Director: Toby Wilkins
Year: 2009
Country: USA/Japan
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Ghosts
Plot:
Moving into an apartment complex in Chicago, a couple living there find themselves the latest victims of Kayako's rampage, forcing them to turn to the newest occupant in the building, her sister, to learn how to stop her from carrying on her path of tormenting and killing all she comes across.
Review:
This one here wasn't all that bad, but it did have some glaring problems in here. Among the main problems in this one is the rather low-key scenes here that tend to dominate the first half, where there's way too much drama about the family struggles, which is so slowly paced in its tempo that it doesn't generate the kind of impact it really should. Considering the sense of urgency in what's being revealed here, as the upcoming move to her new job and the worsening medical conditions that tend to run throughout here are fine at developing a serviceable storyline, but just come off so dreary and lifeless that the energy gets sapped right out of the film.
That also carries over into the second half where this one really tend to stop cold for long periods of time without much of anything going in the pace, dealing with such lame segments about her desire to move away or the rather questionable possession that's never been a factor for the series before so to introduce it now makes no sense so there's a very stilted appearance of that in this section. Likewise, there's a noticeable lack of on-screen kills and gore here, which really stands out somewhat, and with some obviously fake makeup for the ghosts, these are what hold it back.
Although there was some good stuff, it's not as great as the other two, or even the weakest of the originals. The biggest part of that is the rather fun ghostly encounters here which are spread out in the here enough to keep those interesting, from the short encounters here that show the ghost involved in their lives as such scenes like the numerous scenes of it in the hallways, staying in the room looking over her sleeping or the ghost-eye in the doll- house which leads to a great scare here as well.
Still, the more involved and longer attacks are more fun here, from the opening asylum attack on the boy through the security feed, a chilling attack in a loft where it appears from a painting and stalking her around the apartment, the doctor being ambushed along the asylum hallways and the multitude of great attacks in the finale where it run throughout the different groups around the building followed up with the absolutely fun ceremony that makes for quite a rousing finale. The fact that this one manages to tie itself into the franchise as well, with the new family additions and carrying on the legacies established elsewhere, is a lot of fun and makes the story quite enjoyable and much better than initially expected. These factors make this one decent enough, but not nearly as spectacular as the others.
Overview: ***/5
A surprisingly fun and engaging entry in the series, this one has enough to be somewhat watchable for what it is, even though there's more than enough on display to keep this at the low end of the series' spectrum. Those who appreciate this style or who are fans of the franchise will want to give it a shot, while most others out there should heed caution about it.
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