I loved JU-ON: THE GRUDGE so I was looking forward to watching this sequel, which I heard was just as good as the original. What a surprise I had! Instead of being as 'good' as the first, this film actually surpasses it, turning out to be the scariest, most effective Japanese horror film I've yet to see! This sequel takes off where the last film ended as a new bunch of characters find themselves haunted by the ever-frightening ghosts of the first film in this series. Of course, it's business as usual for a Japanese horror film, with young, attractive actresses scared out of their wits by bizarre encounters and strange happenings; there's little music and no action, just strong dialogue interspersed with some absolutely terrifying set piece showdowns between humans and spirits.

The cast is uniformly excellent – I can't recall any missteps and each and every character did a convincing portrayal of somebody suffering from a ghostly manifestation. What I liked best was the pacing: although it's slow by Hollywood standards, there are regular 'scare' scenes, each of them more imaginative than in the first movie. Highlights include a reprise of the first film's classic 'staircase' climax; some spookiness going on in a car at the film's opening; an absolutely fantastic bit with living hair taking over a ceiling, and ghosts coming out of the floor as well as other, more incredible places (but I won't spoil anything). The absolute best bit for me is the bit with the wig in the closet, which I found scarier than anything else I can remember watching in the last five years – and I've watched a lot of horror films in that time, believe me! Special effects are top notch and there's some CGI usage in a couple of places which doesn't detract, just adding to the weirdness instead, and there's plenty of plot twists that'll make you scratch your head and wonder – predictable Hollywood fare this isn't! If you're looking for a genuine horror film to send a shiver down your spine then JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 is it; but I wouldn't recommend it for people who are easily scared. They're not likely to last the film's duration...

While driving on the road, the pregnant horror movies actress Kyoko Harase (Noriko Sakai) and her fiancé have a car crash caused by the fiend of Toshio, and Kyoko loses her baby and her fiancé stays in coma. Kyoko was cursed together with all the television crew when she hosted a show in the haunted house where Kayako was brutally murdered by her husband. While each member of the team dies or disappears, Kyoko is informed that she has a three and half month fetus in her womb.

"Ju-on: The Grudge 2" is a very creepy and scary horror movie, based on a Japanese legend, and disclosed in a non-linear screenplay. In the beginning of this sequel, the explanation of the curse is presented again. When a person is killed in a violent way, his or her death generates a curse that will stay in the place where the crime took place. If another person visits the haunted place, he or she will be chased by the fiends till death generating another curse.

Like the first one, this movie impresses because there is no bloody scene, only a tense psychological exploration of the inner fear of human beings for the unknown. The story is very simple and low paced, there are very few special effects, a great use of sound, no gore, but the creepy atmosphere is really frightening. I startled many times while watching this film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ju-On, O Grito 2" ("Ju-On, The Scream 2")

As this sequel opens a couple are driving home, one of them is a pregnant actress who has spent the day filming in the house where the original film was set. They see the ghost of Toshio, the boy from the house, and crash. She loses her baby and her husband is left in a coma. In what follows we see the day of the film shoot and what happens to each of the people who participated in the filming.

If you want a gory horror or lots of jump scares this probably won't be for you as it relies on a creepy atmosphere for most of its scary moments. Occasionally it gets more than a little hokey but the scares are effective. The fact that we are getting several vignettes rather than one long story is effective as each of the major character has a turn at being centre of the story and we never get the feeling that any of them are safe... quite the opposite. The special effects might not be state of the art CGI but to my mind that just makes them creepier. The acting was solid; the only scene where I initially thought it poor turned out to be part of the programme within the film where the character was meant to be acting; so it was justified. As it the original sound if very effectively used to raise the tension and put the viewer on edge... more than once I could feel myself getting goose bumps in creepier scenes. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of the original; I found this one slightly creepier.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.