The Grudge 2

The Grudge 2

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Takashi Shimizu
Produced by
Written by Stephen Susco
Starring
Music by Christopher Young
Cinematography Katsumi Yanagishima
Edited by Jeff Betancourt
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures (USA)
Universal Pictures (UK)
Roadshow Entertainment (AU/NZ)
Release dates
  • October 13, 2006 (2006-10-13)
Running time
102 minutes
108 minutes (unrated cut)
Country United States
Japan
Language
  • English
  • Japanese
Budget $20 million[1]
Box office $70.7 million[1]

The Grudge 2 is a 2006 American supernatural horror film and a sequel to 2004's The Grudge, directed by Takashi Shimizu (director of the Ju-on series)[2] and written by Stephen Susco.[3] The film was produced by Sam Raimi and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel, Teresa Palmer, Misako Uno, Matthew Knight, and Takako Fuji. As stated by Takashi Shimizu, the film is not a remake of any Japanese film and follows a different storyline.[4] Like its predecessor, the film features a plot that is told through a non-linear sequence of events and includes several intersecting subplots.

It was released in North America on October 13, 2006 (Friday the 13th)[5] after being pushed forward a week from the original October 20 release date.[6][7] It was released in the UK on October 20 and in Australia on October 26, 2006.[8] After moderate success, the film was followed by The Grudge 3 in 2009.

Plot

In Japanese society, it is said a curse is created when a person dies in the grip of a powerful rage or sorrow. Those who encounter the evil supernatural force are consumed by it, the curse is born repeatedly and spreads. The original victims of the curse, the Saeki family, haunt their Tokyo suburban house as ghosts and kill anyone who enters. Housewife Kayako Saeki was murdered by her husband Takeo after he discovered she loved another man, their son Toshio and pet cat Mar also being murdered, before Takeo was hung by Kayako’s ghost. In the first film, American social worker Karen Davis tried to burn the house down to stop the curse, but failed, finding herself hospitalised and haunted by Kayako. The film’s chronology is told in a non-linear fashion, taking place in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

Karen’s younger sister Aubrey is summoned by their bed-ridden mother who informs Aubrey of Karen’s situation and sends her 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 quickly panics, and has to be restrained. Karen later escapes her restraints and flees through the hospital stalked by Kayako, until she makes it to the roof which Kayako throws her off 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 Mrs. Kawamata was an itako who exorcised evil spirits from visitors and fed them to her daughter. Aubrey and Eason plan to visit Mrs. Kawamata the next day, but at night, Eason develops photographs he took of the Saeki house, but Kayako emerges from a photo and murders him. Aubrey discovers his body in the morning and travels alone to Mrs. Kawamata’s remote rural home. Kayako’s mother warns her the curse is irreversible, and is suddenly killed by her daughter. Aubrey ventures to the house, following an image of Karen inside but encounters Takeo’s ghost who plays out the night he discovered his wife’s disloyalty, and snaps Aubrey’s neck.

Two years later, school girls Allison Flemming, Vanessa, and Miyuki, break into the house on a dare but Allison is locked in the closet and encounters Aubrey’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.

Several months on, the Kimbles move into an apartment block in Chicago. The young son 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

Production

The Grudge 2 was announced three days after the release of The Grudge in 2004[9] and was officially fasttracked[10][11] after a positive box office response with the film grossing $110,175,871.[12] In early January 2005 Takashi Shimizu suggested ideas regarding the film's plot. Ideas included the origin of the curse and new character subplots.[13]

The film was later placed into production hell for almost a year until December 2005, when the first few cast (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Teresa Palmer) 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.[14] Principal photography for The Grudge 2 was held at Toho Studios[15] 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, Illinois[16] for Tamblyn to re-shoot several scenes.[17]

Director Takashi 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."[18]

He also clarified that: "The Grudge was a complete remake of Ju-on, meaning the storyline was very similar. Basically, it's the same. But Grudge 2 is actually different from Ju-on: The Grudge 2, 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."[18]

Deleted scenes

The names of the deleted scenes are taken from the DVD's special features section.

In the epilogue, Karen and Aubrey's mother received a delivery from Japan, a box full of Karen's belongings and Kayako's journal. When Mrs. Davis takes a look at it, she finds some black hairs are attached to a page. She drops the journal, and when she picks it up again, finds an eye moving in one of the pages. She soon coughs up Kayako's head, which is wrapped in black hair. This tears Mrs. Davis' jaw from her head, killing her. Her face is similar to Yoko's jaw-less face in the first film.

In the unrated director's cut DVD are various shots included that were missing from the theatrical release, including extended shots of Karen's death in which blood spatters all over Eason and Aubrey, and a longer shot of blood gushing out from Karen's head.

Many extra scenes were included in the unrated Directors cut DVD:

Promotion

Teaser site

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.

Missing Person File: Jason C

To promote the film, Sony released a missing persons file on its official blog[19] 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 Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Tamblyn but has been taken over by his roommate who filed the report.[20]

Tales from The Grudge

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 short expands on the story of the Saeki curse.[21] The shorts also appear on the film's official site Sony Pictures Entertainment; 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.[22]

The shorts were directed by Toby Wilkins (director of The Grudge 3; official site, IMDb page), and written by Ben Ketai.

Release

Premiere

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.[23]

Reception

The film was one of three films not shown to film critics on the release date (others included The Marine and One Night with the King).[24] It received notably worse reviews from critics than its predecessor, with a rating of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes (7 out of 72 reviews counted positive) compared to The Grudge's 39%.[25] Metacritic gave the film a score of 33/100 based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[26]

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."[27] Pete Vonder Haar from Film Threat found "[t]he same problems that plagued the original are on display here. Most notably, the lack of any coherent plot."[28] Paul Debrudge from Variety stated, "The story is incidental, as auds merely anticipate the scares."[29] 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."[30]

The film has also been criticised 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."[31]

Box office

The film opened in 3,211 theaters and was expected to generate $27 million across the October 13–15 weekend[32] but generated $10,018,039 on its opening day[1] and $20.8 million on its opening weekend. It placed number 1 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.[1] The movie made $70 million worldwide.

Sequel

Main article: The Grudge 3

During post-production on the film, Takashi Shimizu discussed ideas of creating another sequel, saying: "During the script meeting, Our ideas didn't go anywhere good, and we couldn't come up with anything interesting to stop the curse, so if that's the case, I would rather just go for something that could never be stopped. But who knows, maybe something can be stopped in The Grudge 3."[33] During Comic Con '06, Sony officially announced plans of creating the sequel.[34] Shimizu revealed he was offered the chance to direct the sequel but took on the role of producer instead.[35] The film put out a casting call for new actors to play Kayako and Toshio, as Takako Fuji (Kayako) and Yuya Ozeki (Toshio) passed on the opportunity.[36] Shawnee Smith, who appeared as Amanda in the Saw series, was one of the major characters in the film.[37]

Release information

The following is a list of the film's release dates worldwide.

Country Date
Netherlands October 13, 2006
Canada
United States
Iceland
Malaysia
United Kingdom October 20, 2006
Pakistan October 21, 2006
Philippines October 22, 2006
Australia October 26, 2006
Germany
Brazil October 27, 2006
Sweden
Finland November 3, 2006
Croatia December 7, 2006
France December 27, 2006

Formats

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.

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.

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.[38]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Box Office Mojo (October 16, 2006). "Grudge 2 production budget". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  2. IMDB (October 5, 2006). "Grudge 2 directed by original Ju-on director". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  3. Counting Down (October 5, 2006). "Sony hires original Grudge screenwriter". Counting Down. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  4. Sci Fi (September 10, 2006). "Grudge 2 not a remake". Sci Fi. Archived from the original on 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  5. IMDB (September 10, 2006). "North American Release Date". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  6. House of Horrors (October 5, 2006). "Original release date". House of Horrors. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  7. The Grudge 2 Move.Com (October 6, 2006). "Previous Release Date". The Grudge 2 Move.Com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  8. IMDB (September 10, 2006). "Australian Release". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  9. IMDB (September 10, 2006). "Grudge 2 announced 4 days after the release of The Grudge". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  10. The Grudge 2 Move.Com (October 6, 2006). "Grudge 2 fasttracked". The Grudge 2 Move.Com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  11. The Grudge 2 Move.Com (October 6, 2006). "Sequel officially announced". The Grudge 2 Move.Com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  12. IMDB (October 6, 2006). "Box office gross for The Grudge". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  13. IMDB (September 10, 2006). "Plot details discussed". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  14. IMDB (October 5, 2006). "Grudge 2 begins productiong in February". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  15. Horror.com (October 6, 2006). "Filming at Toho Studios". Horror.com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  16. IMDB (October 5, 2006). "Grudge 2 re-shoots in Chicago". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  17. Dread Central (September 10, 2006). "Grudge 2 will reshoot". Dread Central. Retrieved 2006-08-17.
  18. 1 2 Sci Fi (September 10, 2006). "Director discusses Grudge 2". Sci Fi. Archived from the original on 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  19. Official Blog (September 10, 2006). "Missing Person File for Jason C". Sony. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  20. Coming Soon (September 10, 2006). "Details regarding Jason C". Coming Soon. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  21. Yahoo Movies (September 20, 2006). "Yahoo Movies screening 3 short films". Yahoo Movies. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  22. Counting Down (October 5, 2006). "Films designed as a marketing strategy". Counting Down. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  23. The Grudge 2 Movie.Com (July 24, 2006). "Premiere of The Grudge 2 announced". The Grudge 2 Movie.Com. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
  24. Rotten Tomatoes (October 13, 2006). "Grudge 2 not screened for critics". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  25. "Grudge 2". Rotten Tomatoes. October 13, 2006. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  26. "The Grudge 2". Metacritic. October 14, 2006. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  27. A.V. Club (October 13, 2006). "A.V. Club review". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  28. Film Threat (October 13, 2006). "Film Threat review". Film Threat. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  29. Variety (October 13, 2006). "Variety review". Variety. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  30. JoBlo review (October 13, 2006). "JoBlo review". JoBlo review. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  31. Detroit Free Press (October 13, 2006). "Detroit Free Press review". Detroit Free press review. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  32. Rotten Tomatoes (October 13, 2006). "Grudge 2 expected to gross $ 27 Million". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
  33. Coming Soon (October 5, 2006). "Grudge 3 ideas". Coming Soon. Archived from the original on 2006-06-18. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  34. Bloody Disgusting (July 25, 2006). "Grudge 3 announced". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  35. Movie Hole (July 24, 2006). "Takashi Shimizu talks about The Grudge 3". Movie Hole. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
  36. Kayako and Toshio ditch The Grudge 3?
  37. BD Horror News - Shawnee Smith Cast in 'The Grudge 3'!
  38. "Movie The Grudge 2 - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved 2014-06-16.

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