Review | Film review: Sadako vs Kayako – J-horror ghouls converge in awkward comedy
Pairing Sadako from Hideo Nakata’s Ring and Kayako from Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On produces a floundering horror-comedy that’s a far cry from its eerie predecessors
2/5 stars
Hideo Nakata’s Ring and Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On emerged in the death throes of the last millennium to spearhead a global craze for Asian horror, personified by these lank-haired tormentors. Achieving suffocating chills through stripped-down atmospherics and contorted physical performances, both films were huge hits, spawning numerous sequels and international remakes.
As years went on, the demands of the marketplace saw the series veer away from low-fi aesthetics, in favour of less-effective CGI spooks and splattery deaths. Sadly for fans, Sadako vs Kayako director Koji Shiraishi barely fulfils the obligations of his film’s title, delivering an awkward horror-comedy that’s a far cry from its eerie predecessors.
In the new film, Sadako and Kayako are charted on their collision course when an overzealous spiritual medium (Masanobu Ando) advises two cursed teens (Mizuki Yamamoto and Tina Tamashiro) to “double curse” themselves – that is to watch Sadako’s videotape while in Kayako’s haunted house – in the hope that the malevolent waifs turn on each other.
It’s a fun idea, but Shiraishi leaves himself no time to explore its possibilities. The director wastes the entire running time on the buildup, only for the titular skirmish to be over almost as soon as it has begun. To be fair, he does, of course, leave room to tee up yet another sequel in this terminally cannibalised franchise.
Sadako vs Kayako opens on October 6
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