Since reading about it when the Horror board used to be on this site (RIP),I've been really keen to catch this fight,but have not been able to find English subtitles for online versions,and no disc release in the UK. Checking Shudder's exclusives during my free 30 days offer on the site,I was shocked to see it pop up,leading me to taking a front row seat.
View on the film:
Bringing the two icons of J-Horror together, writer/director Koji Shiraishi works closely with sound effects editor Sakura Katsumata on a joyfully errie sound design, free of loud music jump-scares, in order to scale the soundtrack to one creaking ghostly timber ringing in the ears of the next victim.
Subverting the expectations suggested by the pulpy title, Shiraishi rings out a icy J-Horror atmosphere of icy winding camera moves circling the next victim counting down the time they have left, and a wise use of smoky mysterious Gothic shadows keeping the CGI used to create the title characters, away from the cold light of day.
Hyped as a match between icons, the screenplay by Shiraishi surprisingly gives little time to Kayako and openly shows a bias towards Sadako, by making the addition of The Grudge legend be a last-minute arrival given little chance to become fully entwined into Sadako's main plot line hauntings.
Whilst the miss-judged open ending stumbles in a fight which does not live up to the build-up due to the two ladies being given less than 5 minutes to fight it out, Shiraishi balancing treating the fear of The Ring seriously, with a playful comedic zest from urban legends fan Morishige (played by a wonderfully deadpan Masahiro Komoto) who is dying to find out if Sadako is actually real,as Kayako and Sadako step into the ringu.
View on the film:
Bringing the two icons of J-Horror together, writer/director Koji Shiraishi works closely with sound effects editor Sakura Katsumata on a joyfully errie sound design, free of loud music jump-scares, in order to scale the soundtrack to one creaking ghostly timber ringing in the ears of the next victim.
Subverting the expectations suggested by the pulpy title, Shiraishi rings out a icy J-Horror atmosphere of icy winding camera moves circling the next victim counting down the time they have left, and a wise use of smoky mysterious Gothic shadows keeping the CGI used to create the title characters, away from the cold light of day.
Hyped as a match between icons, the screenplay by Shiraishi surprisingly gives little time to Kayako and openly shows a bias towards Sadako, by making the addition of The Grudge legend be a last-minute arrival given little chance to become fully entwined into Sadako's main plot line hauntings.
Whilst the miss-judged open ending stumbles in a fight which does not live up to the build-up due to the two ladies being given less than 5 minutes to fight it out, Shiraishi balancing treating the fear of The Ring seriously, with a playful comedic zest from urban legends fan Morishige (played by a wonderfully deadpan Masahiro Komoto) who is dying to find out if Sadako is actually real,as Kayako and Sadako step into the ringu.