10.19.06
lee1990 Movie Review: The Grudge 2
Talk about having an attitude. The gargling, homicidal spirit Kayako is back for another rampage in Grudge 2.
Those not familiar with Japanese horror, here’s a heads up. Their horror directors like to jump around the timeline. The story is often times not told in chronological order. A prime example is the movie Ju-Rei (The Uncanny). This horror movie starts at the end of the story, and moves backwards through the chain of victims all the way to the start of the story, which is at the end of the movie.
The Grudge 2 goes one step further. It starts near the end of the story (in America), moves backwards several weeks (to Japan), then backwards several more (still in Japan), jumps ahead to just before the start of the movie (in America again) several times, and moves in these more or less back and forth transitions the whole time. However, the way the movie is edited makes it appear that all of this is happening at the same time, which can cause some confusion to those who are not paying attention or are unfamiliar with the genre.
All in all, however, the movie shows that the Japanese, used to working with more limited budgets, can deliver more chills and creepy crawlies with just light and shadows and subtle imagery than the video game, CG schlock that ruins many American horror movies (the godawful remake of the Fog that came out last year, for instance).
All in all, this movie is good for a few Halloween scares and succeeds in creeping you out in more than one spot.
Worth the while to see.
7 of 10.
