 2 takes place in the same haunted house as the first movie did, and this time it's about a film crew and cast who are filming a documentary for tv there. If you've seen the first movie, A LOT of things will be very familiar, but it's not really needed to have seen the first flick to be able to enjoy this one. Everything is explained and the movie's easy to follow. Best thing compared to the first flick is that there are more scares here, and it has a bit of a faster tempo as well. Well, maybe it doesn't, but since it has more scares, it feels like there are more things constantly happening. Anyway, it never feels slow or slows down for that matter.
When it comes to acting, I have nothing to complain about. Some girl is quite irritating but it's easy to ignore, and her apperance has no effect on the outcome of the movie experience whatsoever. The film has a really eerie feel to it, and it's there from start to finish. Another good thing is that this movie delivers right from the start. It doesn't build the story up and starts to deliver the scary stuff in the last remaining half hour like so many other horror flicks do. Instead it starts off right away with some freaky stuff, and from then on deliver scares every now and then the movie throughout, with not too much time inbetween the scary scenes.
It's not too often a sequel tops the original movie, but this one sure did, and like I said before; I consider this to be one of the better Asian horror flicks out there. If you haven't overdosed on Asian horror and want to see a really scary movie, then this is an excellent pick. Also, it has a great ending that really delivers and makes the whole outcome pretty great. Highly recommended.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Ju-on 4
MOVIE YEAR: 2003
DIRECTOR: Takashi Shimizu
WRITING CREDITS: Takashi Shimizu
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Noriko Sakai, Chiharu Nîyama, Yui Ichikawa
COUNTRY: Japan
RUNTIME: 95 min
RATING: 10/10
Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Website/IMDB Click here
Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Trailer Click here
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