The Grudge 2, Unrated Director's Cut, DVD, 2007, Widescreen Product Description Acclaimed producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise have re-teamed with director Takashi Shimizu and screenwriter Stephen Susco to present this heart-stopping sequel to the smash-hit thriller, The Grudge. When Aubrey Davis (Amber Tamblyn, TV's "Joan of Arcadia") learns her sister Karen (Sarah Michelle Geller) has been hospitalized, she immediately flies to Tokyo. Once there, she learns her sister's horrifying story and discovers that the fatal supernatural curse has been unleashed. Now, as the grudge spreads across the world, a new host of unsuspecting victims are about to become infected by the force that can't be stopped -- and won't be killed. The Grudge 2 is a spooky installment in Takashi Shimizu's hardworking Ju-on/Grudge series of horror pictures. It doesn't carry the disorienting thrill of the very first Japanese Ju-on features, but it's a lot creepier than anybody could have expected. The story picks up from the end of the first Hollywood version of The Grudge, and has nothing to do with Ju-on 2, Shimizu's Japanese sequel. Sarah Michelle Gellar returns (a distinctly supporting role) as an American woman traumatized by her experiences with a haunted house in Tokyo; younger sister Amber Tamblyn flies over to help out. This particular storyline doesn't have much meat on it; the murder house is still there, and people who go inside have a disconcerting habit of dropping dead. Fortunately, two other plots thread into the basic one: a group of American schoolgirls in Tokyo become intrigued by the legend of the house, and some Chicago apartment dwellers are unsettled by domestic anxiety and the weird sounds coming from next door. (This storyline, featuring Jennifer Beals, gives the film its extremely satisfying opening sequence.) As usual with these movies, sequences come to us in non-chronological order, and it's up to us to piece it together. You can guess where the film is going, but the slow trajectory toward its final sequences is surprisingly involving. The movie was widely panned upon its release, which says more about the presumption of the law of diminishing sequel returns than the film itself--it's a decent little horror flick. --Robert Horton Special features: East Meets West Featurette Grudge 2: Storyline Development Featurette "Ready When You Are, Mr. Shimizu" Featurette Holding a Grudge: Kayako Toshio Featurette Deleted Scenes Tales from the Grudge with Introduction from Sam Raimi Cast Crew Reel Change Montage Product details: Actors: Amber Tamblyn, Edison Chen, Arielle Kebbel, Stefanie Butler, Anna Moon Directors: Takashi Shimizu, Toby Wilkins Writers: Takashi Shimizu, Ben Ketai, Stephen Susco Producers: Ben Ketai, Bill Bannerman, Doug Davison Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) Subtitles: English, French Dubbed: French Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada) Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Number of discs: 1 Rated: NR - Unrated / Not Rated Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD Release Date: February 6, 2007 Run Time: 108 minutes