The Grudge 2


The Grudge 2 is a 2006 supernatural horror film and a sequel to the 2004 film The Grudge. Produced by Sam Raimi, the film was directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Stephen Susco and stars an ensemble cast that includes Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel, Jennifer Beals, Edison Chen, Sarah Roemer and Sarah Michelle Gellar. As stated by Shimizu, the film is not a remake of any Japanese film and follows a different storyline. Like its predecessor, the film features a plot that is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots. The three main subplots include: Karen's younger sister Aubrey coming to Japan after finding out about Doug's death, a schoolgirl named Allison being hunted by the ghosts after entering the house with two of her classmates and a young boy named Jake whose apartment building is haunted by the ghosts of the Saeki family. The film was announced after the release of the previous film in October 2004, due to its financial success. Shimizu was announced to return as director on January 2005 and casting begun on December, with the announcement of Gellar returning. The film was shot entirely in Japan, with Tamblyn performing re-shoots in Chicago, Illinois. The Grudge 2 was theatrically released in the United States on October 13, 2006, by Columbia Pictures. The film received generally negative reviews, and made over $70 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. A sequel, The Grudge 3, was released direct-to-video on May 12, 2009, while a sidequel, The Grudge, was theatrically released on January 3, 2020.

Plot

The Grudge describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of extreme rage or sorrow. The curse is an entity created where the person died. Those who encounter this supernatural force die and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passing from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror. The following events are explained in their actual order, however, the film is presented in a nonlinear narrative. In 2004, American social worker Karen Davis tried to burn down the Saeki house to stop the curse, but failed, finding herself hospitalised and haunted by Kayako. Karen's younger sister, Aubrey, goes to Tokyo to retrieve her. In Japan, Aubrey struggles to communicate with the hospital staff but a journalist named Eason aids her. Aubrey briefly speaks with Karen, who panics and has to be restrained. Karen is later killed by Kayako in front of Aubrey and Eason. Eason explains the curse to Aubrey, revealing he rescued Karen from the house fire and has been investigating the Saeki murders and surrounding events. The two go to the house to retrieve Kayako's diary, but Toshio drags Aubrey inside to curse her. Eason takes the diary to an associate, who explains Kayako's mother was an itako who exorcised evil spirits from visitors and fed them to her daughter. Eason and Aubrey make plans to visit Kayako's mother. As Eason develops photographs he took of the Saeki house, Kayako emerges from a photo and murders him. After discovering his body, Aubrey travels alone to Kayako's mother's remote rural home. Kayako's mother warns her the curse is irreversible before being killed by her daughter. Aubrey ventures to the house, following an image of Karen inside. She encounters Takeo's ghost, who reenacts the night he discovered his wife's disloyalty and snaps Aubrey's neck. In 2006, school girls Allison Fleming, Vanessa Cassidy and Miyuki Nazawa break into the house on a dare, but Allison is locked in the closet and encounters Kayako's ghost but the girls escape. After Miyuki and Vanessa are consumed by the curse, Allison speaks with school counsellor Ms. Dale about the curse, but Dale denies its existence, revealing she went to the house and is actually a ghost herself. Allison is haunted by the ghosts of her friends and she eventually flees back to Chicago, where she stays with her parents. The Kimbles move into an apartment block in Chicago. A young boy named Jake is disturbed by a strange presence in the building brought about by a hooded stranger who covers windows with newspaper. Jake's father Bill and stepmother Trish are influenced by the curse, Bill accusing his wife of having an affair but she bludgeons him with a frying pan. Jake and his sister, Lacey, return from school, but Jake finds his family are all dead. He runs into the hooded person, revealed to be Allison, who explains the curse followed her. Kayako appears in Allison's hood, finally taking her and then emerges to attack Jake.

Cast

The Grudge 2 was announced three days after the release of The Grudge in 2004 and was officially fasttracked after a positive box office response with the film grossing $110,175,871. In early January 2005, Shimizu suggested ideas regarding the film's plot. Ideas included the origin of the curse and new character subplots. The film was later placed into development hell for almost a year until December 2005, when the first few cast members were announced . Other production details were also revealed, including the original scheduled date for principal photography, which was due to begin January 30, 2006, but was postponed until February. Principal photography for The Grudge 2 was held at Toho Studios in Tokyo, Japan and production wrapped up on April 25, 2006. During an interview on Dread Central with Amber Tamblyn, it was reported that sets were created in Chicago for Tamblyn to re-shoot several scenes. Shimizu said in an interview with Sci Fi Wire, "For The Grudge 2, I was going for this mystery that was never there in The Grudge and I think that's going to fulfill the audience.... There's a secret about Kayako's childhood life, so that's part of the big mystery. And the other mystery is this grudge will never stop and it's going to... spread. And how is it going to get spread? That's another mystery." He also clarified that "The Grudge was a complete remake of , meaning the storyline was very similar. Basically, it's the same. But Grudge 2 is actually different from and I don't think I would have accepted this job if it was going to be the same storyline. And because it was a different story, you know, my motivation was a bit higher and I actually enjoy doing this."

Release

The Grudge 2 premiered at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California on October 8, 2006. During the premiere, the theme park was open to the public and featured a Grudge 2 maze as part of its 2006 Halloween Haunt.

Marketing

employed various methods to promote The Grudge 2. On April 1, 2006, a teaser site was launched with details revealing the October 13 release date. Many forum sites such as IMDb were swamped with claims that Sony was playing an April Fool's joke. A few days later, the site's authenticity was proven and claims that it was a hoax were dismissed. On September 10, 2006, Sony released a missing persons file on its official blog stating a student filmmaker known as "Jason C" disappeared a few weeks after visiting the set of the film. The blog originally broadcast interviews with the film's stars including Tamblyn, Gellar and Jenna Dewan but had been taken over by his roommate who filed the report. On September 19, 2006, Yahoo! Movies was the first site to release three short films titled Tales from the Grudge with an introduction from one of the producers of The Grudge, Sam Raimi. The series of shorts expands on the story of the Saeki curse. The shorts also appear on the film's official site ; fans who volunteered their mobile phone number received surprise calls from Kayako or Toshio. The films also became available on other film and horror-related websites as part of a wide-reaching and unique digital marketing strategy. The shorts were directed by Toby Wilkins and written by Ben Ketai.
The Grudge 2 was released on DVD and UMD video for the PlayStation Portable on February 6, 2007. Both are available in a rated and unrated director's cut format. The unrated format is 6 minutes longer than the rated version, clocking in at 108 minutes as opposed to the theatrical cut which is 102 minutes. Both DVD formats include the following extras:
The movie was also made available on iTunes in October 2008. A Blu-ray Disc version of the film has yet to be released in the United States, having only received a Blu-ray in France which is Region Locked, and a Blu-ray in Holland that is Region Free but missing the extras. Both contain the Unrated Cut.

Sales

The DVD sold $5,233,327 in its first week, much lower than the previous film's $9 million. In its second week of retail availability it sold a further $3,060,351 for a total of $8,293,678 within two weeks. It is estimated to have earned at least $15 million from home media sales since, bringing the film's total gross to $85 million.

Reception

Box office

The film opened in 3,211 theaters and was expected to generate $27 million across the October 13–15 weekend but generated $10,018,039 on its opening day and $20.8 million on its opening weekend. It placed number one at the box office, beating out The Departed. The film showed poor staying power and earned $39.1 million in North America, making it the first ever film to open over $20 million yet gross less than 50% of its earnings after opening weekend. It also easily set the record for lowest gross of a $20 million opener. It earned an additional $30 million internationally. The movie made $70 million worldwide.

Critical response

The film was one of three films not shown to critics on the release date. It received notably worse reviews from critics than its predecessor, with an approval rating of 11% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to The Grudges 39%. Metacritic gave the film a score of 33/100 based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film was criticized by several critics for its confusing plot. Keith Phipps from The A.V. Club wrote, "While The Grudge 2 deserves some credit for creating and sustaining a creepy atmosphere, it doesn't matter much when the plot doesn't go anywhere." Pete Vonder Haar from Film Threat found "he same problems that plagued the original are on display here. Most notably, the lack of any coherent plot." Paul Debrudge from Variety stated, "The story is incidental, as auds merely anticipate the scares." Tim Goernert from Joblo "found it really hard to follow the story as well, as there were three of them happening at the same time." The film has also been criticized as being eye candy. Terry Lawson from the Detroit Free Press judged, "The Grudge 2 is just a mélange of images, some mildly disturbing, but mostly just variations on a theme."