I like to think of Ju-On: The Curse 2 as a two-thirds sequel. The first thirty minutes are like Evil Dead 2, but instead of retelling the story and then getting to the new material, Ju-On 2 just gives us thirty minutes of footage we already watched in the first film.

They shorten the plot of the first film into 30 minutes and then kick off the new stuff. An interesting tactic for sure. One factor could be how fast this film was released after the first one.

Ju-On: The Curse was released direct to video in February 2000, and Ju-On: The Curse 2 was released months later in April 2000, again, direct to video.

After watching the main moments and kills from the first film, it ends with the continuation of the end of the first film with Kyoko seeing the new owner’s wife possessed by Kayako. Inside the house, she picks up a frying pan and kills her husband with it.

Kyoko goes and visits her nephew, who was mentioned in the first film, and he lives in the apartment that the teacher Kobayashi lived in before getting killed by Kayako. They both see a vision of Takeo murdering and send both of them into shock. Kyoko’s brother, Tatsuya, moves them both into their partner’s house, where his son is mute and Kyoko is possessed.

Tatsuya visits the current house but finds that the woman has killed her husband, and he is subsequently killed by her too.

Later, police detectives who are investigating the deaths visit Tatsuya’s parents and question them. Once they leave, Kayako appears and kills the dad and his wife.

Soon after, Tatsuya’s son, who is still in shock and mute, is bullied by his classmates. He spots Kayako outside, who crawls inside, and he tries to run away and is cornered and killed.

Then it is the creepiest visual. Kayako cradles his body as multiple Kayakos bang on the window and scratch the glass and try to enter the building.

That’s where the film ends. And this is the film that lets you know about the curse and how it kills all those who come in contact with it.

The film was made on a very low budget and had a theatrical release in Thailand, where it grossed $150,000.

It would be two years before Takashi Shimizu would release the next film in the franchise with Ju-On: The Grudge.