Two iconic J-horror franchises face off in this wild monster mash-up that pits the house-haunting phantoms of Ju-on (The Grudge) against the analogue-to-digital demon of Ringu (The Ring).
University students Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) and Natsumi (Aimi Satsukawa) buy an old VCR in order to transfer their home videos to DVD, but when Natsumi watches the dusty old tape found in the machine, she realizes she may have fallen victim to the curse that their urban-legends professor Morishige (Masahiro Komoto) is obsessed with. Meanwhile, high-schooler Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro) is having dreams about a mysterious house down the street from her new home. Though warned not to enter the house lest she be killed by the Saeki family curse, she is soon drawn inside by the resident ghosts, Kayako and her son, Toshio.
Of course, the real fun begins when the girls figure out that the only way to save themselves is to pit the vengeful spirits against each other. With the help of a pair of ghost-hunting psychics, they scheme to bring the cursed VHS cassette into the Saeki house and force a confrontation. And so the two storylines converge on this ghoulish battleground, where Sadako and Kayako will battle to show the world who the evillest evil entity really is.
These two ghostly gals are the definitive double trouble of J horror, and director Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse) is well aware of what fans expect from the film that brings them together for the first time. Lots of laughs, clever scares, and loving nods to both franchises swirl together in this fright-filled flick that will have audiences cheering for both baddies.
COLIN GEDDES
Screenings
Scotiabank 7
Ryerson Theatre
Scotiabank 14