AAAAUUUUGGGG…She’s back and her grudge is going global! The Japanese curse of Kayeko Saeki is running rampant and no one can seem to stop her. Not even her own mother who inflicted this curse on Kayeko by feeding her people’s evil spirits when she was a little girl. Where was the Department of Social Services when she was growing up?

This story begins shortly after the first installment ended. Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is in the hospital and under protective custody. She knows the evil spirit is not dead and she knows it’s coming for her, but it’s hard to protect yourself from a deadly spirit when you’re always sedated.

Karen’s younger estranged sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) is sent to Japan by their mother to find Karen and to bring her home safely. That plan falls through quickly. Karen is taken by the spirit and now Aubrey has to scramble to find out what happened to her sister while she was in the Saeki house — the most haunted house in all of Japan. Probably the whole world for that matter. Not many ghosts follow you around the city.

While Aubrey is in Japan being chased by Kayeko (Takako Fuji) and her cat-loving son Toshio (Ohga Tanaka), a family in Chicago is going through the same thing. Weird noises and bizarre activities. The youngest member of the family, Jake (Matthew Knight), is terrified by the events that are turning his home and his family apart. Is there a connection that bridges these two paranormal events together? Only one way to find out. I won’t spoil the ending for you.

Although, the ending is what spoiled this movie for me, I have to admit, the original Grudge (better yet, the American version) was very entertaining. It had a few scares and a good story. It was definitely above the average scare flick. Its sequel began with a bang! Everyone reacted to the first scene. The rest of the movie played out as it should. It was undeniably scary and fun. I have never heard that many screams from the audience. From both the women and a few from the men.

Unfortunately, things began to go sour midway through. The two stories began to merge, but there was no explanation why this was happening. It began to confuse and irritate. I could hear people behind me asking questions. I had the same questions. The questions were answered in the conclusion, but by then, no one cared anymore. They had lost their audience. They were going for a Sixth Sense thing, but fell short of that landmark film.

There is definitely a set up for a third installment, but there should be one solid story next time. This movie was so promising. It is so unfortunate that one section ruined the whole movie. I do applaud the film makers for making a scary movie that didn’t have to rely on blood and gore (Hint, hint Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning). The Grudge 2 was scarier and was more of a crowd-pleasing movie.

by Thomas Ferguson