The Grudge 2 review

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Boo! Did we scare you? Then you’ll love The Grudge 2, a shock-reel of creep-outs for the easily freaked. Director Takashi Shimizu is back with his haunt-kill-repeat formula, picking up where US remake The Grudge left off with Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in hospital and sister Audrey (Amber Tamblyn) in Tokyo to take her home. As usual ghosts Kayako (spider-walk, long hair) and Toshio (pasty-skinned nipper who likes to go, “Raaaa!”) snuff anyone and everyone. And as usual Shimizu-san jumbles several storylines. There’s too much that’s familiar here, a Ring rip-off backstory about Kayako’s childhood adding little new. It’s mechanical horror, a cinematic ghost train with shocks at every stop (standout jumps include an unexpected threesome in a love hotel and a girl regurgitating milk). But if you’ve already seen one (or five) Grudge movies, you’ve seen them all. Boo! Oh, what’s the point?

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.