Ju-On 2 (2000)

The Japanese must have some unnatural fear of childbirth.

That's the only conclusion I could come to when I finished watching this film. First off, let me start by saying that the American sequel is NOTHING like the original sequel. This sequel picks up with Yoshimi Kitada and her husband. They're traveling down the road after she had done a show where she'd been labeled as the Japanese horror queen(she had just come from the grudge house). She and her husband are discussing when she'll tell his parents that she's pregnant. Just then, he hits a black cat, killing it. He goes back to look, and as she's leaning out of the car to see, she sees instead a pair of ghostly white legs and bare feet running past the back of the car. He gets back in the car, and they get into an accident that causes her to miscarry.

Flash forward. Husband is still in the hospital, unresponsive. She is on set of a horror movie, filming. The scene is about to end with a bunch of extras coming in and seeing the actress passed out on the floor. One of the extras screams, scaring everyone. She's staring at Yoshimi Kitada, but specifically at her stomach. Kitada goes to the doctor, where she learns that she's about three months along in her miscarried pregnancy. Flash back again as she gets a job going to the original Ju-On house, where weird things happen(even in reviewing the film, I can't keep all the time changes straight). Each person who went to that house as part of the film crew also has weird things happen to them. Weird things and death also happen to people that the film crew love or come into contact with. The extra who screamed had gotten trapped in the house, and weird things happened to her. All of the people died in bizarre ways, except for Kitada, who lived to give birth to Kayako Saeki, who pushes Kitada down some stairs when Saeki is five.

It's a bizarre little film, and the individual vignettes that provide the back story are interesting in themselves. It's almost like watching a series of Night Gallery episodes with a common thread. They used Takako Fuji in this to play Kayako again. They used Ryôta Koyama to play Toshio. The really strange thing is Koyama looks almost exactly like Yuya Ozeki in the American version. The resemblance is uncanny. I can understand why Shimizu dumbed down the originals for American audiences. The lore and superstition surrounding Japanese culture is a little hard to grasp at times. However, I really think that American audiences should invest some time and energy into watching some of these Asian gems in their original forms. They are quite enjoyable, and spookier than standard American haunted house fare. November 24, 2007

Part 1 was good, this one Sucks!!

The makers of this movie must have thought we were stupid!!
Part 2 had nothing to do with part 1!!
This one I would say don't waste your money!!
I rate this movie a 2 from 1to10!! October 22, 2007

eh i dunno

Not as good as I thought it was. The first JU-ON is an original, this one reminds me so much of the american remake. This is worth a watch, but not a buy, I feel i kind of wasted my money on it, but whatever. Rent it, if you like it enough, buy it. September 15, 2007

Better than The Grudge

If you are tired of the American rip-offs of Asian horror movies, or not sure of the difference. This is the movie to make it perfectly clear...as is Preminition! I absolutely horror movies and no one does it better Ashikawa! Hope you enjoy this and Ju-On 1 as much as I do. August 31, 2007

Little Boy Blue

Japan is not a place that calls for great originality in cinema. After all, this is the country that made 26 films in the Zatoichi series and 48 in the Tora san series, all with the same actors and essentially the same plot. Even with the phenomena of what is usually called J-Horror, most Western audiences don't realize that this is nothing new or ground-breaking, but that they have only just discovered a cinematic style and tradition that has been going on virtually unchanged for decades. The classic ghost story "Yotsuya Kaidan" has something like 20 or so versions filmed, with new ones still coming out, and Japanese audiences aren't bored yet.

By this measure, I'm not sure if Takashi Shimizu needs to either be praised or shamed. He keeps banging out different versions of his horror series Ju-On, and while he has never matched the intensity and terror of his original vision, he hasn't made a real stinker either. He just does what a traditional Japanese filmmaker does, and keeps producing variations on a theme.

This version, "Ju-On 2", actually the 4th film in the series which makes it even more confusing, is only bad by comparison. I have gotten a little too used to Toshio and Kayako, and their simple appearance is not enough to creep me out and get me looking over my shoulder anymore. Shimizu does drive the plot a bit more in this one, giving the ghostly Kayako more motivation than just simple vengeance, trying to make her into more of a character than a costume and a creepy sound effect. However, the emphasis on plot is ultimately the weak point. The horror of the Ju-On films is the absolute lack of motivation on the part of the vengeful ghosts. They kill, because that is all they know how to do. Giving them desires, objectives...it somehow makes them less scary, and a bit too human.

Some of the ghostly devices come out more comical that terrifying. I don't care how you light it and what music you use, a ghostly wig is just not going to cut it. I think Shimizu can still make something of the Ju-On series, but he needs to remember what worked in the first place. Toshio cannot come out in the daytime and play soccer, even if he is only using his head. Stick to the dark corners of the house, the closets and the mirrors. That's where the ghosts should hide. August 21, 2007

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