The Grudge 2

The Grudge 2 *

If there is anything good to say about the sequel to the 2004 hit film "The Grudge" is that it surpasses the original. But the many bad things to say about it could begin with the fact that the original film did not raise the bar very high. I hated "The Grudge," and now I hate "The Grudge 2," and if they have the nerve to make a third film, it could go down as one of the worst horror trilogies in the history of film. There is nothing more standard, and nothing more Hollywood formula than watching these films. The set up is always exactly the same. Someone is walking around, the music gets higher, and higher, the tension builds, and then suddenly. . . .oh thank God, it's just a cat, everything is fine. . . Oh no! And then there is a useless scene where some kind of plot is fleshed out, and then back to the beginning again. It was like that for the first one, and now it's like that for the second one, and both of them have almost no story worth telling, and no story worth watching.

But I'll explain the story, if that is even possible. We get to catch up on Karen, played by Sarah Michelle Geller from the first one, and I guess she signed herself out of ever doing another "Grudge" movie. Not twenty minutes is does Karen throw herself off the hospital window to escape from a creepy female ghost with really long hair, and then her sister decides to make her to mission to find out why. Her sister, Aubrey, is apprehensive about this, as her and her sister had a falling out about a year ago. But her mother, who seems to completely hate her second daughter, convinces her to do otherwise. Aubrey begins the investigation at the house that seems to cause all the problems, and the most haunted house in all of Japan. Recently it was where Allison, a high school student at an all girl school, had a practical joke played on by the two school bullies. As usual, I can't understand why the nice girl character wants to take any part in the group of the popular girls, but she does, and when the bullies lock her up in the closet, Allison realizes that the rumors of the house are not rumors, but true. A scary ghost lady comes out of the ceiling and starts to make sounds with her throat! No! It turns out that this ghost lady was killed years ago in the grip of a powerful rage, and it started a curse which stays in the house forever. Whoever comes in is affected, and now that three girls were affected, the curse will go wherever they go. The curse enters an apartment building where Trish, played by Jennifer Beals, is moving in with her boyfriend and his two children. But soon Trish starts to act funny, going through the rituals of cooking eggs and sausage only to dump the boiling hot pan over her boyfriends head. Something strange is going on in all of Japan, and not a single soul is safe. Uh-oh. . .

"The Grudge 2" tries to be more clever and more scary than it really is, but instead it is a silly little excuse for a horror film. Instead of scares it is just a bunch of annoying sounds. The main sound that the ghost makes whenever it enters a room is done by throwing back you're throat and exhaling. Everybody can do it, and it's only annoying in the loud theater. There was another sound by a possessed character, which instead of scary, sounded like somebody groaning after they've eaten a bad clam. I just can't understand the cheap thrills and silly story that is never explained or developed. The film makers just try to install fear into the viewer, and fall in each and every way. This is poorly done, and a complete waste of time. I envied Sarah Michelle Geller for dying twenty minutes in, as she didn't have to be a part of this horrible waste of time. It even tried to surprise us with a few twists, if you could even call them that. I think I figured it out about ten minutes it, and to make things even worse, the films explanation is in the main credits. I cannot think of any reason to ever see this trash. Horror continues to be dead, and it's running out of second chances.