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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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The Grudge 2 (2006)

Rating: 1 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Sludge

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Grudge 2 on DVD

What makes The Grudge 2 so bad? It goes without saying that it's a sequel, a remake and a remake of a sequel, which -- as far as Hollywood is concerned -- makes it a safe bet three times over. Probably less obvious is that the film continues an almost 30-year tradition of trying to re-create the success of John Carpenter's groundbreaking Halloween (1978), a pared-down scare flick in which the only thing that happens is a supernatural being hunting down and killing innocent characters.

But there's something else going on here. Horror movies are the ultimate in "body" cinema, or cinema that we experience physically, rather than mentally or spiritually. Because of this, nudity and sex have always gone hand-in-hand with the genre -- even before nudity could be shown. Look at Cat People (1942), in which the heroine turns into a murderous feline when sexually aroused, or the shower scene in Psycho (1960), the ultimate in vulnerability...

Note: Please visit cinematical.com for my full review. See also The Grudge.

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel, Jennifer Beals, Teresa Palmer, Misako Uno, Sarah Roemer, Matthew Knight, Takako Fuji, Ohga Tanaka, Joanna Cassidy, Christopher Cousins, Paul Jarrett, Jenna Dewan
Written by: Stephen Susco
Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing images/terror/violence, and some sensuality
Running Time: 95 minutes
Date: October 13, 2006