The Grudge 2

From Takashi Shimizu, the director of the Japanese original (Ju-on) and the English remake, this by-the-books sequel serves up more fun and random J-horror, marred only by a healthy dollop of confusing back story. Summoned to Tokyo to find out what happened to her nutbar sister (Sarah Michelle Gellar, in a brief cameo), fraidy cat Aubrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn) runs afoul of a curse that is somehow connected to a bedraggled old female exorcist. While Aubrey searches fruitlessly for answers, the grudge materializes (in a variety of guises) in a creepy apartment building in Chicago, where a three-quel-friendly story line is unfolding. Tamblyn is no Gellar; reciting her hoky lines under a steady stream of fake tears, she’s as soggy as a Ramen noodle. But skeptics will find it hard to bash Shimizu’s deliberately paced, CGI-free direction, which recalls the occult horror classics of the 1970s.

On the Web
The Grudge 2's Web site: //www.sonypictures.com/movies/thegrudge2/index.html