I was keen to see this picture after I got over being scared of The Grudge and began to appreciate The Grudge more.
This film is also displayed out of sequence. It opens technically the day the "final" effects of the curse are played out in this picture. In the opening credits the audience is reminded of the events that triggered the curse in the first place through flashback imagery. The audience is also reminded that someone dying in the grip of a powerful rage can lead to a curse being born on that spot of the death and that anyone who comes in contact with the place will be consumed by its fury. But the audience is also informed that it is possible for the curse to be "reborn" which is the main theme of this picture.
Again there is the haunted house that anyone who goes into is doomed to die from the curse. This picture still retained the atmospheric horror of the first one but there was definitely more menace in the atmosphere of this picture than the first one. That wasn't a complaint by the way as it felt like they added more to the story without taking away from the story. In any case, this picture tells of three high school girls Allison (played by Arielle Kebbel), Vanessa (played by Teresa Palmer) and Miyuki (played by Misako Uno) who enter the house. Vanessa and Miyuki are technically playing a mean prank on Allison who is a bit of a "reject" of sorts when they go into the house. Allison of course doesn't realize that they are playing a prank because she wants to be friends with them and figures they will let her be friends with them if she goes along with them. While in the house, there is a moment of terror where Allison gets stuck in the closet (the taped-up one featured in the first Grudge movie) and she screams in horror at something that she sees in the attic space. We the audience recognize the ghost of Kayako (played by Takako Fuji). The three girls flee the house and the film switches over to Aubrey (played by Amber Tamblyn).
Aubrey is summoned by her very ill mother to go to Japan to bring her sister Karen (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) back home. Aubrey is told that Karen started a fire and killed her boyfriend Doug (played by Jason Behr). When Aubrey gets there, she meets a guy named Eason (played by Edison Chen) who helps her find her sister as Aubrey doesn't speak or understand Japanese. When Aubrey sees Karen, Karen is obviously distraught and isn't making sense, something about needing to stop "her" but who "her" is isn't made clear to Aubrey. When Aubrey is leaving the hospital Eason explains that he wants to talk to Karen about what she experienced in the house. Aubrey is initially put off by him as she thinks he is just acting as a nosy reporter with no sensitivity for Karen and her family. As Aubrey is walking outside of the hospital and talking with Eason about her sister, Karen lands on the pavement near Aubrey and Eason. It would appear that Karen committed suicide but the audience knows better. Also Eason clearly sees Kayako holding onto Karen's lifeless body as if she had pulled her to her death.
Thus begins Aubrey and Eason's attempts at finding out what if anything can be done to stop the curse from consuming everything it touches. One of the reasons that I initially didn't like this film was that to me it didn't make any sense. How can the curse affect people who haven't even been to Japan much less entered the house? Eason explains that when Karen burned the house, something changed about the house and the curse. It's almost as if the curse has escaped.
Meanwhile, mysterious deaths and disappearances occur relating to Vanessa, Miyuki, and Allison. When Allison returns home to her parents' apartment in Chicago strange happenings occur that lead to mysterious deaths and disappearances. In particular a neighboring family including Bill (played by Christopher Cousins), his new wife Trish (played by Jennifer Beals), Bill's daughter Lacey (played by Sarah Roemer), and Jake (played by Matthew Knight) seem to be most affected.
Like I said earlier I didn't initially like this picture as much because I missed the key plot point of Eason explaining the change and how the curse is able to affect all of these people. I liked that they incorporated many elements like the deaths and disappearances from the original Ju-On films.
Again there are disturbing images in this picture so if you didn't like The Grudge you might not like this one. I would still recommend giving this one a try if you are even remotely curious. It isn't better than the first one but it is as good as the first one which is more than some sequels particularly horror sequels can say.
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