Film Review: Sadako Vs. Kayako

Name: Sadako vs. Kayako
Release: 2016
Country: Japan
Director: Koji Shiraishi
Writers: Koji Suzuki, Takashi Shimizu
Actors: Mizuki Yamamoto, Tina Tamashiro, Aimi Satsukawa

You wouldn’t believe how excited I was when I found that this film existed!!! I love The Grudge and The Ring. Both films began my interest in Asian cinema, and I shall always be grateful! I love the concept, and I was very excited to see this idea executed on the big screen.

Plot
After watching a cursed videotape, Natsumi has only two days before she will be killed by demonic entity Sadako. Her only hope is to pit Sadako against Kayako, a menacing spirit that inhabits a haunted house.

Opinion

I’ve waited over a year for this to be subbed. I was incredibly excited about watching this film. Once it was over I was speechless…what the hell did I just watch?!

Don’t get me wrong. The plot made perfect sense. Get cursed by both spirits and get them to fight over you. Yes, makes perfect sense. Great plot idea. But… it was executed soo soooooo badly at the end. The plot had so much potential, but by the end, I felt they were making the film as they went along.

If I’m honest, I wanted a proper cat fight. I wanted Dynasty style hair pulling, bitch slapping fight. Instead, they pulled each other off screen and ran into each other to form a massive octopus glob. They also had exorcists, which yes in hindsight made perfect sense to the plot but at the same time, it wasn’t executed well. Our male exorcist could move spirits with a flick of his wrists. What I love about The Grudge and The Ring is that even though they were fiction. It was realistic enough for you to feel scared (to an extent). However, add a man who acts like Jesus, and the whole thing becomes slightly ridiculous.

I must admit it was a lot scarier than the first two films of both franchises. The first two were creepy, and the build-up to each scary scene was great. With this, I knew what to expect, and for me, that added to the scare. You didn’t know when or how but you know it was going to happen. They used a lot more CGI in this film so the speed of the characters became a lot more rapid and a lot scarier.

Kayako is my all time favourite Asian ghost. I love The Grudge, and out of the both, it’s my favourite franchise. She wasn’t in it enough for me. There was soo much focus on Sadako, and it wasn’t even enough.

Overall Opinion
Well… that happened. I’m glad I watched, but no words can express how…confused I was by how I felt after watching that film. It was a complete letdown but at the same time…it wasn’t a complete letdown.