Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 6, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow Video's Ju-on: The Grudge Collection.

In a commentary included on Ju-On: The Grudge, film historian David Kalat, who kind of jokingly states that, yes, he did write the (or at least a) book on so-called J Horror, offers a fun and interesting overview of the entire Ju-On franchise, documenting how the "first" film is in actuality at least the third, and, if you include a couple of shorts that started the whole thing going, even further down an ordinal list. Kalat gets into the fact that at least some of the sobriquets assigned to various films in the series (like The Curse and, yes, maybe even The Grudge) are actually the creation of fans (not that there's anything wrong with that), but one way or the other, Arrow has aggregated six Ju-On films in this set, offering all of them on 1080 discs, with Ju-On: The Grudge also getting 4K UHD treatment. As is typically the case with Arrow releases, the supplements are bountiful, at least with regard to the two films bearing Grudge in their titles.

The old maxim states that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result", and in that regard, kind of hilariously Ju-On: The Grudge 2 delivers examples of that in a couple of different ways. As I mentioned in the Ju-on: The Curse 2 Blu-ray review, that second of two straight to video efforts couldn't quite escape from the feeling that it was simply offering a warmed over rehash of what the first DTV offering had already presented, and it's arguable that this second feature film at least intermittently echoes plot points of the first Grudge. But this film also offers a structural artifice that Takashi Shimizu had exploited in Reincarnation, the film he made directly prior to this one, in that this story has a "meta" aspect of a film being made about events in the first Grudge.

This already somewhat labyrinthine approach is obfuscated even further by the continuing artifice of presenting a sextet of interlocked characters and/or narratives in a nonlinear fashion, something that at this point may be doing little other than offering consistent misdirection and maybe incomprehension. There are once again some nicely creepy sequences here as the ghosts may be able to reach not just the living but the not yet born, but there is also a certain feeling of entropy and going over territory that has already been pretty heavily trafficked.

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ju-On: The Grudge 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet for this set lumps all of the films together on one page of verbiage about the transfers:

Ju-On: The Curse and Ju-On: The Curse 2 are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with stereo sound.

The films were shot on standard definition video and have been sourced from the original tape masters supplied by Kadakowa Corporation.

Ju-On: The Grudge is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo sound and has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16 bit resolution at Tokyo Genzosho, Japan. The film was restored in 4K and graded in HDR10 & Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London.

The audio mixes were remastered by Kadakowa Corporation. The restoration was supervised by James White and James Pearcey, Arrow Films.

Ju-On: The Grudge 2 is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo sound.

The film was produced in 35mm and the HD master was supplied by Kadakowa Corporation. Additional grading and picture restoration was completed at R3Store Studios, London.

Ju-On: Black Ghost and Ju-On: White Ghost are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 5.1 surround sound and stereo sound.

The films were produced in high definition video and have been sourced from the original tape masters from Kadakowa Corporation. Additional grading was completed at R3Store Studios, London.

This is a nicely organic looking presentation for the most part, though once again grain can be rather heavy and slightly chunky and yellowish looking against brighter backgrounds in particular, as can perhaps be gleaned in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. The palette is just slightly tamped down in this film, I think probably by intentional design, something that can give occasional pops of vivid hue even more distinction. A number of brief interstitial "video" elements are seriously degraded, again by design (see screenshot 2). Detail levels fare best in midrange and close-ups.

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ju-On: The Grudge 2 features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in either the original Japanese or an English dub. As with Ju-on: The Grudge 4K, I really didn't notice any substantial difference between the two tracks in terms of overall mix or amplitude levels. Again, the surround activity is consistent, if often quite subtle, with "little" discrete effects populating the side and rear channels to give indications that maybe something sinister is hiding behind curtains or even walls. A number of outdoor scenes also feature realistic ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Options and Commentaries

  Audio Commentary by Raechel Dumas and Jasper Sharp

  
  

  English dubbed version is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

• Takashi Shimizu (HD; 28:22) is an archival interview. Subtitled in English.


• On Set Interviews are subtitled in English:

  Noriko Sakai (HD; 4:03)

  
  

  Chiharu Niyama (HD; 1:46)

  
  

  Kei Horie (HD; 2:33)

  
  

  Yui Ichikawa (HD; 1:43)

  
  

  Emi Yamamoto (HD; 2:08)

  
  

  Shingo Katsurayama (HD; 4:14)

  
  

  On Takashi Shimizu (HD; 7:09)

• Deleted Scenes

  A Death in the Family (HD; 1:20)

  
  

  End of the Shoot (HD; 1:49)

  
  

  The Murky Depths (HD; 1:18)

  
  

  Reviewing the Evidence (HD; 4:31)

• Behind the Scenes

  Behind the Scenes of Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (HD; 20:26)

  
  

  How to Make Takashi Shimizu Style Horror Pt. 1 (HD; 9:39)

  
  

  How to Make Takashi Shimizu Style Horror Pt. 2 (HD; 8:27)

  
  

  On Set Report by Noriko Sakai (HD; 7:14)

  
  

  On Set Report by Yui Ichikawa and Erika Kuroishi (HD; 4:52)

• Premieres and Stage Greetings

  Japanese Preview Screening (HD; 2:22)

  
  

  Japanese Preview Screening TV Promo (HD; 3:24)

  
  

  Japanese Premiere (HD; 4:40)

  
  

  Korean Premiere (HD; 2:38)

  
  

  Taiwan Premiere (HD; 3:01)

• Trailers

  Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:32)

  
  

  UK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:24)

  
  

  UK TV Spot (HD; 00:24)

• Image Gallery (HD)


• Introduction by Takashi Shimizu (HD; 1:28) is accessible under the Play Film menu. Subtitled in English.

Ju-on: The Grudge 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sequels often struggle to escape the shadows of whatever film sparked their creation to begin with, and that's probably inarguably the case with Ju-On: The Grudge 2. The film still manages to establish a spooky undertone, even if some of the meta material becomes repetitive. Technical merits are solid and the supplements numerous and outstanding. Recommended.