Ju-on 2 (2003)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Takashi Shimizu

Writer:

Takashi Shimizu (written by)

Release Date:

5 September 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

While driving , the pregnant horror-movie actress Kyôko Harase and her fiancé are in a car crash caused by the Toshio's friend...

Plot Keywords:

Haunted House | Sequel | Pregnancy | Suburb | Asian Horror

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Noriko Sakai	...	Kyoko Harase
Chiharu Nîyama	...	Tomoka Miura (as Chiharu Niiyama)
Kei Horie	...	Noritaka Yamashita
Yui Ichikawa	...	Chiharu
Ayumu Saitô	...	Masashi Ishikura
Emi Yamamoto	...	Megumi Ôbayashi
Erika Kuroishi	...	Hiromi
Kaoru Mizuki	...	Aki Harase
Shinobu Yuuki	...	Kaoru Ishikura (as Shinobu Yûki)
Takako Fuji	...	Kayako Saeki
Yuya Ozeki	...	Toshio Saeki (as Yûya Ozeki)
Shingo Katsurayama	...	Keisuke Ôkuni
Fumika Hidejima	...	DJ
Hidetoshi Kageyama	...	Kazumasa Ishikura
Hiroko Toda	...	Shojo Yaku no Haiyû
Ziko Uchiyama	...	Kantoku (as Jîko Uchiyama)
Hidekazu Mashima	...	Jokantoku
Yukizumi Itô	...	Sanfujinkai
Yasuhi Nakamura	...	Sôma
Kenji Yamagami	...	Watanabe
Toshiaki Tanabe	...	Ishi A
Satoru Jitsunashi	...	Ishi B
Chika Nojima	...	Kangofu
Mio Kagawa	...	Kangofu
Naruki Matsukawa	...	Otokonoko
Yuu Kamata	...	Shôjo no Kayako (as Yû Kamata)
Sakura Kamata	...	Shôjo no Kayako

Directed by
Takashi Shimizu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takashi Shimizu		written by

Produced by
Shinya Egawa	....	producer (as Shin'ya Egawa)
Takashige Ichise	....	producer
Kunio Kawakami	....	producer
Yoshinori Kumazawa	....	producer
Haruhiko Matsushita	....	producer
Hiroki Numata	....	producer

Original Music by
Shiro Sato		(as Shirô Satô)

Cinematography by
Tokusho Kikumura		(as Tokushô Kikumura)

Film Editing by
Nobuyuki Takahashi

Production Design by
Toshiharu Tokiwa

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaki Adachi	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Masato Komatsu	....	sound
Kenji Shibazaki	....	sound effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Hajime Matsumoto	....	visual effects supervisor

Production Companies

• Pioneer LDC
• Nikkatsu
• Oz Productions
• Xanadeux Company
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
• Aozora Investments (with the support of)
• Tokyo Theaters Company

Distributors

• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (Spain)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2004) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD) (North America)
• Lizard Cinema Trade (2004) (Russia)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Tokyo Theaters Company (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Xanadeux Company (2003) (worldwide) (all media)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Nippon Eizo Creative (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Cineo Camera  camera equipment supplied by
• Ishitani Lighting  lighting equipment supplied by
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing

Also Known As:

Ju-on 2 (USA) (DVD box title)
Ju-on 2: Gekijô-ban (Japan) (poster title)
Ju-on 4 (Japan) (working title)
Ju-on: The Grudge 2 (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and disturbing images.

Runtime:

92 min | France:95 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Ireland:15A | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:PG | Germany:16 | UK:15 (video premiere) | Australia:M | Finland:K-18

Company:

Pioneer LDC

Movie Connections:

Follows Ju-on (2002)

Soundtrack:

Machigai

Really good ghost story

Smart Far Eastern horror uses chills, psychology and subtle intelligence to place itself a cut above many of its peers.

Ju-on 2 is obviously a sequel to Ju-on (The Grudge), a fairly reasonable if perhaps not brilliant chiller from the Orient, in which a murder had caused the house it occurred in to host a curse as a result of the slaying.

Following on from this, Ju-on 2 uses the same trick as seen in the likes of Magnolia whereby a bunch of victims, related to one another in some way, suffer at the hands of said curse.

Indeed, this is much like a compendium of tales, focusing on around 6 victims whose lives becomes inextricably linked as a result of circumstance, all of which harks back to the original house.

However, rather than outlining the finer details of the plot, it seems fairer to explain *why* this is such a good effort from Asia compared to so many of its really rather derivative kin such as Phone, Eye etc.

Certainly this also has more than a homage to Ring, and could be tenuous accused of slight plagiarism given many of the utterly blatant similarities, so what makes it a cut above the others?

Well, one of the main strengths here is some fantastic psychological trickery. The direction itself is fantastically conducive to it, and without giving away the exact nature of the manipulation of the viewer going on here, it's fair to say that it does a pretty good job of conveying the same kind of 'wrongness' that Ring exuded. There are plenty of moments here which create a genuine chill such is their effective defying of how we believe the laws of physics and biology work. When an event goes against all the worldly beliefs you have set in stone, it makes you take notice. Furthermore, given the distinctly psychological nature of much of Ju-on 2, it truly comes across as utterly twisted like some kind of awful nightmarish trip (Unlike Audition's frankly baffling last 3rd) but one which doesn't leave the viewer confused.

There are also a number of subtle tricks in evidence, many of which don't become apparent till later, all of which genuinely gathered an impressed reaction from me.

I am not going to pretend this is a terrifying movie, because to me, while there were certainly moments which got the adrenaline going a little, it is not exactly all that scary if you're a fan of these movies. Basically, we've seen it all before.

Nonetheless, as critical and harsh as that sounds, it still manages to entertain extremely well despite it, because it uses its own unique brand of originality to compliment the obvious nods to other movies.

Certainly one of the best Eastern horrors I've seen.