Ju-On 2

This is the sequel to Ju-On, the Japanese original version of "The Grudge".

I liked this better than the first one.  But it flits back and forth in time, so I didn't really get the hang of what was happening until the end.  So I don't know.

The movie focuses on the curse of the house that was the center of the original (the same house was used for the American version, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and was nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the Japanese one).  This time, the curse is impacting people associated with a television show about the curse.

This is going to sound weird, but I think the reason I like this more is that it doesn't spend as much time at the house.  I'm not really that into the house, it gets old.  And the characters are compelling - the main character is an actress who stars in a lot of horror movies, so they refer to her as a "Horror Queen".  The other characters include an extra from one of the horror movies, a girl who works on the television show, the host(ess) of the television show and her boyfriend, and another dude affiliated with the show.

Here's the thing about these Japanese movies: they always involve really long black hair strangling people to death.  Like to the point that I'm surprised any Japanese people have hair past their chins.  Also, mouths sewn shut.  Not sure what that's about.

I mean I liked it though.

Availability: DVD and Streaming
Released: 2003
Added to my queue: 2/11/2008, along with all those other Asian movies
Reason added to my queue: Probably because I had seen the American one