The Grudge 2

Infobox Film
name = The Grudge 2


caption = The poster for the film
director = Takashi Shimizu
producer = Roy Lee
Sam Raimi
Robert Tapert
writer = Stephen Susco
starring = Amber Tamblyn
Arielle Kebbel
Jennifer Beals
Edison Chen
Sarah Roemer
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Jenna Dewan
music = Christopher Young
cinematography = Katsumi Yanagishima
editing = Jeff Betancourt
distributor = Sony (USA)
Universal Studios (UK)
released = October 13, 2006 (U.S.)
October 26, 2006 (Aus)
Gross = $68,643,839
runtime = 102 min./108 min. Director's Cut [ cite web | author= Box Office Mojo| year=October 5, 2006| title= Grudge 2 runtime| format= | work= Box Office Mojo| url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grudge2.htm
accessdate=2006-10-05]
country = United States
awards =
language = English
Japanese
budget = $20 Million [ cite web | author= Box Office Mojo| year=October 16, 2006| title= Grudge 2 production budget| format= | work= Box Office Mojo| url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=grudge2.htm
accessdate=2006-10-05]
preceded_by = "The Grudge" (2004)
followed_by = "The Grudge 3" (2008)
amg_id = 1:325767
imdb_id = 0433386
website = http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge2/site/

"The Grudge 2" is the 2006 sequel to the 2004 American horror film remake "The Grudge". "The Grudge 2" is the second film in Sony's "The Grudge" series and is directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of the original series) [ cite web | author= IMDB| year=October 5, 2006| title= Grudge 2 directed by original Ju-on director| format= | work= IMDB| url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1234345/
accessdate=2006-10-05] and written by Stephen Susco. [ cite web | author= Counting Down | year=October 5, 2006| title= Sony hires original Grudge screenwriter| format= | work= Counting Down| url= http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3578583/news?item_id=3578585
accessdate=2006-10-05] The film is produced by Sam Raimi and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel, Jenna Dewan, and Edison Chen. As stated by Takashi Shimizu the film is not a remake of "" and does follow a different storyline. [ cite web | author= Sci Fi | year=September 10, 2006| title= Grudge 2 not a remake | format= | work= Sci Fi| url= http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=35283| accessdate=2006-09-10]

The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA, M by the OFLC and 15 by the BBFC for its content of mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality.cite web| url=http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_SrchReslts.asp| title=The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)| month=October 6th| year=2006| last=| accessdate=2006-10-06] The film was released in North America on October 13 [ cite web | author= IMDB| year=September 10, 2006| title= North American Release Date| format= | work=IMDB| url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0433386/releaseinfo | accessdate=2006-09-10] after being pushed forward a week from the original October 20 release date. [ cite web | author= House of Horrors | year=October 5, 2006| title= Original release date| format= | work= House of Horrors| url= http://www.houseofhorrors.com/crypt/pages/recent_news/printer_557.shtml
accessdate=2006-10-05] [ cite web | author= The Grudge 2 Move.Com | year=October 6, 2006| title= Previous Release Date| format= | work= The Grudge 2 Move.Com| url= http://www.the-grudge-2-movie.com/article.php3?id_article=14549
accessdate=2006-10-06] The film was released in United Kingdom on October 20 and in Australia on October 26, 2006. [ cite web | author= IMDB| year=September 10, 2006| title= Australian Release| format= | work= IMDB| url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0433386/releaseinfo | accessdate=2006-09-10]

ynopsis

The Grudge

In "The Grudge", Kayako Saeki (Takako Fuji) was a young Japanese woman who developed an unhealthy obsession with an American professor named Peter, who was working in Japan. She chronicled her obsession in her diary, which was found by her husband Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama). Takeo then broke his wife's neck and drowned their son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) in the bathtub, then slashed their cat's throat. He wrapped his wife in plastic and placed her body in the attic. He then placed Toshio's body in an upstairs closet, before being hanged by Kayako's spirit. Kayako's demonic spirit haunted the house, using Toshio and their cat to terrorize and ultimately destroy anyone who came into contact with them, except for a young American social worker named Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar). "The Grudge 2" finds Karen in a hospital after attempting to burn down the house following the death of her boyfriend. The movie encompasses three stories following the lives of Karen's sister Aubrey, three schoolgirls living in Japan, and a family living in Chicago in different time periods.

Karen, Eason and Aubrey

Karen and Aubrey Davis' sick mother sends Aubrey to Japan to bring her sister home since she is unable to do so on her own, given her current medical condition. Aubrey goes to the hospital in Japan, but initially cannot see her sister due to the language barrier between the nurses and herself. Eason, a journalist who pulled Karen from the fire in the previous film happens to be at the desk and translates for her. Karen is at first unsure of Aubrey, but once convinced, she repeatedly asks her sister to get her out of the hospital. Orderlies strap Karen down to the bed, and when Aubrey leaves the room, her sister whispers, "Aubrey, don't go in that house."

The lights flicker in Karen's room. She struggles to get free when a hand grabs her right arm. Karen manages to get free and escape the guard and orderlies. After passing a group of medical staff and seeing Kayako, she ends up trapped in a hallway. The lights go out one by one, Kayako staggering towards her with the death rattle. Karen manages to get away and on to the roof of the hospital. She hears the death rattle once more and backs away to the edge of the roof. Kayako pulls Karen over the edge in time for Aubrey and Eason, who are leaving the hospital, to see her lifeless body land in front of them. A horrified Aubrey collapses, while Eason sees Kayako clutching Karen.

Later, while Eason is in his apartment, he watches one of his interviews with Detective Nakagawa about the original family murder-suicide of the first film. When Eason rewinds and slows the tape down, he is able to hear Kayako's signature death rattle and see her face in the door. He shuts off the television and sees the reflection of Kayako, but when he turns around, she isn't there.

Eason goes over to Karen's apartment to see Aubrey. They talk and Eason explains Karen's behaviour, only because he himself feels it. He knows the fire didn't solve the curse, but made it worse.

They go to the cursed house, and Eason tells Aubrey to stay outside the gate. Inside, Eason finds the closet, and inside there is nothing but Kayako's childhood diary. An unseen force flips it to a page with an eye. Outside, Aubrey hears Karen's voice asking her not to enter the house, but she does when Toshio's hand grabs her arm and pulls her in. Eason comes down and they leave.

Eason calls a friend who is more knowledgeable of folklore to understand Kayako's diary. They find out her mother was able to heal people by removing inhabiting evil spirits and feeding them to her daughter Kayako. Aubrey and Eason find a matching photograph and drawing of a traditional archway outside the house where she grew up. The pair spend some time together at Eason's apartment, and when Aubrey falls asleep, he goes into his darkroom to look at pictures he took of the house's exterior. He notices a dark mass in one and develops another, an enlargement of that area. As it develops, the dark mass grows and the chemicals turn black. Kayako's head slowly comes out, and then leaps out and grabs him.

Aubrey wakes up in the morning and finds herself alone. She goes into the darkroom and finds the picture, then notices Eason's body in the corner. She hugs him, but he becomes Kayako and his arms wrap around her. Aubrey runs away as all the pictures in the darkroom show Kayako's face.

Aubrey takes a train and then a bus to Kayako's home. A man on the bus plays peekaboo with some unseen child, but Aubrey doesn't notice it's Toshio's reflection. She goes to the house and finds Kayako's mother, who says that although she fed evil spirits to her daughter to heal others, she did not make Kayako what she is now. She explains that the events are not about the house, but making others suffer the way she suffered; there is no way to stop it. She then realizes that Aubrey had brought Kayako with her, and Kayako's mother dies.

Aubrey leaves and returns to the cursed house. She calls home and tells her mother Karen is dead. When her mother accuses her of not being "able to do anything on her own," Aubrey tells her she loves her, but her mother has to stop talking to her like that and says goodbye. She goes into the house and sees Karen go upstairs, calling for Doug. Aubrey follows her. Then suddenly the house appears like what it was when Kayako lived in it. She then sees Takeo reading the diary. As she turns to run away, her ankle snaps and she crawls down the stairs, but is caught by Takeo who snaps her neck. Intercut flashes show that she is killed exactly how Kayako was, and Aubrey is able to understand the pain Kayako felt as she becomes the new Kayako.

The Schoolgirls

Allison (Arielle Kebbel) is a new student at the international high school in Tokyo, where she meets students Vanessa (Teresa Palmer) and Miyuki (Misako Uno). They take Allison to the Saeki house in order to play a prank on her. The girls convince her to enter the closet Toshio's body was stored in, and force the door closed. After Allison screams, the other girls try to open the door but can't, and Allison is unable to exit the closet until she sees Toshio and what appears to be Kayako.

Later, Allison is in class when she feels Toshio's cat brushing between her legs. She then senses human hands on her thighs. Pushing her supplies forward on her desk, she peers under her desk to find Toshio curled in a ball at her feet. As she jumps up, she realizes that he is not there, causing her to be embarrassed in front of her fellow classmates. As she sits down, she notices Toshio's cat proceeding to Miyuki's desk, and the two exchange nervous glances.

After they return to school, all three girls deal with hauntings from Toshio, the cat, and Kayako. After taking a shower in which Kayako haunts Vanessa in a fashion similar to the somewhat iconic scene in "The Grudge", Vanessa then sees a ghostly image in the locker room that frightens her, causing her to pee herself. Miyuki leaves school for an afternoon rendezvous with her boyfriend Michael (Shaun Sipos) at a love hotel. While Michael is in the shower, Miyuki feels something grabbing her beneath the covers. She smiles and laughs, thinking it is Michael who has shortly left the shower. When she looks towards the bathroom, she sees that Michael has returned to the shower, meaning that something else is beneath the covers. Miyuki looks under the cover to see Toshio staring at her, and backs away toward the mirror behind her. Suddenly, Kayako emerges from the mirror and grabs Miyuki, pulling her within the mirror.

Vanessa and Allison are later interviewed by the school counselor (Eve Gordon) over the events surrounding Miyuki's disappearance and their trip to the haunted house. Allison is overcome and leaves followed by the school counselor, while Vanessa attempts to text Miyuki. She waits for the counselor to come back and fiddles with pens and the light. She looks down and notices the lamp is unplugged, but as she goes to plug it in again, she sees Toshio's legs as he runs in front of the desk. The phone starts to vibrate from a call, and as she goes to pick up the phone, she feels Toshio's legs instead on the desk. She gets out from under the desk, frightened, and picks up the call to hear Kayako's death rattle. She runs out from school grounds to a phone booth and calls Miyuki. All she hears is the death rattle and Toshio grabs her legs, while she is consumed and killed by Kayako.

Allison is again called to the principal office, where she reveals her belief that she and anyone who enters the Saeki house have been cursed. Principal Dale reveals that she went to the house, as ghostly versions of Miyuki and Vanessa appear. Principal Dale then turns into a ghost as well and advances on Allison. Allison, completely horrified, runs out of the room screaming.

Chicago, Illinois

In Chicago, Bill Kimble (Christopher Cousins) has recently married a woman named Trish (Jennifer Beals), and is moving into the apartment he shares with his daughter Lacey (Sarah Roemer) and son Jake (Matthew Knight). While Lacey and her friend Sally (Jenna Dewan) are friendly with Trish, Jake is distant. The young boy is troubled when the child of his neighbors, the Flemings, moves back in after going insane. At night, he is awakened by a series of loud knockings from the Flemings apartment. Curious, he follows one of the apartments tenants and sees the person, who is wearing a sweatshirt, getting old newspapers from the trash. When the person turns around to leave, Jake hides behind an object. He then notices two pairs of feet following the person out the basement. Jake looks out, only to see that there is no one behind the person. After Bill leaves for work, Jake and Lacey leave for school, and Jake notices that all of the windows in the Flemming's apartment are covered with newspaper. Bill, doubting his wife's fidelity, returns home unexpectedly, under the pretense of having forgotten his keys, only to find Trish on the phone with a coworker she identifies as Nate. It is revealed, that Bill is squeezing his keys so hard that they cut his hands, though Trish doesn't notice.

After school, Lacey decides to show off her cheerleader outfit to Sally, who appears ill (presumably due to the curse). Sally drinks then regurgitates milk. Lacey returns home to find Jake shivering in his closet, afraid because Trish and Bill have been fighting. Jake is again awakened by pounding on the walls, and upon investigation discovers his sweatshirt wearing neighbor is a young woman, who is banging her arm on the wall as she furiously cuts her own hair. After seeing the ghostly eyes of Vanessa and Miyuki staring in the window, Jake returns home and spends the night with his sister. That night Toshio appears by Sally's bed as she dies after a too large intake of milk.

The next morning, after Trish listens to the banging from next door, she begins to make breakfast in a trance. Bill, all this time having been influenced by the spirit of Takeo, accuses her of having an affair, but she does not respond. After Bill criticizes her for burning the bacon, Trish pours the oil from the pan onto his head before killing him with a blow to the head. Lacey and Jake return home to a dark and messy apartment, while the banging from next door continues. As his sister looks for a flashlight, Jake discovers his father's body. Searching for Lacey, Jake finds that she has been drowned in the tub. As he hears Trish calling his name, Jake attempts to revive his sister. An already dead Trish appears in the tub, telling him it's time for his bath, before Toshio pulls her under the water.

As Jake is fleeing his apartment, he hears screams from the Flemings' apartment. The girl in the sweatshirt turns out to be Allison, haunted by Vanessa and Miyuki, from the school in Tokyo. Through a series of flashbacks, it is learned that the ghost Allison saw in the house was actually the spirit of Aubrey (who'd became the new Kayako). Jake accuses her of bringing something back with her which caused his family's death, and she confirms that "they" have followed her to Chicago. Allison sees Kayako (formerly Aubrey) climbing down the hallway stairs, and Jake shortly after sees Toshio inside the hood of Allison's sweat shirt. Kayako's hands emerge from the hood and pull Allison into her clothing, her body disappearing into it. Jake reaches for the sweatshirt as a ghostly hand grasps his arm; Kayako then rises from the hood and lurches towards him as the movie ends.

Deaths (in order of appearance)

DVD

"The Grudge 2" was released on DVD and UMD video for the PlayStation Portable on February 6, 2007. Both are available in a rated and unrated director's cut format. The unrated format is 6 minutes longer than the rated version.

Both DVD formats include the following extras:

*Tales from The Grudge
*Cast & Crew reel change montage
*Four Featurettes:
**Holding a Grudge: Kayako & Toshio
**East meets west
**Grudge 2 Storyline Development
**Ready when you are: Mr. Shimizu
*Deleted Scenes

A Blu-ray version of the movie was supposed to be released the same day as the DVD, but was cancelled. Then in 2007 when The Messengers was released on Blu-ray, it features a trailer for The Grudge 2 coming to Blu-ray. As of now it is TBA.

Trivia

*The old man playing peek-a-boo with Toshio is featured in many Japanese horror films including the original Grudge(Ju-on)
* Toshio isn't portrayed by Yuya Ozeki, the actor from Ju-on 1 and 2 (theater versions), instead he is portrayed by a newcomer Oga Tanaka, due to the fact that Ozeki had aged considerably since the last film. They gave him credit for being in some scenes and flashbacks.
*A poster of the Vancouver band The Manvils, can be seen displayed on the wall of the teenagers room in the movie.
* The role of Vanessa, now played by Teresa Palmer was originally written for Vanessa Lengies, who eventually turned it down to film "My Suicide"; the part still bears her name. [ cite web | author= IMDB| year=September 29, 2006| title= Role of Vanessa written for Vanessa Lengies| format= | work= IMDB| url= http://imdb.com/title/tt0433386/trivia.
accessdate=2006-10-29]
* Actresses Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Tamblyn previously worked together on an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" titled "All the Way". While the two were sisters in the film, in the episode Tamblyn played the friend of Gellar's character's sister. [ cite web | author= The Grudge 2 Movie.com| year=October 6, 2006| title= Gellar and Tamblyn both starred in Buffy episode| format= | work= The Grudge 2 Movie.Com| url= http://www.the-grudge-2-movie.com/article.php3?id_article=18273
accessdate=2006-10-06]
* Kayako's makeup took 2 hours to apply before filming. [ cite web | author= Horror.com| year=October 6, 2006| title= Kayako's makeup| format= | work= Horror.com| url= http://www.horror.com/php/article-1198-1.html
accessdate=2006-10-06]
*Writer Stephen Susco claims that the movie went through 5-6 versions of the script. Sarah Michelle Gellar's role was the hardest. In one version, she's in almost every scene. In another, she's in about half of the film. In one, she's only in a couple scenes; and in one, she's not in the story at all. Because the circumstances of the production kept changing, the role of Karen Davis was mutable through much of the development process.
*The scene where Vanessa's friend Miyuki is pulled through the mirror in the love motel is a possible reference to the manga series "Miyuki-chan in Wonderland", a spin-off of Lewis Carrol's stories.

References

External links

* [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge2 "Official Website"]
* [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge2/blog/ "Official Blog"]
*imdb title|id=0433386|title=The Grudge 2
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/grudge2 The Grudge 2 Reviews] at Metacritic.com
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* [http://www.dreadcentral.com/index.php?name=Reviews&req=showcontent&id=1137 Review] atDread Central

Box Office Leaders USA
before = The Departed
date = October 15
year = 2006
after = The Prestige