The Grudge 2 -- 2006 -- PG-13

Ah, the sequel to one of the freakiest movies I've ever seen, so it had a lot to live up. What happened? Well, the atmosphere was still there, we still have a lot of freakish stuff going on, but unfortunately, some of the actions of the characters to get that atmosphere fell far short of perfection.

The Grudge worked on three tales at once and the sequel does the same. The first tale is connected to the original film in that Karen's sister travels to Japan at the behest of their mother to bring Karen home. When Karen isn't coming home, her sister, Aubrey teams up with the reporter who rescued Karen from the house to try and lift the curse.

The second story is a group of girls from a local school who decide it will be fun to go into the house and torment their less popular friend with a good scare. Well, the scare is had and now the three of them are in danger from the curse.

Story three is in an American apartment where a father has married again and his kids adjust to a new mother. Trouble is, next door is someone who is very disturbed for some reason, and it appears the Grudge curse is in this building and tormenting not only this family but others on their floor as well. Stories 2 & 3 do tie together, but you've got to get through them to learn where the tie is. It's not hard to figure out before you get there, but it's still cool to watch it unfold.

Characterization in this one is a little better than in the previous installment that was more concerned with being vindictive than developing character. The characters here get a little more stimulation, but still not a lot. This lack of characterization, though, doesn't really hurt the creepiness factor that much.

What killed it for me is my number one pet peeve in horror movies, and it seems to be a requirement for scares. This is making people go into places they would not normally go or do not belong. What I find scary is someone doing what they should do and weird things happening. When people do stuff that they appear to be doing for the sake of getting into some kind of trouble, I am removed from the experience because I can't buy that anyone would do that. In the first film, most everyone belonged where they were. They were at home or work or went into the house under legitimate circumstances. This second installment stretches it to the limit.

I can accept exploring your own house, but an apartment building at night? Better yet, would an 8-10 year old follow someone down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night? How about entering someone else's apartment, hearing a noise in that apartment, and checking it out? Of course, the reason the girls are cursed in the second story is because they explore the house when they shouldn't. They break in, hear noises, and...can you guess?...check out the noise. Same with the reporter. He hears noises in the house and checks them out. Never mind that he is better informed than anyone else as to what this curse is. Aubrey puts herself in harm's way several times by going into places she shouldn't go. Karen leaves the protection of a crowd to be alone on a roof when threatened. That's my biggest problem here: people doing really, really dumb things so the plot can move or we can get our scares.

I never want to see the following scene again:

Knock, knock. Girl looks around. No one appears to be home. She grabs the knob and turns it. It's unlocked.

GIRL
Hello?

Girl enters the house. Someone watches her from another room.

GIRL
Hello? Is anyone here?

Girl goes into living room (or something) and rifles through killer's personal effects without regard to her surroundings giving the audience lots of exposition we could have gained in a more creative manner.

END OF CRAPPY SCENE

On another note, why don't people run from danger? We have a scene where a guy is looking at a photo. The photo starts moving and he watches it. Someone emerges from the photo. He knows who it is. He doesn't run. He stands there and stares as freaky ghost girl cracks her way out of the pic and comes after him...oh wait, he does back himself into a corner. Sorry, forgot that. I'd've been out of the room before that black hair started emerging.

The film creates a great atmosphere though. It is constantly creepy and keeps you on edge even in places where nothing is really going onl. You wonder if something should be going on. I will also note the "peek-a-boo" scene was severly warped; I liked that one.

So it's another mixed bag of a film. Great atmosphere, but bad character actions. I prefer characters that are in danger when they think they're safe instead of those that look for trouble. It does provide an interesting twist to the Grudge mythology once it all plays out, but you just have to accept a lot to survive the film.