Product Details

• Actors: Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel, Stefanie Butler, Anna Moon
• Directors: Takashi Shimizu, Toby Wilkins
• Writers: Takashi Shimizu, Ben Ketai, Stephen Susco
• Producers: Ben Ketai, Bill Bannerman, Doug Davison
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: February 6, 2007
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (96 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000LRZHQY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,496 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Grudge 2 is a spooky installment in Takashi Shimizu's hardworking Ju-on/Grudge series of horror pictures. It doesn't carry the disorienting thrill of the very first Japanese Ju-on features, but it's a lot creepier than anybody could have expected. The story picks up from the end of the first Hollywood version of The Grudge, and has nothing to do with Ju-on 2, Shimizu's Japanese sequel. Sarah Michelle Gellar returns (a distinctly supporting role) as an American woman traumatized by her experiences with a haunted house in Tokyo; younger sister Amber Tamblyn flies over to help out. This particular storyline doesn't have much meat on it; the murder house is still there, and people who go inside have a disconcerting habit of dropping dead. Fortunately, two other plots thread into the basic one: a group of American schoolgirls in Tokyo become intrigued by the legend of the house, and some Chicago apartment dwellers are unsettled by domestic anxiety and the weird sounds coming from next door. (This storyline, featuring Jennifer Beals, gives the film its extremely satisfying opening sequence.) As usual with these movies, sequences come to us in non-chronological order, and it's up to us to piece it together. You can guess where the film is going, but the slow trajectory toward its final sequences is surprisingly involving. The movie was widely panned upon its release, which says more about the presumption of the law of diminishing sequel returns than the film itself--it's a decent little horror flick. --Robert Horton

Stills from The Grudge 2 (click for larger image)

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Product Description
Acclaimed producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise have re-teamed with director Takashi Shimizu and screenwriter Stephen Susco to present this heart-stopping sequel to the smash-hit thriller, The Grudge. When Aubrey Davis learns her sister Karen (Sarah Michelle Geller) has been hospitalized, she immediately flies to Tokyo. Once there, she learns her sister's horrifying story and discovers that the fatal supernatural curse has been unleashed. Now, as the grudge spreads across the world, a new host of unsuspecting victims are about to become infected by the force that can't be stopped -- and won't be killed.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful film, April 18, 2008

By	Gogol (England) - See all my reviews

Having watched the original Japanese Grudge 2 I didn't think it could possibly get worse but nope, the American version even beat that one.

A pointless plot that goes nowhere (The same croaking female ghost with disjointed body movements, the little boy with the large eyes that turns into a cat every now and again and the mad ex hubby thrown in at the end (That is, if you can be bothered to watch that far, personally I was busy tidying up the living room by that time))

For some reason the director of these films seems to think viewers are going to be scared out of their minds by a Japanese woman with large eyes and a hair loss problem which sadly (for him at least) they are not. Not even throwing in a majority American cast (Even though the film is set in Japan) Is going to convince the audience.

Avoid at all costs, there are far better things to be doing with 2 hours of your life.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gives Too Little Screen Time To Some Excellent Ideas, But Still A Fine Movie, January 9, 2007

By	Stephen B. O'Blenis (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grudge 2 (DVD)

Not remotely the same as the Japanese "Ju-On: The Grudge 2", this movie picks up from the same point ("The Grudge" and "Ju-On" were almost identical anyway) but heads off in a completely different direction, with mostly different characters from "Ju-On 2" and different concepts. It's not on par, in my opinion, with "Ju-On 2" but it is a very good movie in its own right, above both the first "Grudge" and the first "Ju-On" and introducing new ideas that beg for further follow-up.

"The Grudge 2" follows three paths - Karen Davis's sister Aubrey (played by Amber Tablyn) journeys to Japan where her sister is hospitilized and ends up drawn into the growing Ju-On curse; two private school idiots trick an insecure classmate into going with them to the vacant Saeki house, where they delight in locking her in a closet - admittedly not believing that the house really is haunted and that their poor prank-victim is about to encounter Kakuro; in an apartment building in the United States, the curse set loose in the first movie has somehow crossed the ocean and begun its hauntings there as well. The three plots end up tied together, but not in the way one might expect.

"The Grudge 2" has a lot going for it, but it's also hobbled by some shortcomings - the same thing seems to happen to all the Grudge movies except "Ju-On 2". Although the good outweighs the bad, the movie is still hampered. One of the faults could conceivably be fixed when the Unrated edition of the DVD is release, assuming it's extended in length. Probably the most interesting plot idea introduced here - a horrifying angle that looks at Kakuro's past and explains why she and her son were, of all the people who die violent deaths, the two who ended up transforming into Ju-On ghosts upon their deaths - is given all too brief play in the movie. This angle deserves more, either in a significantly extended cut of "The Grudge 2" or in a further sequel that makes it one of the main focuses.

Also, and though this happens only briefly, there is a single scene where the generally frightening spirits come off, instead of frightening, as kind of campy; it really put a crick in the movie right when it was building up some tension. Also, you've got three seperate plots (four if you count the all too-brief Kakuro backstory) in a one-and-a-half hour movie - it doesn't need to be extended with a couple of scenes, it needs to be Seriously extended, like at least another thirty minutes. The parts of the movie that didn't really work were because it kept 'cutting to the chase' way too quick instead of developing. A number of characters needed a bit more screen time. Personally, I would have liked for Jenna Dewan's character (I can't recall her name) in it longer, and not just because she's hot (although that's a part of it. This movie has some really nice-looking female cast members) but also because, gathering by what was on the screen, her character seems to get drawn quite deeply into the whole web of the Ju-On curse, but we see only a brief moment of its results rather than developing this point.

It probably comes off like I'm saying that everything that could go wrong does, but that's not it. It's just that we've got a really good movie here, but it could have been better - quite a bit better in fact. If there's more scenes shot, I hope they include them in the extended edition (which apparantly Is going to be quite a bit longer, so that's a good sign). The theatrical edition alone is good; with some of the angles allowed to play out longer it could be great. Even the theatrical cut 'as is' is worth getting though. You may also want to check out 'Ju-On 2', for an entirely different story following up the original events.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lot of potential that it doesn't live up to , February 12, 2007

By	R. Gaeta "Night_Hawk07" (Joliet, IL USA) - See all my reviews

The first film wasn't anything special and a little forgettable but was interesting because of some pretty good acting and storytelling. Sarah Michelle Gellar did a fantastic job as Karen in the previous film but it's extremely disappointing to see her role drastically reduced in this film. It's almost as if the producers only wanted her to return because they knew she was a huge draw in the first film, partly because of her dedicated "Buffy" fans.

It's no secret that the character of Karen doesn't last very long and she is her successor is her sister played by Amber Tamblyn. Tamblyn, who turned in a great performance on her two years of "Joan of Arcadia" does the best she can with her character (which has a total of two facial expressions throughout the whole movie: devastated and confused). I suspect it's the writers fault for not giving the character anything to do because she drifts throughout the whole movie not knowing what is going on.

The storyline itself is pretty intriguing. In the first film, the curse of Kayako was contained within the house but in this film it's moving to the outside world. What's intriguing about this storyline fails with all the cutting between different story lines. The secondary characters aren't very interesting and the death scenes are just horrible. They come and go and you can automatically tell from the beginning who will die or live.

The ending of the film is what makes the film better. It probably will leave a lot of people confused or angry by how abstract it is but I think it'll lead perfectly into a third "Grudge", if they make one.