Critic Reviews
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David Jenkins, Time Out
Vapid, silly and about as scary as an Adam Sandler film.
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Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly
What's a bad sequel but a revenant soul doomed to repeat itself?
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Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Like its progenitor, The Grudge 2 is filled with defective light bulbs, scummy bath water and camera work that makes even teenage flesh look mottled.
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Malene Arpe, Toronto Star
It is a testament to the power of filmmaking that even a waste of time like Grudge 2 can raise a slew of interesting questions to keep you thinking for a long time after leaving the theatre.
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Takako Fuji and Ohga Tanaka, as the ghosts, do MTV Movie Award-caliber work by just crouching in a phone booth.
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Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger
It isn't a bad movie, just a redundant one.
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Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
Takashi Shimizu telegraphs scares to the point of numbness. Peek under a table? There's the boy! The room a bit too quiet, is it? It's the girl! All that's frightening are the actors' pained facial expressions, suggesting an epidemic of farty indigestion.
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Brian Holcomb, Beyond Hollywood
Seven films later, with the conventions of throat croaking and neck cracking having moved into camp, it's amazing that Shimizu can still find new ways to turn the old screw.
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Brian Tallerico, UGO
Repetition is the death of horror.
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Mark Palermo, Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Pale-faced, staring, mute Japanese kids strike back.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...nothing more than a needless rehash of its predecessor...
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Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review in Greek
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Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The Grudge 2 starts out ridiculous, then gets boring, then irritating.
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Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Every moment of intended terror becomes a slapstick gem, carefully constructed boo frights hit with the hilarity of Lucille Ball stepping on a rake
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Greg Maki, Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
... Lazy, unimaginative storytelling that tries to fool the audience into thinking it's clever.
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Cindy White, IGN Movies
Rather than following the story of the Japanese sequel Ju-on 2, the English-language Grudge 2 is based on an original script by Stephen Susco. Unfortunately, there isn't much about it that feels all that original.
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Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Japanese director Shimizu may be the only director in history to have helmed a pair of Hollywood remakes of his two biggest hit films and managed to screw up both of them.
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Sean McBride, Sean the Movie Guy
just a quick scare and then back to the nonsensical and diluted story.
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Jamie Russell, BBC
Low calorie horror, it's propped up by set-piece shocks familiar from any of the other five incarnations of Ju-On: The Grudge.
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David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]
Don't know about you, but I've seen enough weird women with long hair and heard enough of those screechy violins and atonal sound effects to last a lifetime.
Read all 26 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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The Grudge 2 is yet another sequel to a terrible remake. Where to begin? Like in the first Grudge, the film is plagued with cheap scares, and relies on their special effect to create its "horror", well that doesn't work. If you've read my reviews on horror films,… More
The Grudge 2 is yet another sequel to a terrible remake. Where to begin? Like in the first Grudge, the film is plagued with cheap scares, and relies on their special effect to create its "horror", well that doesn't work. If you've read my reviews on horror films, I've stated numerous times that its atmosphere, not special effects that helps create an effective, chilling horror film. The Grudge 2 like its predecessor has the elements absent from the story, and you get a cheap, unscary horror film that tries to scare you by having cheaply done jump scares. If done properly, you can get away with it and still have a great horror film. But with these remakes, they rely on exclusively on that to create the tension. I like atmosphere in my horror films, not cheap jump scares camouflaged with great special effects. The Grudge 2 fails to deliver genuine scares and above all, a great story. Not only that, but the film lacks any good acting. I hate remakes with the exception of a few, and the reason why they are terrible is that the filmmakers try duplicate the original while creating something refreshing that will appeal to the new brain dead audience that think films like this is actual horror. Well, it's not. A terrible film with awful acting, story and minimalistic scares make this a pointless sequel to a remake of a very good Japanese horror film. A shame. I just hope one day, Hollywood gets a reality check and realize how shitty these films are. Avoid if you love true horror.
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If the first remake was bad, then this is very bad filmmaking indeed. Images of dark haired japanese killer ghost-girls are just boring to watch. At least the first one had two or three spooky moments, but this has none. This is mostly a bore-fest from beginning till the laughably bad… More
If the first remake was bad, then this is very bad filmmaking indeed. Images of dark haired japanese killer ghost-girls are just boring to watch. At least the first one had two or three spooky moments, but this has none. This is mostly a bore-fest from beginning till the laughably bad end. Avoid!
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I thought this sequel horror film is more creepy and spooky where the cursed spirit Kayako has been released to a new country. But I like the first one the best. I wished Sarah Michelle Gellar's character should stay alive in this sequel.
After Sarah Michelle Gellar's cameo,… More
I thought this sequel horror film is more creepy and spooky where the cursed spirit Kayako has been released to a new country. But I like the first one the best. I wished Sarah Michelle Gellar's character should stay alive in this sequel.
After Sarah Michelle Gellar's cameo, the movie focuses on her sister, but gives her nothing to do. What seems like a totally separate storyline inside an apartment building is more distracting than involving. The scares become very routine and there are so many characters here, that the viewer cannot become attached to any of them.
The movie does, however, kick it up in the final twenty minutes or so. And the ending is a lot darker and much more mean spirited than the original, and for that, it has to earn some points for not taking the safe way out.
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I couldn't sleep at night for a month! This was so freaking scary. I suggest you to watch at daytime. Even though one of my friend thought it was lame and not so scary. But I think it was!
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Very boring Movie. The Prequel was not better either.
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What is it about a pale looking Japanese woman that?s so damn scary? This is a much better film than the first (The remake). Without wasting too much time on the reasons why, this film sticks to giving the audience big scares and unlike most American horrors, it declares that there is… More
What is it about a pale looking Japanese woman that?s so damn scary? This is a much better film than the first (The remake). Without wasting too much time on the reasons why, this film sticks to giving the audience big scares and unlike most American horrors, it declares that there is no stopping evil spirits and you?re next, no matter what you do. Very refreshing and original! The separate intertwined storeys set in two time-lines was a welcome idea. That said, the spooky pale Japanese woman has now had her time and this should be the end of it. Don't forget to watch the original Japanese versions though, plus Japanese films like, Ring, The Eye and any Takeshi Miike films!
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There are one or two genuinely freaky moments in The Grudge 2. They almost boarder on scary. Unfortunately, they are ruined by a few terrible actors that almost have you laughing. The main ghosts also become repetitive and this is the same stuff from The Grudge, which was all taken… More
There are one or two genuinely freaky moments in The Grudge 2. They almost boarder on scary. Unfortunately, they are ruined by a few terrible actors that almost have you laughing. The main ghosts also become repetitive and this is the same stuff from The Grudge, which was all taken from the Japanese version. It's confusing narrative does nothing but create headaches, and it offers no surprises, as anyone familiar with the franchise knows where it is headed. You can't really feel connected to these characters and after an awesome cruel breakfast scene, everything seems tame.
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The second US version of the Grudge films doesn't do anything different than the first except splitting the plot into three branches, of which the Chicago family doesn't seem to have much in common with the Japanese curse at first. Before the constant switching between Japan… More
The second US version of the Grudge films doesn't do anything different than the first except splitting the plot into three branches, of which the Chicago family doesn't seem to have much in common with the Japanese curse at first. Before the constant switching between Japan and the US gets too tiresome you can already figure out the connection, just another wasted opportunity to bring some fresh wind into the franchise. SM Gellar isn't long enough in the movie for you to say "Buffy!", and everything else just feels like a deja-vu. Sure, there are a few nice scares and exciting scenes, always shortly before the ghosts strike again, but most of the flat characters are acting so dumb that you feel like yelling "Take them already" anyway. A stupid film and pretty much a waste of time.
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whether i saw this or not i know without a doubt its just as dumb as the first.... and from the cover i see that the super-scary meowing kid is back!
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I am such a wuss when it comes to scary movies, I wasn't really paying attention because I was home alone when I watched it, so maybe I might have a different opinion if I had actually watched it.
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Well the first one wasn't a good horror movie but it was at least watchable, The sequel is just unbearable
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I loved this movie! There were so many great scenes of the ghosts getting people, inspired from various Ju-On movie sequences. It's nice they included the schoolgirl story, which seemed absent from the first Grudge film.
Most of the ghost appearances are the mother ghost… More
I loved this movie! There were so many great scenes of the ghosts getting people, inspired from various Ju-On movie sequences. It's nice they included the schoolgirl story, which seemed absent from the first Grudge film.
Most of the ghost appearances are the mother ghost Kayako with her long black hair. There weren't enough scenes with the little boy ghost Toshio and his black cat; probably because they got a different actor to play him. Even the famous killer ghost daddy Takeo makes an appearance.
Sarah Michelle Gellar appears in this movie as Karen, only to be killed off. I hate it when movie sequels do that. (She chose to act in "The Return" instead, a terrible movie).
Karen's sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) is sent to Japan to visit Karen in the hospital, but that doesn't last very long. Karen soon dies, and Aubrey is left to investigate the burned-out shell of the Grudge house from the first film. Aubrey is assisted by a reporter, in uncovering the root of the evil curse; we get some wacky flashbacks of Kayako as a child, being force-fed the psychic pains of villagers who came to relieve their evil attachments.
The main thrust of this movie is to get the ghosts out of the haunted house in Japan, to America. This is accomplished by having Americans go into the haunted house and bringing the ghostly curse back home with them. The curse spreads to an aparment building in Chicago, where two families are destroyed.
There's lots of jump-points, and weird death scenes when the ghosts get their victims, who simply disappear into thin air.
This movie switches between at least three different timelines throughout. It's a bit confusing, but they're easy enough to piece together once you've seen the entire movie. They cheated a bit by changing some of the details when they're shown a second time around.
I really liked this movie; probably more than the original Grudge flick.
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I hated this movie. There is no explanation how the curse gets from the three girls in Japan to Karen to Chicago. The story flits from story to story with no logic -- as if the only point was showing us another scary Curse death.
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What was the point of this film.No story and know very scary.
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Takashi Shimizu had sucked all the life out of his mediocre idea. An unnecessary sequel that seems to be composed of the outtakes from previous Grudge films.
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I do like all these different versions of the Ju On storyline, because each one adds something different. However, some of the effects were rather funny or just not in keeping with the rest of the tone (the girl getting engulfed in Kayako's hair, for example). It's a shame,… More
I do like all these different versions of the Ju On storyline, because each one adds something different. However, some of the effects were rather funny or just not in keeping with the rest of the tone (the girl getting engulfed in Kayako's hair, for example). It's a shame, because I believe that if they were careful they could've produced a rather effectively creepy film - there were aspects and parts of the film where they did achieve this, but it was let down by others.
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SH*T! Ghosts dont have faces! This movie just gave a ghost a face and freakin creeped the hell outta me!! I had to sleep with the lights on for days after watching this!!
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saw this i thought it was pointless had jumpy parts and sarah michelle gellars appearence were first 10 minutes in the beginning before dying
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Not as good as the first one. It's Just basically more of the same, but second time round you know what to expect, some scenes were nearly identical to the first. Leaves too many loose ends as well, better off just watching the first. At least that feels more complete than this.… More
Not as good as the first one. It's Just basically more of the same, but second time round you know what to expect, some scenes were nearly identical to the first. Leaves too many loose ends as well, better off just watching the first. At least that feels more complete than this. Not scary at all.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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