Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (2003)

Ju-On: The Grudge 2 was, for me, a little better than Ju-On: The Grudge 1. This sequel was not only horror and suspense, but had a little bit more of a mystery tone to it; the only thing keeping the score from being higher was the slightly confusing ending. Despite the continued story of vengeful ghosts and the ending, it was a pretty good watch. The film consists of mini-stories, much like its predecessors, but they are placed a little more cohesively and the connections between past and present, people and places are more understandable.

The acting with this film was as expected, although the actress that reprises her role as Saeki Kayako (Fuji Takako) improved as far as body movements go. While her expressions and sounds have always been creepy, she utilized her body movements to create even more atmosphere with her character. Each actor and actress worked well within the characters they took on, but no one was a stand out star or super memorable - with the exception of Fuji Takako.

The music and sound effects were not much different from the previous films, but with a franchise known for certain key noises that can be expected, The placement of noises worked just fine, and effectively created suspenseful moments and built up the film's atmosphere; I enjoyed the actual song with lyrics during the end credits. It was refreshing compared to the other films with only instrumentals.

As for rewatch value, it is rewatchable. How often, of course, depends upon the person. I would watch it again after a little bit, especially because I am a huge horror fan. Every once in a while sounds about right, but not right away. If you like horror movies, want to see the Japanese counterpart to the Ju-On franchise, or even just feel the need to watch something a little spooky I would suggest this.

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Although I'm not satisfied with The Curse 2 and The Curse 1. The atmosphere is so gripping, then produced some great tension and thrilling moments that I had never felt in the previous 3 films. I also like the story that only uses the crew from the TV show as material to be terrorized, the kill count is not as many as the previous film but it let this film to build up a great horror sequence & jumpscare which I think is far more solid and memorable.

The hanging by curtain of black hair; the dressing room which Kayako appeared slowly from the floor; the highschool girl that keeps phasing in and out of the house at different times; and the gives birth scene, I won't be able to forget those anytime soon.

Actually I was still confused by the timeline of a car accident at the beginning and when Chiharu became extra in the Kyoko's film. I'm sure it's been explained in the film but my brain is slow to process it.

Oh yes, I almost forget about Kayako and Toshio, I love them here, Kayako with thick make up is super scary imo; then Toshio, I don't think he's got some changes on his make up, but he's keep making me startled. They just simply in their best form in here.

I enjoyed it so much.
A sequel that is worthy to be called great.

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