Ju-On: The Curse 2 (2000)

From my favorite movies..

An Exercise In Nonsense

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie was a little disappointing, because it was not so good as the first movie, "The Grudge". A lot of ideas from "The Grudge" are also repeated here, so you know what to expect beforehand. It feels as if the producers are trying to suck the last marrow out of the first movie's popularity... and I think that is very bad! Also, my impression is that this movie is more low-budget, more amateurish, and with no such really good actors as those who played the American (English?) college teacher, and the inspector, in "The Grudge".Furthermore, it was very confusing, and I am not sure I understood what happened to all the people living in the house. This confusion might be a matter of inadequate translation, though, because there is some Japanese text that I believe is vital to the story, but which is not translated. For example the addresses on the envelopes, when the real estate agent enters the house and finds them inside the door...Still, it has it scares... My heart is still thumping loudly, and I have goose bumps... and I will be very afraid to turn out the lights in my bed-room! :-)

I have not seen the original film, so I can't make any comparison. Supposedly this "sequel" contains 40 minutes of the original and just 36 minutes of new material.No matter to me, as this is one of the creepiest films I have seen. I was literally jumping out of my seat at times. The mother and child really creeped me out. People dying all over the place due to some curse that resulted from a murder by a father.Creepy music, and some bizarre deaths make this an interesting movie. The non-linear style may put some off, but I really enjoyed it.There are apparently four of these films, so I will be looking for them all. Of course, I can also check out the American remakes which feature the mother (Takako Fuji) and the father (Takashi Matsuyama).

"Ju-On 2" isn't definitely as good as the original.It's very bland and boring film with some occasionally scary moments."Ju-On 2" starts at the beginning of the first film,re-telling the story that started it all in the original "Ju-On",and then about half way into the film the new story picks up.The film offers some downright creepy moments,but there is not enough creepiness for my liking.There is also one scene obviously stolen from Hideo Nakata's horror hit "Ringu"(1998).So if you liked the first film you may be a bit a disappointed with this one.My rating:6 out of 10-and that's being generous.Stick with brilliant original.

... mainly because Ju-on 2 boasts an outrageous FORTY minutes' worth of material literally taken straight out of the first Ju-on - and when you consider that the sequel only runs for 76 minutes, that leaves you with 36 original minutes' worth of film. Ho-hum. I found that deeply irritating - as if viewers simply wouldn't remember the same stuff! - not to mention dull, having to watch it all over again.OK, that complaint aside, the byline for Ju-on 2 was that it was supposed to explain a lot of the unanswered questions from the first movie, which frankly, over 36 minutes, simply doesn't go far enough to making any kind of sense of the original's highly convoluted storyline.There are, however, some really nice new horror sequences which show how good the film might have been, had it had some time to develop; and some of the questions raised by the original - some, but not all - are answered.So in conclusion - if you loved the first original movie and want to see some further developments on the story, go for it - but just remember to keep your remote control to hand with your finger on the fast-forward button for forty minutes.