Sarah Michelle Gellar

TALK about holding a grudge. Writer-director Takashi Shimizu is making something a career out of it with his seemingly never-ending stream of horror films.

Hi latest, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 (15), follows in the footsteps of the original, two DVD prequels and a glitzy Hollywood remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (a sequel to that one is expected later in the year).

After a horrific car accident leaves her boyfriend in a coma, "scream queen" actress Kyoko Harase (Noriko Sakai) guests stars on a TV show, investigating a supposedly haunted house.

But as members of the crew begin to disappear, it becomes clear that something evil really is on the loose.

Dividing the narrative into chapters focusing on one character at a time, it takes a bit of brain power to keep up with the non-linear plot but the mood is genuinely unsettling while some disturbing visuals spice up the death scenes.

Perhaps its Shimizu’s over-familiarity with the format but he tries a little too hard to come up with new ideas and at times the film skips back and forth between eerie and ridiculous - what was he was thinking with the crawling wig scene?

It offers some moments of real horror but it’s time for Shimizu to let his grudge lie. - JUSTIN MATLOCK