The Rage and Fury Omnibus, Part VI: "The Grudge 2" (2006)

Some sort of drama occurred between the release of the original "Grudge" here in the States and the production of this movie. Of course, the first movie was a huge hit by budgetary standards ($110 million domestic gross on a $10 million budget, which effectively makes it a huge winner), and the sequel was already in the works literally three days after the flick's release. Nobody could have foreseen just what would occur after that, as Takashi Shimizu spent more time than originally envisioned attempting to come up with an original story, and Sony Pictures attempted to get the funds and the cast together for the motion picture to come to fruition. Lo and behold, in October of 2006, we got "The Grudge 2." But is it any good?

Yes, it is. Not QUITE as strong as "The Grudge," or "Ju-On: The Grudge," but definitely a worthy addition to the series and a continuation of the incredible roll that the "Ju-On/Grudge" series found itself on in the early-to-mid portions of the ought decade. Takako Fuji is back, the cast is top notch (and everybody in this one really gives it their all), and more than anything else, it's just got that trademark "Ju-On" atmosphere.

If you read a lot of the external reviews (and why would you? You've got me, for Christ's sakes), a common theme to be found is that the storyline of this movie sucks, and that it's confusing to follow. Um, not really. If you give the film more than 10% of your active attention, it's pretty easy to place the converging pieces of the puzzle. More than anything else, unlike the recent blockbuster "Inception," this movie boasts one very complete moment during the film's climax that serves as a very clearly-defined "Ah, right!" moment for the audience when the timeline and the sequence of events becomes clear. It's always been my belief that when a film leaves the viewer going "huh?" when walking out of the theater, either the director or writer did something wrong. Not so here.

One guy that I didn't give enough credit (in fact, I didn't even mention his name) in the last review was Stephen Susco. Currently, he's attached to a reboot of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and I for one am very excited about the prospects that brings, because this man did wonderful things to the "Ju-On" mythos in the first two American "Grudge" films. He kept the mythology almost identical, paid homage to the series' best moments without seeming like a downright ripoff, and added just enough of his own flair for story to make the films seem distinct. So five gold stars for Mr. Susco.

Also on display here is the AFOREMENTIONED awesome cast of legitimately good actors. Amber Tamblyn (TV's "Joan of Arcadia"), Arielle Kebbel ("American Pie Presents Band Camp") and Sarah Roemer ("Disturbia") are favorites of mine, and all play slightly more than two-dimensional characters. Tamblyn, in particular, is electric in this movie. Of course, I'm biased, because as someone who has gone through a sibling death it wasn't hard for me to relate to her character. Regardless of the context, I was mightily impressed with her here, and am mightily disdained that she's now dating my most hated comedian David Cross. Ugh. Well, anyway...Edison Chen is an actor who is unknown to me in roles other than this film, but all of his scenes in "The Grudge 2" are show-stealers as his nice-guy reporter character develops a rapport with Tamblyn, and makes the "get to the bottom of the mystery" portions of this film (the SIXTH TIME that loyal fans of this series have witnessed it) not boring. And, of course, it's got Takako Fuji back for another round of mayhem and maliciousness, so what more do you need?

Well, I know...you need some story.

In the same fashion as "The Grudge," the previous American film, "The Grudge 2" bobs and weaves between three different storylines, all taking place in entirely different time frames. The theme of this film is escalation; held in sequel context, this would be your dark "Empire Strikes Back" chapter of the "Grudge" saga (one that "The Grudge 3" wouldn't live up to, but more on that later). By the end of this movie, the curse has morphed in Sadako-like fashion from one continent to another, with the implication being that the K & T double-trouble combo are about to conquer the great, grand ol' USA...

Storyline #1: Aubrey's search for the truth
Aubrey Daniels (Tamblyn) is sent to Japan by her distressed mother to find her sister and bring her back home. Her sister, of course, is Sarah Michelle Gellar, a.k.a. Karen Daniels if you're interested in character names. It doesn't take long for Kayako to return, get tired of toying with Karen, and claim her as a victim in a very creepy hospital sequence and an iconic "maybe suicide" death. During the death (which Aubrey witnesses), she meets up with Eason (Chen), a reporter hot on the trail of the Saeki murders and their trail of murder and mayhem. In one of the most heartbreaking moments of the series, Aubrey (whose mother, by the way, blatantly favors Karen and makes no bones about her dislike for free-spirited Aubrey) follows Eason to the infamous Saeki house and watches him enter. Standing outside the front door, she suddenly finds herself "pulled in" to the house, almost as if by magic. It's one of the ways that this movie implies that the curse is getting stronger, and it succeeds in getting an "oh s**t" from the audience.

One BIG risk that both Shimizu (who returned ONCE AGAIN to direct this movie, as he had with all previous films) and Susco took with this film was to tackle the childhood of Kayako Saeki. The character had been the perfect image of pure evil thus far, and all we knew about her were the things that had either been shown to us explicitly or told to us by authority figures, and almost all of them related exclusively to the murders that launched the curse. This movie takes us all the way back to her very early days, and her time spent with her mother. I won't spoil these scenes, but the risk paid off. It adds an interesting dimension to the character of Kayako without killing the mystique, and also gives us a very cool and appropriate moment where Kayako gets sweet vengeance on Mama Saeki.

Storyline #2: The practical joke that doomed the world
Kebbel plays Allison Flemming, unpopular girl at an English-speaking Japanese high school. I don't know if Kebbel did it the old-school way and gained weight for this role or wore some padding, but she definitely looks the part, and plays it well. After all, this chick sported a smoking hot men's magazine body in her films both prior and after this, and it comes across realistic, so mucho points there. At any rate, two bitchy classmates take her to THE HOUSE (cue drumroll), which is now a derelict, and, of course, all three enter it, setting in motion the chain of events that would bring Kayako and Toshio to the United States. From the appearance of the house, it's clear that these segments take place well after the Aubrey segments, and in fact, they do - about two years afterward, to be exact.

This storyline gives us some excellent jump scares, and serve as the "creepy up" moments to pepper in between Aubrey's story and the slightly confusing Chicago segments. That guidance counselor scene? Masterpiece. In addition, we get a rarity for the "Ju-On/Grudge" franchise here - genuine "act as the villain" malice interest for the audience. We want to see the two popular c**ts who drug innocent Allison into the house bite the dust, and when Kayako gets them, it's poetic justice.

Storyline #3: Chicago, Illinois
Not as strong as the other two segments, mainly due to the fact that we have absolutely no clue as to what exactly is going on here until the very end of the film. At that moment of epiphany, however, these scenes begin to carry a lot of weight upon repeat viewings. Jennifer Beals (in yet another of this movie's great performances) plays a businesswoman newly married to the father of two children - hot girl Lacey (Roemer) and troubled Jake (Matthew Knight) - and has just moved in with her new family.

Weird things start piling up around the non-traditional family unit. Jake is awakened at night by loud knocking noises, presumably from the neighbor who just moved in next door (you know, the insane one). One very disquieting scene shows us Lacey's friend Sally (Jenna Dewan), suffering the effects of the curse, who begins downing milk, vomiting it up, and then drinking the liquid again. Ech. All of this builds toward the startling finale that shows us how these events are connected to the Saeki curse. What's even better, the ending scene is awesome.

As is this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azu4oFXpUvw

To this day, that may be my favorite movie opening ever. It's amazing that Shimizu had the balls to do this with the legendary Columbia torch lady, but I for one am glad he took the risk. It's little touches like that which set the "Ju-On" and "Grudge" movies apart from other films; their sense of fun, their knowing campfire ghost-story feel and their propensity for clueing the audience in on the illusion while then proceeding to wrap each individual viewer up in it is second-to-none.

As for my favorite horror actress and villain, some of Kayako's best moments are from this film. The image of Kayako rising from the developer fluid toward Eason is something that will burn itself into your brain's permanent space, as are Karen's final moments and the death of both of Allison's tormentors. To date, this was the last time that Fuji would play Kayako, and the last that Shimizu would be behind the director's chair; she has stated that she would be willing to return to the role if Shimizu comes back to helm the series. Nonetheless, we need to pray for this to happen, because a final "Grudge" film would not be complete without Ms. Fuji behind the white face paint.

Overall, I couldn't have been happier with "The Grudge 2." It does what as sequel is supposed to do; it raises the stakes, and it isn't merely a repeat of the first film. At the conclusion of the movie, we even legitimately WANT to see a third movie, which seems to promise an epic, Stephen King-"Stand" style showdown of global proportions, with Kayako and Toshio as the new Grim Reapers of the world, and variable groups of survivors desperately attempting to save the world from its death sentence. This movie makes you conjure up that scenario, and as such, it can be nothing other than a major success. While the third film wouldn't deliver on that promise, this is nonetheless quite the awesome movie that holds up amazingly well with repeat viewings, and remains one of the best American horror movies of the '00s.