Ju-On: The Curse 2

Ju-on: The Curse 2 (呪怨2), also known as simply Ju-on 2, is a 2000 Japanese V-Cinema supernatural horror film and the second installment in the Ju-on series. The film was released in Japan on March 25, 2000, and was later released on video on April 14.

Ju-On: The Curse 2
Directed byTakashi Shimizu
Written byTakashi Shimizu
Produced byTakashige Ichise
Kazuo Katô
Masaaki Takashima
StarringTaro Suwa
Denden
Yuuko Daike
Makoto Ashikawa
Kahori Fujii
Takako Fuji
Ryōta Koyama
Takashi Matsuyama
CinematographyNobuhito Kisuki
Music byGary Ashiya
Release date
  • 2000 (2000)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$196,200 (Thailand)[1]

Much of the sequel is a recap of the first film, nearly 30 minutes of retelling out of 76 minutes. The rest of the film introduces new information on those events, and new characters, as well as briefly introducing events that would play into the later theatrical films.

Plot

Like the first film, Ju-on 2 is split into six vignettes, the first two being taken from the first. The segments are presented in the following order: Kayako (伽椰子), Kyoko (響子), Tatsuya (達也), Kamio (神尾), Nobuyuki (信之), and Saori (沙織).

Teacher Shunsuke Kobayashi visits the Saeki household but finds his student, the young Toshio Saeki, alone. He finds the corpse of Kayako Saeki hidden in the attic and receives a phone call from her husband Takeo Saeki who reveals he has killed Kobayashi's pregnant wife Manami and butchered her unborn child, believing Kayako was being unfaithful upon discovering she has an obsessive crush on Kobayashi. Kayako's body rises as an Onryō and kills Kobayashi, before tracking down and killing the rampaging Takeo.

Sometime later, a woman named Kyoko helps her brother Tatsuya, a real estate agent, to examine the Saeki house and put it on the market. Disturbed by the house, Kyoko leaves, visiting her nephew Nobuyuki in the apartment once owned by Kobayashi. They witness a vision of Takeo murdering Manami and are affected by the Saeki curse. Tatsuya moves them to his parent's house in the countryside, where Kyoko is seemingly possessed and rocks back and forth, whilst Nobuyuki has become mute. Convinced the Saeki house's curse is responsible, Tatsuya heads off to investigate.

The current residents of the Saeki house, Yoshimi and Hiroshi Kitada, become affected by the curse. Yoshimi murders her husband by bludgeoning him with a frying pan and kills Tatsuya when he visits. All of Tatsuya's family save Nobuyuki from the curse. Around a month later, detectives Kamio and Iizuka observe Nobuyuki, who is still mute. Both visit police officer Yoshikawa, who has been driven insane by his investigation of the deaths surrounding the Saeki house. After the visiting detectives leave, Kayako appears in Yoshikawa's home and kills both him and his wife. At the police station, Kamio gets frightened when he sees Kayako, alerting Iizuka and another female officer who go to check his office. Kamio remains outside out of fear and is killed when Kayako reappears.

In the penultimate vignette, Nobuyuki is shown at school. He spots Kayako outside the window, and she suddenly opens and crawls in through it. Nobuyuki flees whilst pursued by Kayako. A second Kayako appears while he makes an attempt to escape through the stairs. Both ghosts corner Nobuyuki in a science lab and kill him - the final shots of the vignette show there is an army of Kayako replicas outside, scratching the windows, and still making their ominous death rattle, reflecting on the curse's never-ending, spreading effects.

The film closes with a brief final segment consisting of a close-up of the Nerima house from outside, with voice-overs indicating a group of high school girls, one of whom is named Saori, sneaking into the house. They are exploring the second floor and the film ends right after they notice something in the attic. The segment serves as a teaser for the 2002 theatrical film, Ju-on: The Grudge; it is likely a prelude to the "Izumi" segment of that film, as Saori is the name of one of Izumi's friends who went missing in the house.

Cast
Main article: List of The Grudge characters
  • Yūko Daike as Kyoko Suzuki (鈴木 響子, Suzuki Kyōko)
  • Makoto Ashikawa as Tatsuya Suzuki (鈴木 達也, Suzuki Tatsuya)
  • Kahori Fujii as Yoshimi Kitada (北田 良美, Kitada Yoshimi)
  • Yūrei Yanagi as Shunsuke Kobayashi (小林 俊介, Kobayashi Shunsuke)
  • Ryota Koyama as Toshio Saeki
  • Takako Fuji as Kayako Saeki
  • Takashi Matsuyama as Takeo Saeki
  • Kaei Okina as Hiroshi Kitada (北田 洋, Kitada Hiroshi)
  • Tomohiro Kaku as Nobuyuki Suzuki (鈴木 信之, Suzuki Nobuyuki)
  • Taizo Mizumura as Taiji Suzuki (鈴木 泰二, Suzuki Taiji)
  • Harumi Matsukaze as Fumi Suzuki (鈴木 ふみ, Suzuki Fumi)
  • Yue as Manami Kobayashi (小林 真奈美, Kobayashi Manami)
  • Denden as Yoshikawa (吉川)
  • Taro Suwa as Kamio (神尾)

Release

Ju-On 2: The Curse was released in Japan on home video on March 25, 2000.[2]

Stage adaptation

A stage play adaptation of Ju-On was developed in 2023. It adapts the plots from this film and its prequel.[3]

Sources
  • Choi, Jinhee; Wada-Marciano, Mitsuyo (2009). Horror to the Extreme: Changing Boundaries in Asian Cinema. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9622099739.
  • Kalat, David (2007). J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond. Vertical Inc. ISBN 978-1-932234-08-4.

References
  1. "Ju-on: The Curse 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  2. Kalat 2007, p. 281.
  3. https://juonthelive.com/
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