Sadako vs. Kayako (2016) User Reviews

A sporadic mix of surprisingly decent thrill and unintentionally comedic burst.

[quincytheodore · 6/10 · 10 August 2016]

What may sound like something from internet prank proves to be a better enjoyment than just random sequel or its ridiculously sounding premise. Both franchises are passed their prime with each latest entry performing abysmally. While it does possesses an array of issues, the good timing on some scenes and better characters make "Sadako vs Kayako" a more compelling horror than their own separate haunting.

The movie works by putting two curses simultaneously. Sadako has slightly more portion as the Cursed Video is highlighted more, especially in the beginning. As one curse progresses the Kayako or Haunted Hause is slowly tossed into the mix. Characters from Cursed Video are far more memorable than perhaps its latest two or three entries combined. Yuri as the lead and the two enigmatic exorcists make for an interesting cast.

Suzuka is a more standalone character as she struggles with the Haunted House primarily by herself, the supporting characters from her side are fleeting at best. However, Suzuka still has a good presence, especially when the curses collide. These personalities have a slight edge compared to typical Japanese horror protagonists, ranging from the signature clothes, hairdo o realistic or optimistic nature, which might not seem extraordinary, but this goes a long way on setting the dynamic.

Sadly, the initial corniness happens in several instances. It can be sudden twist on certain scene or choppy progression, either way this might ruin the mood already set by curse development. There are two or three scenes that are might take audience on really dark places, but these are not original by any means, and other than those, the rest are shaky on the horror.

On the few that actually work, it compresses the classic attraction of the franchises, brief they may be. For a movie originated from a strange concept, "Sadako vs Kayako" has more in store than just internet meme or sensational title, it delivers a better cast and scare than combination of both franchises' latest titles, but it's still marred by hectic and sloppy delivery to be a fully functioning horror.

April Fool's Joke

[Wirxaw · 4/10 · 11 January 2018]

Major spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

Now, I believe there are two kinds of people: those, who only wish to see the fight and do not care about anything else, and those, who will see the movie regardless, because they are fans of the franchises. Neither will be negatively affected by total spoiling, so let me break it down to you: if you thought Batman vs. Superman was bad in terms of actual duel length, this is downright pathetic. There is about a minute of the actual fight and, as it's expected, Sadako totally dominates Kayako, not that it has any solid effect, though, you can't physically kill spirits.

Besides this keynote, the movie does have a couple of strong points - decent actors and premise. Compared to Alien vs Predator, you won't see as much artificial "bs" here, the monsters mostly stick to their roots, and the actors at least try, in their common Japanese manner.

However, this is as far as the positive stuff goes. Because then you get entirely predictable plot, almost to the point of Godzilla's shameless "Let them fight" line, a lot of boring and unnecessary scenes. Why really bother with the boys? The store girl? What point did the teacher play, besides laying it out for you? Why go through that priestess, if it's entirely pointless? A good 10-20 mins of runtime could've been spared and devoted to the good stuff if the "stepping stones" were reduced.

And the worst part of the movie - is the teasing of what it could be. You have two curses conveniently next to each other, you have actually managed to pull off the idea of internet-spreading the Cursed Video, you have two brilliant spirit hunters and even a teacher with weird backstory and uncanny interest in Sadako. There is SO MUCH to work with here, they should've just spent some 5-10 mins writing the two spirits tearing each other apart. I mean, come on, we see how Sadako oneshots Kayako with her Medusa Eye, among other things, but we don't see any action from Kayako, although it can definitely pack a punch. Yes, both of them would respawn, have respawned and it's about as meaningful as Superman smashing Zod into a building or vice versa, but... this is what the people want to see. Silly as it is, there is no further purpose. Canonizing the loss of one side, expectedly Kayako, would be a waste.

Instead... we get an incredibly aimless plot. The teacher dies just like that, without really adding anything to the story or waiting for his due time. The spirit hunters die almost even sillier, despite shoving quite the psychic potential. Both of their plans backfire right away, without any explanation. It's not only weird to think a curse to devour a curse, and not to merge into a stronger one(as one would expect an experienced spiritist to know), but it's also shown that the well is deep and it can seal things. So why spend all that time preparing, if the seal is going to be broken like a pencil? Not even some extended attempts to break it, not even some stupid action from the protagonist. And the main spirit hunter dies just laughably. His last word "Good!", thinking that the backup plan worked, only to see the, ahem, backlash just oneshot him. Yes, he seems to try and protect his peers, but that's a couple of lines of script to fix, not something rational or necessary.

And that's what we are left with. The entire cast is dead, the curses are merged and the Cursed Tape is spreading over the internet. So there is nobody to ever fight it again, there is no more "Versus"(unless they put this new "Sayako" against some Freddy Krueger or Insidious' Red Demon or even that Paranormal Activity Demon), there is just an April Fool's joke that became a joke of a movie...

But, like I said, there are people, who will still watch it, and there isn't anything I have to say to stop you. It's not a complete abomination of a movie, so, by all means, indulge yourself, if you have nothing better to do.

Spectral Showdown

[Blue-Grotto · 5/10 · 29 September 2016]

Demons in Japanese culture, may take human form. Or semi-human form if they prefer. One such demon, Kayako, inhabits a house and attacks those who enter it. The demon Sadako curses and appears to those who happen to see her frightening video clip. Two young women, one of whom is cursed by Sadako, figure that the only way to survive is to pit the two demons against each other. A spectral showdown ensues.

While it is a creative concept and it is an intriguing glimpse at Japanese horror culture, there is not much depth here. There are few twists and even less in terms of dialogue. For a foreign horror film, I expected more shocking behavior, yet it seems to be made for a PG-13 crowd. Little bawdiness and less blood spilled. Seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

A huge disappointment and not worth your time

[daviddevilliers-91982 · 3/10 · 15 August 2016]

So I finally got a chance to go and see this movie. I just want to say that I have always loved the Ring franchise, even the American version, and the Grudge franchise. I was so excited to hear that they were making a crossover 'versus' movie involving Kayako and Sadako. Unfortunately, this movie killed my hype and I have been very disappointed.

The plot is actually very simple and exactly what the title says. A young Japanese woman watches the tape of Sadako and has a few days left to live. In order to prevent herself from dying, she takes the tape to the house of Kayako's. On the day Sadako is released from the tape, the two vengeful spirits will face off.

In case you don't know who they both are, Sadako is from the Ring franchise. She is a cursed spirit who haunts a video tape and kills anybody who watches it in seven days, which is how long she was in the well and how long she survived for. Kayako is a deadly spirit who was in love with this guy and was murdered by her husband, who, in a fit of anger and sorrow, got her neck snapped and only allows her to growl. Her son also got killed by drowning by his own father for witnessing the murder and the two now haunt the house and kills whoever enters it.

My thoughts on the movie was that it was bad writing and the script was awful. I only give it two points for the great effects and 1 point for the crossover idea. My suggestion, watch it when you have absolutely nothing else better to do.

Entertaining enough, but a very unnecessary crossover of two franchises...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 15 June 2017]

At first impression, I must say that I was a little bit perplexed about why the world needed a movie that would plot the entity from "Ringu" (aka "The Ring") up against the entity from "Ju-On" (aka "The Grudge"). I am a fan of Asian cinema and love Asian horror, and I have watched the movies from both franchises, but I can't claim that I was ever craving anything even remotely in the likes of these two entities being put up against one another. Unlike the "Freddy vs Jason" movie, for example, which was long waited and had been pitched. But perhaps the Japanese audience have been waiting and longing for a movie that put Sadako up against Kayako.

Regardless, given the chance to sit down and watch "Sadako vs. Kayako", I of course did jump at it. This is a Japanese horror movie after all, so it is right up my alley.

The movie does start out by raising a good point about the curse of Sadako almost coming to an end as the video (VHS) format is obsolete. That was a nice touch of detail from writers Takashi Shimizu and Kôji Suzuki.

"Sadako vs Kayako" has some very interesting sound work, and it really helped to build the atmosphere and mood of the movie. There is a lot of atmospheric sounds put into the movie when Sadako and Kayako are on the screen, and also when something creepy is about to happen or actually happening on the screen. I must admit that I was rather impressed with the sound department and the work they mustered in this movie.

There are some pretty interesting visuals in the movie as well, and director Kôji Shiraishi really managed to use these visuals so well in the movie to establish scares and atmosphere.

As for the acting in the movie, well I can't claim to be familiar with anyone on the cast list, but I will say that the cast ensemble did great jobs with their given roles and characters. And it was nice to see this many new faces in a movie.

There was a good pace to the movie, and the dialogue was good and seemed quite natural. And the character development was also good throughout the course of the movie, because it made the characters stand out from one another and not just be generic and pointless characters. Do take into consideration that the character gallery is rather extensive, and there is a lot of people to keep track of, some more important to the story than others, of course. So keep vigilant and attentive to the story, or you might miss something important.

While the design and layout of the Kayako house was rather interesting, I think it was a shame that it was kept so dark all the time, because a lot of details were being missed and obscured by the darkness. Sure, it sets mood, but would have been nicer to have had a bit more of proper lighting.

Actually a good portion of the movie is filmed in a relatively dark setting. Sure, it adds to the atmosphere, but it becomes annoying after a while, especially because it is so much more nice to actually see everything that is going on clearly in a movie. Especially since you did pay money to watch this.

One thing that puzzle me is why there is no consistency from movie to movie as in what you see on Sadako's cursed VHS tape. It keeps changing from movie to movie. That really makes no sense to me.

As a seasoned horror veteran, I can't claim to find a Japanese woman in a white dress with her long black hair covering her entire face as being particularly scary. Nor can I claim to find a milky white boy with funky hair who sounds like a cat as being scary either. But hey, they are iconic characters of the two Japanese franchises. I guess you have to be Asian in order to find this particularly scary. And also the thing with long black hair showing up out of nowhere in places it shouldn't or couldn't be is not scary either, it is just downright weird.

For an actual showdown between Sadako and Kayako, then you actually have to wait a very, very long time throughout the movie, and that is even before someone just suggests pitching the two evil entities against one another. It is not before the last 15 minutes of the movie that the actual pitching of the two iconic entities take place. And the showdown was not really as satisfying as it should have been, especially since it took almost the entire movie leading up to it.

"Sadako vs. Kayako" is an entertaining enough movie for what it turned out to be. But I can't really claim to find that this was a movie that was particularly necessary for either of the franchises. This wasn't a scary movie, not even by a long shot. It was an interesting enough ride up to the last 15 minutes, which culminated in a less than satisfactory manner.

My rating for "Sadako vs. Kayako" lands on a mediocre 5 out of 10 stars, because this wasn't an outstanding movie in any way, nor was it a particularly necessary movie or a necessary crossover between two franchises.

Versus??

[Louie413 · 3/10 · 24 September 2017]

Is it just me, or isn't the whole point of doing a versus movie to give the audience what they want, an entertaining versus-movie?

And yet they did same mistake that many other versus movies has made? eg. Batman vs. Superman, Mummy vs, Frankenstein etc. A long movie where you just kinda sit around and wait the entire movie until the "versus" appears, then they give you barely 1 minute of the actuall versus- scene, then the end. What a waste of time.

This movie is not like Alien vs. Predator or Freddy vs. Jason, which is how a versus movie should be. If you think you're in for a "fight of the year" you're wrong. The fight itself lasted about 45 seconds in total. Just fast forward to it if you want to se it imo, don't waste your time watching the entire movie.

Round 1 - F(r)ight

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 15 April 2017]

So the Ring versus the Grudge? It may sound insane - well to be honest it kind of is. And the makers of this knew exactly that this was just too weird. And that's why this is not just horror, but also comedy. And it's intentional for sure. Of course that means that purists, who like their horror straight will have issues with the movie. But if you don't mind the fun stuff in between, dive into this.

It's a weird experience and while it's not really necessary to have seen all the other movies that came before this, a little bit of knowledge will help you enjoy this a bit more. It does seem a bit muddled and you may lose track of certain things, what with this combining "myths" and all. But just the fact they did this is great. It's really a fun movie overall

This is only my opinion..

[menghuikrista · 5/10 · 23 June 2016]

This movie is overloaded with cheap thrills,clichés ,had some bad dialogue and the ending was so silly. One really weird and crazy scene of the movie is when the two ghosts(this is a massive spoiler) merge together and start attacking the protagonist.The characters make all sorts of dumb decisions.A few scenes make you sigh as you know where they are going. The fight scene made the whole audience members laugh.But,the atmosphere was well done. The special effects were pretty good.

Some of the scares were over-the-top and comical. In one scene, both of a woman's legs vanish without a trace,leaving her with two bloody stumps. That scene made many people burst into laughter.

I felt a little bored at all the cheap thrills in the middle of the movie and was tempted to leave. Overall, it is a mediocre movie.

Ladies!! It's Not Nice To Fight!

[Foutainoflife · 6/10 · 21 February 2019]

Sadako is an evil that curses and kills anyone who watches her video. Those seeking to stop her from collecting her victims are also killed. Kayako is an evil who kills anyone who comes into the house where she was murdered. Her son Toshio, who was murdered at the same time, is also an evil being that helps his mother but doesn't have her strength.

In this film we see Sadako and Kayako's latest marks trying to find a way to avoid their demise. A man and young girl with special abilities try to help the girls by having Sadako and Kayako fight each other. Each victim adds to their number of kills and they both want these victims for themselves.

Ok. So, I love both these characters. Both ladies can hold their own when it comes to being creepy, evil and decent body counts. I would assume that this is the Japanese version of Freddy vs. Jason. I love that this is creative but this is creepy horror as opposed to blood and gore horror and folks should understand that before watching it.

I thought this was written well and the acting was ok. I liked it but I was also disappointed in some ways. We didn't get to see much of Sadako or Kayako and what we did see was so dark it took away from seeing them duke it out. I understand that the low lighting is used to help set the mood and keep some of the effects from looking cheesy but I wanted to see more of what they were working with. I wanted to see these two really fight. It also seemed as though they were setting things up for a sequel and while that's great and I'll watch it if they make one, I wish the story could have had a bit more depth.

It's not a bad film but like I said, I was a little disappointed. If you like these characters check it out. I hope they make another one.

Wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but still disappointed

[Worldstone · 5/10 · 1 January 2017]

It's like the same old two original movies, just each of them cut down run-time, tone down the scares a bit, and a cheap plot device with a clichéd blind psychic girl sidekick to force them together for a disappointing 2 minute faceoff.

I'm proud to say I like Ju-On and Ringu, and I have always since middle school, but both of them suffer the exact same thing, terrible characters and stories overshadowed by decent scares. This movie is no exception. Actually, scratch a small part of that, there was ONE character that I was interested in, and that was Professor Morishige. His obsession with wanting to meet Sadako stroke my curiosity but we didn't find out anything because he got killed off halfway through.

All in all, I was somewhat excited for this movie because before it's existence I've always asked myself the same question. "What would happen if you watch that cursed videotape in that vile house of death?". Well my question finally got answered, and it was "lame disappointment".

Check it out if you're a fan of Ringu and/or Ju-On, but it's nothing spectacular.

Surprised!!

[pumpkin_queen-48903 · 8/10 · 3 April 2021]

Didn't hold out much hope for this film but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If you like the original ring/grudge movies you will definitely enjoy this!

I regret giving this movie a shot

[ecopas · 4/10 · 18 December 2020]

It would have been more entertaining to watch the amount of acrobatics and gymnastics it took behind the scenes , to try and make a cohesive story out of these two disparate ghost tales. It's like the old saying goes, you can lead a murder obsessed vengeance ghost to a haunted house, but you can't make the house bound vengeance ghost fight her

Must Miss!

[totalovrdose · 4/10 · 9 October 2017]

If you were to encounter a film titled 'Sadako Vs Kayako', I imagine you'd expect much of the film to be a death match between two of Japan's most renowned ghouls. Sadly, these famed frighteners only appear in the same room together in the final few scenes, the lead up to their encounter been unnecessarily long-winded.

The film centres on two story lines, which gradually intersect. The first involves Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro), who enlists the help of her friend, Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) to drag her parents wedding video into the 21st century as an anniversary gift. Purchasing a used VCR to do the job, Yuri finds a tape inside. Three guesses who this tape belongs to.

Suzuka happens to watch the tape, only to discover she now has 48 hours to live, rather than the stereotypical 7 days. Considering Sadako Vs Kayako rarely takes the time to honour its inspired source material, it's occasionally difficult to trust the filmmakers with the product. In fact, watching the legends that have been created around these known ghosts get torn down in exchange for unappreciated thrills is almost as painful as watching the film itself.

Worried for the sake of her friend, Yuri enlists the help of Shinichi (Masahiro Komoto), a professor infatuated with Japanese urban legends, his knowledge of Sadako's tape been of use. Like most secondary characters however, Shinichi's role is only to progress the narrative, the lacking depth applied to all characters largely resulting in conversations that are plastic and one dimensional.

If the film is hard to swallow before the arrival of natural exorcist Koyozo (Masanobu Ando), who can terrify away ghosts with a snap of his finger, and his young accomplice, the blind Tamao (Mai Kikuchi), the feature is incredibly difficult to digest after. Both look to be cosplayers who happened to step onto the set by accident, their total lack of empathy only making it more difficult to accept them as characters. Through Shinichi, Yuri is introduced to Koyozo, who is heralded as the last hope she has to save her friend.

The second narrative taking place, which is only occasionally glimpsed, revolves around Natsumi (Aaimi Satsukawa), who happens to move in next door to Kayako, the deathly house frequently calling out to her.

It is Sadako however that steals the show most of all, her silent, shambling movements constantly giving me goose bumps. When the feature embraces the subtlety of the horror franchises it is adopting, Sadako Vs Kayako works effectively, the ambiance evoking a sense of dread. Unfortunately, the feature typically opts for in-your-face violence, which is seldom scary or entertaining.

Unlike Freddy Vs Jason before it which revelled in the homicidal bloodlust of its antagonists, Sadako Vs Kayako revels in its own absurdity. Though I am a fan of Ju-On and Ringu, I can't deny both franchises have overstayed their welcome, becoming mere shadows of what they once were, the filmmakers possibly aware of this, considering at times the feature appears to be making a joke at its own expense, resulting in a series of cheesy moments.

Considering the number of unanswered questions which still exist as the credits roll, Sadako Vs Kyoko feels more like a television pilot than a complete film. Whether a sequel will answer these is anyone's guess. As for who wins the fight - you'll have to watch to find out...

I'll never understand the appeal.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 10 January 2017]

Schoolgirl Natsumi (Aimi Satsukawa) asks her friend Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) if she can transfer her parents' wedding video onto DVD; in order to do so, the girls buy an old VHS player in which they discover an old tape that turns out to be a fabled cursed video that, once watched, invokes deadly long haired spook Sadako (Elly Nanami), who materialises to kill her victims two days later.

After their initial attempts to break the curse fail, Natsumi and Yuri's only hope lies with spiritual medium Kyozo (Masanobu Andô) and his young assistant Tamao (Maiko Kikuchi), who decide to pit Sadako against grudge spirits Kayako (Runa Endo) and Toshio (Rintaro Shibamoto) in a battle for the girls' souls. Meanwhile, schoolgirl Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro) also finds herself cursed when she enters the haunted home of Kayako and her son Toshio — can Suzuka's life also be saved as a result of the supernatural battle?

Films featuring onryō (vengeful Japanese spooks) really do very little for me: I thought that Ringu (Ring) was mediocre and found The Grudge (Ju-on) incredibly boring. Director Kôji Shiraishi tries to inject a little life into the tired genre with this mash-up of these well known franchises, but all he succeeds in making is a film that, rather predictably, falls somewhere between mediocre and incredibly boring.

Following lots of talk and some not-at-all-scary scenes in which the spooks make brief appearances, the titular fight between the ghosts finally ensues, and it's extremely underwhelming, like two women having a pathetic cat-fight, with little kid Toshio sticking up for his mum. If you're an avid fan of Japanese ghost movies, you might get a kick out of seeing these legendary spirits scratch and claw at each other, but I'll never understand the appeal.

A Huge let down

[atinder · 4/10 · 16 January 2021]

I was really looking forward to this! And it was Huge disappointment.

The both side and a lot of build up,

I was really disappointing, we had wait over 1 hour for them to coilled.

That fight scene was very anit-climax. Should have been sooner then it was.

However I did the like the idea that them both merging together

4/10

Possession is never having to say, "you're sorry."

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 29 August 2017]

Students discuss various urban legends at Seian University, among which are the cursed video tape. Two students accidentally discover the tape and freak out as the previous viewers had died. They consult their professor who is excited about the tape and wants to meet Sadako, the Ring girl with the long hair. Meanwhile is a subplot, a house is haunted by Kayako, the Juon/Grudge double jointed kid.

How they get these two demons/spirits to fight would be a plot spoiler revealed at about an hour into the film...and I still have my reservations. Of course my biggest question mark about all these exorcism films going all the way back to the original is the ending. A demon possesses someone and the priest then takes the demon inside himself and does the suicide thing. Demon dies too. Why exactly does a spiritual/metaphysical demon end when the host dies? Right before the priest hits the ground... go back to someone else. It is a distance thing like a six cubit rule? Who is making these silly rules up and why does everyone follow them? The film was not as good as the originals. Jump scares were ineffective. The wise guy exorcist was the highlight of the film and added a smile element to the feature.

Guide: No swearing, sex, nudity or cute school uniforms

Movie was great and exciting

[zerosky-19759 · 7/10 · 17 September 2016]

Great movie with lots of excitement and thriller View sadako vs kayako

It was obvious the director favored sadako as she mostly won the battle with kayako and the scenes for kayako were too short and limited to the house alone. Still a great movie but would have preferred equal fight capabilities.

ith Japan's two most famous fright franchises having squeezed sequels or remakes dry and needing to be spliced together like a human centipede, the result can only be the J-horror to end all J-horrors. Director-writer Koji Shiraishi ("Carved: The Split Mouth Girl") knows that self-parody is the only way to go with "Sadako vs. Kayako," contriving a goofy way to make the vengeful spirits from "Ringu" (a.k.a. The Ring) and "Ju-on: The Grudge" cross paths for a twisty- crawly smack-down. Ingenious marketing has created buzz since the two characters made a side-splitting ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game in Hokkaido. The film boasts long, jerky festival legs and will be a jamboree for audiences when it screens at Toronto's Midnight Madness section. Shudder, AMC Digital Networks' streaming service, holds North American rights.

Shiraishi, a B-horror-making machine, has a knack for deadpan spoofs, as seen in "Shirome" — a clever mockumentary that nails the infantile tone of celebrity reality TV and idol bands, and "Paranormal Phenomenon," a send-up of "Paranormal Activity" and the whole found- footage genre. Both "Ringu" and "Ju-on" have spawned so many sequels and knockoffs that the premise no longer shocks, and Shiraishi has the sense of humor to trigger laughter from the familiar, such as Sadako and Kayako's contorted gaits, influenced by kabuki and butoh.

The problem with reviving Sadako in the digital age is that videos are now a rarer species than ghouls (let alone Pokemon monsters). But the film has found a solution by having college student Yuri (Mizuki Yamamoto) buy a VHS player from a second-hand shop to help classmate Natsumi (Aimi Satsukawa) transfer her parents' wedding video onto DVD. The girls find a videotape inside the player, with clumps of hair poking out. Still, Natsumi watches the video and gets the obligatory ringtone of doom, telling her she's got two days to live.

Sadako and Kayoko participate in a bizarre first-pitch ceremony at the ballgame

Yuri consults her anthropology professor Morishige (Masahiro Komoto), who has written a book on urban legends. His elated reaction reveals he's been (literally) dying to meet Sadako. He eagerly asks Natsumi to pass him the video, then enlists the help of a weird Shinto priestess, Horyu. The resulting exorcism is pure farce, with Horyu soliciting donations for the temple even in the throes of a possession, while Morishage gushes with fanboy excitement. Shiraishi also gets comic mileage from Sadako's Rapunzel-like hair, which turns up just about everywhere in gross-out scenarios.

The shenanigans are intercut with an adjacent, blander plot that involves high-school student Suzuka (Tina Tamashiro, "Chasuke's Journey"), who moves into a nondescript neighborhood with her parents. The house next door, whose gates are sealed by yellow duct tape, and which bears the sign "Entry Forbidden," piques her curiosity. She learns that it was the infamous home of Takeo Saeki, who murdered his wife Kayako (Rina Endo) and son Toshio (Rintaro Shibamoto). She becomes troubled by strange vibes, especially after a boy who's forced by school bullies to enter the house as a dare, goes missing. The haunted house sucks intruders into every available storage space, which isn't near as funny as it sounds, and doesn't lampoon the "Ju- on" template very well. Toshio, the ghost boy with heavy mascara, prances around, but his apparition is neither as creepy nor, in this film, as gag-worthy as Sadako.

The parallel tales remain unrelated until a linking device finally arrives in the form of Kyozo (Masanobu Ando), an onmyoji (shaman), and his pint-sized sidekick — blind psychic Tamao (Maiko Kikuchi). Summoned by Horyu at the eleventh hour, the duo sense the house calling to Suzuka, and a plan is devised to cancel out all the protagonists' curses in one fell swoop. How Shiraishi contrives to bring the two grumpy fiends under one roof certainly takes some warped imagination, and the resulting rumble is supremely silly yet undeniably fun.

The cast carries off the cheeky tone, and never takes itself seriously. Usually, J-horror is inundated with idols mugging fear with whiny voices and gormless stares, but Yamamoto, Satsukawa and Tamashiro display self-control and even a bit of welcome meanness. Ando, one- time soulful teen star of "Kids Return" (1996), hams it up big time. Endo's Kayako, who never makes a full appearance until the end, does so with grotesque aplomb.

Tech credits are adequate in an average budget. Playing along with the retro feel, the visual effects remain low key till the finale, which boasts glossy-looking CGI.

Underwhelming

[marc5477 · 4/10 · 7 February 2017]

Watch the original films or the remakes, they are all better than this cross over. This one is too rushed to pull you into the stories and the action between Sadako and Kayako is practically non-existent. The actual action between them was probably around 3 minutes long and most of that is just them staring or walking. The ending was, imho, the most uninteresting option they could have taken. Clearly a cheap money grab which is one reason why Japanese film, anime and games are on a decline. It used to be about quality and originality in the 80s and 90s but since then it has been a in your face money grab and they don't even bother to hide it. When anything becomes popular, they ruin it in time (a bit like Star Wars here).

Not scary, just fun

[C_Jags · 8/10 · 8 June 2019]

I enjoyed this a lot, probably even more than my rating. I'm a big fan of Ringu and fond of Ju-on, so watching Sadako and Kayako go at it was great fun for me. Both ghosts are in fine form (Kayako's son Toshio, however, looks like he's taken a few too many blows to the head over the years, which, like much in this film wound up looking more goofy than scary).

Don't get me wrong, this movie is dumb. But it's the kind of dumb I watched with a big grin on my face. I wish the showdown could've gone on a bit longer, but I got what I came for. Two stars begrudgingly removed for choosing silliness over horror, but I got into the spirit of it and I really enjoyed this movie.

If you want something scary look somewhere else

[hpmckay · 7/10 · 21 January 2019]

This movie is dumb, over the top, and as subtle as a brick to the face. It is the antithesis of The Ting and The Grunge, but is incredibly entertaining. They change the lore for plot convince and have the dumbest possible ending with everyone with the internet presumably dying. This movie is not for everyone but it is shot well and decently acted with enough tongue in cheek from the writers to let you know that they're taking you on a ride and you should just laugh along the way.

Disappointing fight between famous Japanese horror ghosts.

[HorrorDisasterGuy-90617 · 2/10 · 29 September 2023]

The idea of two famous Japanese ghosts fight each other is a interesting idea, but oh boy there's a lot of problems with this movie. Most of the movie spends most of the time on the Sadako plotline and it feels more like a reboot of the series. Also the Kayako plotline is barely shown until the climax of the movie. The movie lacks atmosphere because things happened way too quickly and isn't effective like the previous installment. Also the movie tries to do a self-awareness in it, but it's poorly executed on how it done in the movie. And the movie is pretty boring throughout. The battle between Sadako and Kayako is extremely disappointing because it ends in a stalemate and there's really no fight in the movie. It gets worst when the characters plan gets backfired by having the ghosts combine into a single entity with terrible CGI on them. And the ending is really terrible.

A step in the right direction for this series

[reward-79619 · 4/10 · 11 September 2019]

I was about to say enough is enough with the ring sequels but this is probably the best one since the original. You can skip everything else in between though.

Silly fun

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 7 January 2021]

You have to give it to Japanese filmmakers, who are unafraid to mash up franchises and give people what they want. And this was a big deal, combining the Ju-on (The Grudge for Americans) and the Ring franchises.

The promotion for this movie was insane, with a Twitter contest between Sadako or Kayako to pick Japan's favorite horror icon, with Sadako winning. Then, there was a press conference where Sadako, Kayako and Toshio attended and never broken character, which is awesome. This was followed by the characters interrupting a baseball game between the Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Yakult Swallows.

I mean, there was even a collaboration with Sanrio's Hello Kitty for this film. That's saying something.

The craziness starts when a social worker comes to do a wellness check on an elderly patient, who of course has a VCR that is still playing the infamous tape from Ringu. As if to answer, "Who still needs a VCR in 2016?" the player is sold to a shop, where it ends up in the hands of college kids Yuri Kurahashi and Natsumi Ueno, who want to use it to transfer Natsumi's parents' wedding tape to DVD.

However, the cursed tape has now evolved, with better-looking footage, an urban building instead of the traditional well and now, only two days for the curse. As the phone rings, Sadako shows up.

The girls go to their professor, an expert on urban legends, who instead of helping them wants to see Sadako for himself. He watches the tape and brings in an exorcist, who is boiled alive by. the vengeful ghost, who also murders the teacher. Before the exorcist dies, she tells the girls that only the psychic Keizo Tokiwa can save them.

Natsumi blames Yuri for her curse and begins to upload the tape to the internet, hoping to somehow pass the curse away from herself. Keizo soon arrives, accompanied by the blind psychic Tamao, and informs them only by pitting Sadako against Kayako Saeki can they all survive. Meanwhile, Natsumi, who has been trying to kill herself, is hung by Sadako.

Meanwhile, the haunted Saeki house has shown up in a new neighborhood and Toshio has been snapping the necks of bullies and dads.

As for that whole put the ghosts against each other plan goes, it backfires not once but twice, as the vengeful ghosts combine to create one unstoppable entity called Sadakaya. It has the body of Yuri, the appearance of Sadako and moves like both spirits, all with the death rattle of Kayako.

While not anywhere nearly as good as the original franchises by themselves, this is pretty much big budget fan service. It takes a long time to get there, but I had a ton of fun watching it. Not bad for a movie that started off as an April Fool's Day joke, huh?

A somewhat subdued affair

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 13 July 2018]

SADAKO VS. KAYAKO is a Japanese horror film notable for featuring the vengeful supernatural titans of two separate series - the RINGU series and the JU-ON series - combined in a story which results in the ghosts fighting each other, a bit like FREDDY VS. JASON. It's an irresistable premise for any fan of J-horror, although of course the end result hardly exceeds expectations and is a bit disappointing if you expect too much. For most of the running time this feels like two mini-films, with plenty of cross-cutting between re-treads of the Ringu mythology and the Grudge house. It's a dark and gloomy affair, with subdued performances and a handful of familiar and creepy moments, but it's only right at the end where it gets more fun and over the top. Masanobu Ando's turn as a crazy medium is the highlight of the performances, while the rest is rather subdued.

Great mix of spooky and fun

[dgonzalez-40797 · 7/10 · 8 April 2020]

Just watch it! Full of spooky moments and had some funny moments too. I went into it thinking it was just a parody- but I was invested until the very end once I started watching