The Grudge 2

Directed by Takashi Shimizu

Horror flick The Grudge managed to scare up $110 million two years ago, even though no one really seemed to like it all that much! It was just the sort of film that worked for a softcore scare with friends over pricey popcorn. Since we live in an age of entitlement where every studio behind a hit movie seems to think they deserve a sequel (Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, anyone?) we are now treated to the cleverly titled, The Grudge 2.

Taking over from Sarah Michelle Gellar, who makes a cameo appearance, is Amber Tamblyn, seen most recently in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Tamblyn plays Sarah Michelle’s younger sister Aubrey, who travels to Japan to bring Gellar’s character back to America after she is hospitalized (as a result of the fire that ended the first film). Tamblyn somehow ends up getting involved in the same cursed house from the first film.

The plot (not that it really matters) centres on that haunted house, which contains the disembodied rage of some man who murdered his wife and child some time before the first film began, and, honestly, that pretty much sums it up. Once the threadbare plot is established (it’s the same plot as the first one, so it doesn’t take a lot of time to do this), then it is basically scene after scene of C-list actors falling victim to the Japanese ghosts that continue to be pissed off about the fact that they are dead.

The best of the rest of the cast is Arielle Kebbel-whom you might recognize from guilty pleasure Aquamarine or John Tucker Must Die-sporting a black wig as Allison, a shy student who falls victim to the grudge when a prank goes awry.

Naturally, other sexy characters fall to a host of evil spirits, who are supposedly all unrelated. However, the “surprise” ending that connects the angry ghosts is incredibly obvious, and this is from someone who was completely unprepared for the twist at the end of The Village. That being said, it does work as a brain-free diversion for 95 minutes. If you’re left feeling a smattering of rage all your own, don’t worry, it’s not an evil spectre, it’s just your intelligence.

Rating: VVv