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"THE GRUDGE 2" (2006) (Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None Moderate Extreme Extreme None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Heavy Extreme None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Heavy Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: Various people must contend with a haunted house's vengeful ghost that wants to spread its rage to them and others. PLOT: Aubrey Davis (AMBER TAMBLYN) is a young American woman who's been sent to Tokyo to find her estranged sister, Karen (SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR). She's been hospitalized after setting fire to a reportedly haunted house where she previously worked and her boyfriend recently died. Trying to make sense of what happened, Aubrey turns to Eason (EDISON CHEN), a local photojournalist now obsessed with the house after years of investigating its history of deaths and tales of spooky hauntings. The rumor is that anyone who enters it becomes afflicted by a vengeful ghost that wants to spread its rage to others, whether they're in the house or not. The latest to discover this is Allison (ARIELLE KEBBEL), an American student studying in Tokyo with the likes of Vanessa (TERESA PALMER) and Miyuki (MISAKO UNO). As part of a prank, they lead Allison into the house and lock her in a closet, resulting in several ghostly encounters. Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Trish (JENNIFER BEALS) has moved in with her boyfriend, Bill (CHRISTOPHER COUSINS) and his kids, teenage cheerleader Lacey (SARAH ROEMER) and her younger brother Jake (MATTHEW KNIGHT). While the boy isn't pleased with Trish and won't call her "mom," he becomes more concerned with the strange sounds coming from a neighboring apartment where a married couple has returned with a mysterious, hooded figure. As his curiosity gets the better of him, Jake realizes too late, along with the rest in the other stories, that the vengeful ghost won't give up until she destroys everyone's lives. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the first film or horror movies in general, they probably will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: AMBER TAMBLYN plays a young American woman sent by her mother to bring her hospitalized and estranged sister back home. Once there, she befriends Eason, eventually finds herself tormented by the ghost, and then tries to find a way to stop it. EDISON CHEN plays a photojournalist who's been investigating the haunted house and the killings that have taken place inside it for the past several years. Similarly terrorized by the ghost, he's also looking for any possible solution. ARIELLE KEBBEL plays an American student studying in Tokyo who also finds herself subject to the hauntings after a practical joke by Vanessa and Miyuki results in her encountering the ghosts. JENNIFER BEALS plays a woman who moves in with her boyfriend and his kids and tries to make Jake comfortable with that arrangement. TERESA PALMER plays an American student who, along with Miyuki, plays the intended practical joke on Allison, but then find that it's backfired on her as she's now haunted as well. MISAKO UNO plays her Japanese friend who does the same, goes to a hotel to have sex with her boyfriend, and then discovers that the ghost is after her too. SARAH ROEMER plays a teen who's happy that Trish is moving in with her and her family. MATTHEW KNIGHT plays her younger brother who isn't, but then finds himself preoccupied by strange noises and weird occurrences related to a stranger who's been brought into a neighboring apartment. SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR plays Aubrey's sister, now hospitalized and under police supervision for reportedly killing her boyfriend and trying to burn down the haunted house where she once worked. CHRISTOPHER COUSINS plays Lacey and Jake's dad who's having Trish move in with them, but then becomes affected for the worse by the evil that's moved in next door to them. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this horror film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of only a few minor expletives, while a handful of colorful phrases are uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, while a young couple checks into a hotel room to have sex, but that doesn't happen (although we briefly see a distant, hips and up shot of him in the shower). Several teens are seen in their bras and panties (some of which are rather small) in a locker room. Various characters kill others by various means while possessed by the ghost's rage, while ghosts also kill others. Some of that has bloody results, and those moments along with all sorts of creepy moments and disturbing visuals will be intense, suspenseful, and/or downright scary to some viewers, particularly younger kids if allowed to see this. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while tense family material includes strained and/or estranged relationships, along with an unexpected death and the suggested earlier death of a parent to a teen and her younger brother. Meanwhile, a minor character briefly smokes and teen's urine is seen running down her legs while she's terrified. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld and/or otherwise bouncy camerawork in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE We see drops of blood in the beginning of the opening credits. All of the ghostly figures appear as dead, but "alive" beings that are mostly bluish in tint and otherwise look like corpses that have started to change in color. As Aubrey and Eason walk outside the hospital, Karen's body suddenly crashes down before them, slamming into the pavement (we don't see the impact, but do see a pool of blood by her head). Alone in the school locker room, Vanessa sees the ghostly girl, and we then see urine run down Vanessa's legs (from fright). A man's hand is bloody from holding his keys so tightly that they've cut him. We hear that the mother who originally lived in the house was an exorcist of sorts who'd remove spirits from others and then feed them to her teenage daughter (we see a flashback to this as she pulls out a spoonful of what looks like blood from one person's mouth and then lets it drip down into her daughter's open mouth). Lacey goes to see her friend who acts strangely, including downing a lot of milk from the plastic jug before regurgitating it back into that (with accompanying vomit sounds). Aubrey has some blood around her mouth, as does the vision of a previously murdered girl. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The ghostly girl has a bad attitude for haunting and then killing many people (or causing others to become enraged and kill more people). Bill (who we initially think is Trish's abusive husband, but later learn is her live-in boyfriend affected/possessed by the evil next door) acts meanly and disrespectfully toward Trish. During the opening credits, we see very grainy and brief images of a Japanese man grabbing his daughter by the hair, drowning his wife in the bathtub, and grabbing, drowning and then throwing the family cat against a wall. Vanessa and Miyuki have a little bit of a condescending attitude toward Allison (the relatively new girl at their school) and then play a mean trick on her by taking her to the haunted house and then locking her in a closet, thus traumatizing her. Vanessa makes fun of Allison for going to see the school "shrink" (about the ghostly encounters). We hear that the mother who originally lived in the house was an exorcist of sorts who'd remove spirits from others and then feed them to her teenage daughter. Aubrey calls her mom to inform her of Karen's death, resulting in the mom meanly telling Aubrey, "You could never do anything on your own." FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here and under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful, or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Vanessa and Miyuki take Allison to the haunted house, tell her that anyone who goes inside gets the curse (saying two years ago a young woman killed her boyfriend there), and then accompany her into the charred interior. They then go upstairs to a bedroom closet (where we know, from the first film, that most of the hauntings occurred) and use peer pressure to make her go into the closet, close her eyes and count to ten (after telling her of the man who previously lived there killing his family and the pet cat). Allison reluctantly does so, with the two girls then thinking they're playing a joke by slamming and holding the closet door shut, thus scaring Allison. That's especially true after she sees a notebook in there with holes torn in some pages, showing a drawn eye peering out through it, the bluish ghost boy sitting on the floor making a meowing sound, and then when noises emanate from above her in the attic. The girls on the outside then run away when they can't get the door open and hear Allison let out a bloodcurdling scream upon seeing the ghostly girl figure slowly lower herself down (hair and then head first) from the attic access panel and come toward her in a creepy fashion. Allison then gets the door open and races out of the house. We see Karen in a hospital room with various bruises on her face. When she starts to panic, the staff straps her down to her bed (as she yells out that she's the only person who can stop "her") and we then hear that they sedated her. Moments later, she sees the lights in her room start to flicker and then panics again, trying to undo her straps. A ghostly hand from below her bed then grabs her hand, and we then see a ghostly figure rise up from behind the head of her bed (behind her). Racing out into the hallway, she finds herself alone and then sees the ceiling lights there going out one by one, with flash images of the ghost girl (and her herky-jerky body movement) coming toward her. Karen flees, encounters the ghost girl trying to come through some plastic in a utilities area, and eventually ends up out on the roof where she hears the ghost's signature croaky sound. She then sees the ghost approach her and Karen backs to the edge of the building where ghostly hands then come out from behind her head and cover her face. As Aubrey and Eason walk outside the hospital, Karen's body suddenly crashes down before them, slamming into the pavement (we don't see the impact, but do see a pool of blood by her head). Eason then sees a vision of the ghost girl lying next to the body on the pavement. Jake hears a scream, slowly walks through his apartment, and peers into the hallway to see a married couple walking a hooded figure back into their place. In class, Allison feels a ghostly black cat rub along her legs. When she looks down there, she suddenly sees the ghostly boy crouched down below her desk at her legs. She then sees the cat rub by another girl's legs. As Vanessa showers at school, she suddenly sees black hair around her feet in the water (while she's a blonde). She then pulls more from her head (all signaling that the black-haired ghost is there). Then alone in the school locker room, Vanessa sees the ghostly girl, and we then see urine run down Vanessa's legs (from fright). Miyuki and her boyfriend go to a hotel room, and while he showers, she gets into bed and under the covers. She then thinks that he's crawling up from under the covers toward her, but then sees that he's still in the shower. Miyuki then scrambles out from under the covers where we still see the lump of whatever was in there with her, and as she backs up to the head of a bed, a ghostly figure suddenly grabs her from behind and yanks her away. While watching an interview he did with a cop, Eason hears a strange sound. Going frame by frame, he then sees a flash image of the ghostly girl in the background of the shot. When he turns off the TV, he sees the reflection of the ghostly girl (behind him) on the dark TV screen. Jake hears a weird thumping sound at night from the other side of his apartment wall. He then looks out in the hallway and then follows a hooded figure down it and the stairs into the basement where he watches the figure going through the trash. When he makes a noise, he tries to hide as the figure slowly walks toward him, but then walks away after briefly seemingly starring at him (we don't see the figure's face). As Trish talks on the phone, we partially see the apartment door behind her slowly open, see the POV of someone slowly walking toward her, and then see it's her boyfriend. He's seemingly possessed, and holds his keys so tightly that they've cut his hand that's now bloody. After playing with a desk light in a school psychologist's office, Vanessa sees that it no longer works. She looks under the desk and sees that it's been unplugged. Going under the desk, she sees part of a figure run by, and when her phone rings up on top of it, she reaches up and touches some ghostly feet standing above her, causing her to shriek, especially as the desk starts to shake. She then scrambles out from under it, answers her phone and hears an eerie sound from it. She then flees to an outdoor pay phone, tries to call Miyuki, and hears the creepy croaky sound from the phone. She then sees the ghostly boy sitting in the phone booth with her, followed by lots of long black hair that then engulf Vanessa, with the ghostly girl then seen in there with her. Eason and Aubrey go to the ghost house, with him telling her to wait outside (so that she won't become infected by the ghostly curse). He then slowly goes through the house (hearing weird sounds from above him), heads up to the second floor and into the bedroom where he finds the closet taped shut. He then tears away that tape and goes inside where he finds a notebook that flips open to a page with holes in it, displaying a drawn eye peering out. Meanwhile, Aubrey sees the ghostly girl figure in the downstairs window, approaches and a ghostly hand then yanks her inside the house. We hear that the mother who originally lived in the house was an exorcist of sorts who'd remove spirits from others and then feed them to her teenage daughter (we see a flashback to this as she pulls out a spoonful of what looks like blood from one person's mouth and then lets it drip down into her daughter's open mouth). Eason goes into his darkroom, and we see shadowy figures in various shots he's taken. As he's developing the next one, he sees the figure suddenly bleed like ink into the chemicals. He's then shocked as long black hair then forms in the pan, followed by the ghost girl's head and hands coming up out of it. She then suddenly leaps out of that at him. The next morning, Aubrey slowly goes in there, finds him seated in the corner looking dazed (his eyes are open) and goes to hug him, but he then turns into the ghost girl and then back into himself, when we (and she) realize he's dead. Lacey goes to see her friend who acts strangely, including downing a lot of milk from the plastic jug before regurgitating it back into that (with accompanying vomit sounds). Jake hears thumping from the other side of the wall, touches it, and then recoils when a louder thump occurs. He then slowly goes out into the hallway, approaches that other apartment, finds the door ajar, and slowly goes in. He finds the place in disarray, hears the thumping coming from a bedroom, and slowly enters it. There, he sees the hooded girl frantically cutting her long black hair and then recoiling upon seeing him. He also sees that she's covered the windows in newspapers. Some holes then form in them and he sees images of faces through them, causing him to panic and run. We see the ghost boy near Lacey's sick friend. Allison goes to see the school psychologist, realizes she's also been in the house, and then recoils when she sees two dead classmates seated on either side of her (one stands and makes a creepy sound). The ghost girl does her creepy, herky-jerk walk toward her mother, apparently killing her (we see the woman's non-bloody body after that). Jake and Lacey return to their apartment to find the door ajar, the power out, and the place in disarray. They split up and slowly walk around. Jake then sees his father's legs sprawled on the floor and then sees him with a fatal and bloody head wound. He then runs for Lacey, but finds her dead with her head in the filled bathtub. He pulls her out, hears a weird sound, and tentatively pulls back the shower curtain to reveal nothing. He then hears a sound, turns and sees Trish dead (but alive) in the tub until ghostly hands pull her down into the water from behind her. Despite knowing Karen is dead, Aubrey sees her in the ghostly house and then follows her upstairs where she encounters what seems to be a ghostly vision of a former tenant (who murdered his family). That spirit grabs Aubrey by the hair and then breaks her neck, mortally wounding her (we hear croaky sounds coming from her broken throat as she sees visions of past violence as well as the ghost girl approaching her as she lies dying on the floor). We see a flashback to Allison being trapped in the haunted closet with the ghost girl descending from the attic access toward her. Jake hears a scream, goes out into the hallway, and finds the hooded figure (while we briefly and partially see the ghost girl crawling down some steps in a herky-jerky fashion). Ghostly hands then reach around the girl's face and yank her entire body back, leaving just an empty, hooded sweatshirt on the floor. Jake then picks it up, and the ghostly girl suddenly forms in it. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "You're such a klutz," "He's totally hot," "That looks creepy as hell," "What the hell?" "I was so pissed" and "Leave me the hell alone." Some kids might be inspired to try to scare others through the same or similar means as occur in the film. Vanessa and Miyuki have Allison roll up her school skirt (from the top) to show a little more leg. JUMP SCENES Allison suddenly sees the ghost boy in a closet with her. A ghost suddenly presses up against some hanging plastic. A body suddenly falls from the sky and hits the pavement. In class, Allison feels a ghostly black cat rub along her legs. When she looks down there, she suddenly sees the ghostly boy crouched down below her desk at her legs. When Eason turns off the TV, he sees the reflection of the ghostly girl (behind him) on the dark TV screen. A ghostly hand grabs Aubrey and yanks her into the ghostly house. Eason suddenly and quickly yanks open a closet door. Jake hears thumping from the other side of the wall, touches it, and then recoils when a louder thump occurs. Jake suddenly trips and falls to the floor in his apartment (but is okay). Jake hears a scream, goes out into the hallway, and finds the hooded figure. Ghostly hands then reach around the girl's face and yank her entire body back, leaving just an empty, hooded sweatshirt on the floor. Jake then picks it up, and the ghostly girl suddenly forms in it. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous, suspenseful, and scary music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 3 hells, 2 damns and 1 use of "God." SEX/NUDITY Vanessa and Miyuki have Allison roll up her school skirt (from the top) to show a little more leg. Upon hearing Vanessa say that a young woman killed her boyfriend in the haunted house two years ago, Miyuki jokes, "Maybe they came here to, you know..." (meaning sex). Vanessa then sarcastically replies that maybe Miyuki should bring her boyfriend there since they're so adventurous. About some guy who isn't present, a teen girl says, "He's totally hot." We see a teen girl in a short skirt. Trish shows a little cleavage. We see various teen girls, including Vanessa, in small bras (showing cleavage) and panties in the school locker room. We then see a few in just towels, and the camera then goes through the shower room where we see the lower legs and feet of many girls in separate showers, stopping on the one where Vanessa is standing (we then see a head and shoulders shot of her, and then her in a towel when she's done). Miyuki and her boyfriend go to a hotel where we see that rooms are available for the night or just three hours. After picking out a room from an available selection, they enter and the boyfriend tells her to get comfortable as he goes off to shower (we see several distant views of him doing so in a mirror reflection showing his bare upper torso and the top of his bare butt). We then see him come out in just a towel, but nothing sexual happens as Miyuki has disappeared. Aubrey shows a little cleavage. Lacey wears a cheerleader outfit that shows her bare midriff. SMOKING A miscellaneous person smokes in one scene. TENSE FAMILY SCENES During the opening credits, we see very grainy and brief images of a Japanese man grabbing his daughter by the hair, drowning his wife in the bathtub, and grabbing, drowning and then throwing the family cat against a wall. Aubrey visits her bedridden mom who tells her that Karen's boyfriend is dead, that Karen caused a fire, and wants Aubrey to bring Karen home (since she's in no condition to go herself). We hear that Aubrey and Karen aren't on speaking terms (later explained by Aubrey as stemming from Karen pressuring Aubrey to go to college, and that she blamed Karen for their mother's indifference toward her [Aubrey]). Aubrey must deal with the death of her sister, and feels both grief and remorse over their strained relationship. She tries to call home to inform their mother of Karen's death, but cries, can't say anything, and hangs up. About Trish moving in with her boyfriend and his two kids, young Jake says he won't call Trish "mom" and she's fine with that. After Aubrey talks about her estranged relationship with Karen, Eason says he and his brother lived close to each other, but never tried to see each other. Lacey finds Jake hiding in his closet and the boy says he wishes their (deceased) mom was there. Aubrey calls her mom to inform her of Karen's death, resulting in the mom meanly telling Aubrey, "You could never do anything on your own." TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Haunted houses, ghosts, etc. and whether they exist or not. Jealous rage. Going to school in a foreign country. Estranged sibling relationships. Pulling pranks on others. VIOLENCE Bill (who we initially think is Trish's abusive husband, but later learn is her live-in boyfriend affected/possessed by the evil next door) acts meanly and disrespectfully toward Trish. She then matter-of-factly walks over to him, pours hot bacon grease over his head and then whacks him hard on the head with the large skillet. We later see this scene again (and the moments that immediately preceded it), but don't see the pouring or whacking. During the opening credits, we see very grainy and brief images of a Japanese man grabbing his daughter by the hair, drowning his wife in the bathtub, and grabbing, drowning and then throwing the family cat against a wall. As Aubrey and Eason walk outside the hospital, Karen's body suddenly crashes down before them, slamming into the pavement (we don't see the impact, but do see a pool of blood by her head). A ghostly figure suddenly grabs Miyuki from behind at the head of a bed and yanks her away, presumably killing her. A man's hand is bloody from holding his keys so tightly that they've cut him. After emerging from a darkroom's developing pan, the ghost girl suddenly leaps out at Eason, and we next see him dead. The ghost girl does her creepy, herky-jerk walk toward her mother, apparently killing her (we see the woman's non-bloody body after that). A boy pulls his dead sister's from a filled bathtub (her head was submerged over the side), and then sees another woman (who's alive for the moment, but is presumably also dead). Jake suddenly trips and falls to the floor in his apartment (but is okay). Despite knowing Karen is dead, Aubrey sees her in the ghostly house and then follows her upstairs where she encounters what seems to be a ghostly vision of a former tenant (who murdered his family). That spirit grabs Aubrey by the hair and then breaks her neck, mortally wounding her (we hear croaky sounds coming from her broken throat as she sees visions of past violence as well as the ghost girl approaching her as she lies dying on the floor). Ghostly hands reach around a girl's face and then yank her entire body back, leaving just an empty, hooded sweatshirt on the floor. Reviewed October 13, 2006 / Posted October 13, 2006

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