Juon 2

Video Sewer knows the true curse of the Juon: The Curse, The Grudge and the American Grudge, plus all the sequels - each one is far, far worse than the one that preceded it. Suffice it to say, this ain't your older brother's Juon.

The original made-for-video Japanese version Juon: The Curse, predates the Ringu movie and sets the bar high for longhaired J-scares.

What do you do with that kind of success? Make the same damn movie five more times, like this one; Juon: The Grudge Two. This cinema sequel again features the by-now ludicrous tag-team haunting of Kayako and son.

A news-magazine crew films a story about a cursed house, using the presence of a horror-movie actress to lend credence to the information. But as with anyone who steps into the house, they're all soon visited by the blue kid and his creaky mom.

Through strangled chronological syntax we are treated to an ever more absurd series of scare scenes - car-jackings, threatening wigs and head-as-soccer-ball scenarios among others. We also get the realization that this film abuses formula in a manner that makes Hollywood blush, as most jolts are just a variation on a theme.

Decent performances and some nicely accomplished dream-like feelings rescue this from the scrap heap, and non-horror fans might get a few chills before they start laughing. The Sewer however, echoes a producer from the news-magazine, upon spending time in the cursed house: “I'm disappointed. I thought it'd be scarier …”

You're kidding me, right?

Probably jaded, but the blue-faced goon routine doesn't scare anymore

And again with the kidding!